Ahmed Kuftaro

Ahmed Kuftaro or Ahmad Kaftaru (Arabic: أحمد كفتارو; December 1915 – 1 September 2004) was the Grand Mufti of Syria, the highest officially appointed Sunni Muslim representative of the Fatwa-Administration in the Syrian Ministry of Auqaf in Syria. Kaftaro was a Sunni Muslim of the Naqshbandi Sufi order.[1]

Ahmed Kuftaro
BornDecember 1915
Damascus, Syria
DiedSeptember 1, 2004(2004-09-01) (aged 88)
Damascus, Syria
NationalitySyrian
OccupationHead of the Naqshbandi Sufi tariqa
Children12
Parent(s)Mohammed Amin Kuftaro

Biography

Kuftaro's family originated from the village of Karma in the district of Ömerli in Mardin Province, Turkey.[2][3][4] In 1878, the Kuftaro family moved to Damascus and settled near the Abu al-Nur mosque in the Kurdish quarter. Kuftaro's father, Amin Kuftaro, received a traditional education and started working at the Sa'id Pasha mosque. His first wife was Najiya Sinjabi and he had four sons and two daughters with her: Musa, Taufiq, Ahmad, Ibrahim, Zaynab and Fatima. With his second wife, Is'af Badir, he had three children, Rabi', 'Abd al-Qadir and Rabi'a.[5] He became a student of Isa al-Kurdi, from whom he has an Ijazah for the spiritual guidance Irshad of Sufi adepts in the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi-Khalidi-Sufi order. Later Amin Kuftaro took over as the head of this particular tariqa. At the time there were many Sufi shaikhs and Sufi traditions present in Damascus. Ahmed Kuftaro was born in Damascus between 1912 and 1915.

Classic education in Damascus

Kuftaro's father insisted that he first receive a classic education in Quran, Tafsir, Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence, namely Shafi'i Madhhab with Muslim scholars in Damascus.[6] His father introduced him to Sufism and the Naqshbandi Sufi order. He was taught by Sufi masters Ali al-Takriti, Muhammad Abu al-Khair al-Midani, and Amin al-Zamalkani. He also went on at least one khalwa. In 1929, he married the fourteen-year-old Arab girl Hawwa Milli, who gave birth to his twelve children: Umar, Fu'ad, Khadija, Wisal, Muhammad, Muhammad Amin, Mahmud, Zahir, Hasan, Ihsan, Wafa', and Salah (who was appointed as head of the Abu al-Nur Foundation, now named the Ahmed Kuftaro Islamic Foundation).

Taking over as a Sufi shaikh

Kuftaro was appointed as the head of Naqshbandiya Tariqa by his father. In the early 1940s he supported a stronger cooperation among the Ulama of Damascus and claimed to have founded the Ulama Association in 1944. In the early 1960s, he gathered more than 2,000 male and female participants in the ancient Abu al-Nur mosque for his Thursday lessons on Islam and his Friday khutbah. From 1959 to 1964 he made 120 radio broadcasts. Unlike most Ulama at that time, he was open towards the media and used it.

Abu al-Nur Islamic Center

The Abu al-Nur mosque was originally built with clay and wood. In the early 1970s, it was replaced by a huge concrete building with seven floors flanked by two 65-meter minarets. It became the center of official state Islam in Syria and propagated a sharia-oriented interpretation of Sufism with an uncritical attitude towards the increasingly expanding police state under President Hafiz al-Assad. It housed a cafeteria for students with 450 seats and sanitary facilities. In an annex was the tomb of the Kuftaro family. On the first floor was an intermediary and secondary school in the morning and university lectures in the afternoon. The actual mosque with a huge prayer hall was in the center.

In 1987, the Syrian government decided to close all Islamic schools across the country, including the Abu Al-Noor institute. Kuftaro changed the name of the school to Al-Asad Institute for Learning Qur'an the day before it was closed. The closure happened throughout Syria and allowed branches in each mosque in the country to open Qu'ran learning programs.

The building also comprised private apartments for disciples of the shaikh, offices, a library, and a shop. In 1987, the Shaikh Amin Kaftaru Institute for Arabic Language Teaching was opened to male students and expanded over the years. In 1988, a language school for female students was opened next to the mosque. By the 1990s, four universities were receiving students globally.

Career in the Ifta' Administration

In 1948, Kuftaro worked as a mosque teacher in Quneitra before moving to Damascus in 1950. Two years later, he became Mufti of the Shafi'i Madhhab in Damascus and a member of the Higher Ifta Council under Colonel Adib al-Shishakli.[7] Kuftaro's political instinct aligned him with the Syrian Baath Party in 1955. He reportedly supported the Baath Party candidate in the 1955 election for an open seat in parliament.

The Grand Mufti of Syria

On October 26, 1964, an election committee consisting of 36 sheikhs met in the Ministry of Auqaf in Damascus; the Minister of Auqaf was also present. Two candidates stood for election: Hasan Habannaka al-Midani, who was extremely popular and had a high reputation as an Islamic scholar, and Ahmad Kaftaru. Kuftaro won by one vote and was appointed the new Grand Mufti of Syria. He headed the Ifta administration, which was part of the Ministry of Auqaf. In 1984 during his visit to Pakistan, a ruling decision added that the Grand Mufti should have a PhD and would hold the position for life. Kuftaro was awarded an honorary PhD from Omar Al-Farouq University in Pakistan, before being appointed Grand Mufti. Kuftaro survived more than seven presidents:

  • Husni al-Za'im 11 April 1949 – 14 August 1949
  • Shukri al-Quwatli 6 September 1955 – 22 February 1958
  • Hashim al-Atassi 21 December 1936 – 7 July 1939
  • Abdullah Rimawi 29 October 1956 – 13 April 1957
  • Munif al-Razzaz April 1965 – 23 February 1966
  • Nureddin al-Atassi March 1966 – 17 November 1970
  • Ahmad al-Khatib 18 November 1970 – 12 March 1971
  • Hafez al-Assad 12 March 1971 – 10 June 2000
  • Bashar al-Assad since 17 July 2000

Advocacy of interreligious dialogue

Ahmad Kaftaru advocated interreligious dialogue. He visited many countries as a representative of Syrian state Islam, including a 1985 visit with the Pope in Rome. He signed the Amman Message, a statement calling for tolerance and unity in the Muslim world that was issued on 9 November 2004 (27 Ramadan 1425 AH) by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.[8]

References
  1. Annabelle Boettcher, Syria's Sunni Islam under Hafiz al-Asad. E-book, Amazon-Kindle, 2015
  2. Raphael Lefevre, Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, Oxford University Press (2013), p. 155
  3. Line Khatib, Islamic Revivalism in Syria: The Rise and Fall of Ba'thist Secularism, Routledge (2012), p. 187
  4. Leon T. Goldsmith, Cycle of Fear: Syria's Alawites in War and Peace, Oxford University (2015), p. 122
  5. Muhammad Bashir al-Bani, Al-Murshid al-Mujaddid, Damascus, private edition 1979, pp. 57-69.
  6. Muhammad Bashir al-Bani, Al-Murshid al-Mujaddid, Damascus, private edition 1979, pp. 95-97
  7. Muhammad al-Habash, al-Shaikh Ahmad Kaftaru wa-manhajuhu fi al-tajdid wa-l-islah. 2nd ed. Damascus: Dar al-Shaikh Amin Kaftaru, 1996, p. 77
  8. "Jordan's 9/11: Dealing With Jihadi Islamism", Crisis Group Middle East Report N°47, 23 November 2005
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