The Syrian Future Movement is following with great interest the step taken by the Syrian Ministry of Religious Endowments on Friday, May 22, 2026, requiring imams and preachers to sign a written pledge to adhere to the “Charter for the Unity of Islamic Discourse.” This charter was officially launched during a national conference held in Damascus on February 15-16, 2026, under the auspices of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and attended by approximately 1,500 scholars and religious figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Ministry of Religious Endowments, the charter aims to unify and regulate religious discourse according to Sharia principles that respect sectarian diversity, promote civil peace, and prevent the exploitation of religion for sectarian or partisan purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Syrian Future Movement appreciates the Ministry of Religious Endowments’ efforts in establishing a framework for religious discourse that recognizes Sunni sectarian diversity (the four schools of thought, Ash’arism, Sufism, and Salafism) and establishes guidelines to prevent the exploitation of religion to incite conflict or division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Syrian Future Movement points to the core principles of the charter and the problematic implementation mechanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The charter’s content rests on three main pillars: establishing Islam as a unifying reference point, recognizing doctrinal diversity as a source of enrichment, and regulating religious edicts and discourse under the authority of the Supreme Fatwa Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These principles, in our view, represent a common ground upon which to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Problem of Implementation: While we support the charter’s general objectives, we express reservations about the binding implementation mechanism that the Ministry has begun applying. This mechanism includes deleting previously published content deemed in violation and the possibility of judicial and administrative accountability for violators. We caution that transforming a religious and ethical commitment into a “written pledge” with penalties could become a tool for censorship or settling scores if independent oversight mechanisms are not in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on its national responsibility, the Syrian Future Movement recommends the following to the Ministry of Religious Endowments:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Syrian Future Movement reiterates its support for any effort aimed at regulating religious discourse and promoting civil peace, emphasizing that a noble goal does not justify opaque means. We believe the government is called upon today to implement the charter in a patriotic, not punitive, spirit, and to demonstrate to everyone that the objective is to protect society from hate speech, not to silence dissenting voices or take revenge on specific groups. We also believe that the success of this experiment will be a true measure of the new Syria’s ability to embrace its diversity and manage its differences with awareness and wisdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Analysis of the Ministry of Religious Endowments’ move to obligate imams to sign a charter for the unity of Islamic discourse and the achievement of doctrinal diversity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":64420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4667],"tags":[4706],"class_list":["post-64419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religious-office-en","tag-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\n\n