The Evolution of Ahmed al-Sharaa: Al-Qaeda’s Influence in Syria

Jack daniel
3 min readDec 19, 2024

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Originally associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and MIT, Ahmed al-Sharaa has been using the nom de guerre of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani and has played an important role as the leader of the Syrian factions with volatile orientation. It is for this reason that a former affiliate of Al-Qaeda has become a leading rebel fighter with a complicated dynamic between the jihadist movements and their Levantine goals, mainly represented by Al-Qaeda.

Al-Sharaa’s appearance in the Syrian theater started with the creation of the Jabhat al-Nusra organisation in 2012; an Al-Qaeda backed group focused on the ousting of Assad. Finally, under his leadership, al-Nusra became more notable due to military tactics and social services provision as the strong opponent for Assad. This conformation with Al-Qaeda’s global jihadist mission was clear as al-Nusra aimed at the formation of an Islamic state in Syria which in fact aligns with Al-Qaeda note of seeking expansion across the Levant region.

Yet this relationship which al-Sharaa had with Al-Qaeda wasn’t static but rather developed into a much different one. The al-Nusra became known as the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) in 2016, and claimed to sever ties with Al-Qaeda. By this move, the group intended to infiltrate deeper into the Syrian revolution agenda as well as to disassociate itself from the global terrorist label attributed to it, Al-Qaeda. However, doubt persisted in actual independence of this claim as most of the analysts saw this as a strategic image change rather than serious shifts in ideology.

With the formation of yet another faction known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in 2017 with al-Sharaa in charge deepened the wrangles personifying his position with Al-Qaeda. HTS combine several factions during the organization’s formation, such as former al-Nusra members, and tried to present a Syrian nationalist group. While in charge as the leader of HTS, Al-Sharaa however worked towards setting up civil structures in control of Idlib and on marketing the group to the international community as moderate. However, the link to its Salafi-jihadist past and activities in the past did not exactly augur well with the ‘moderate’ claim the group was making.

Opponents of al-Sharaa’s policies call them political lustrations that didn’t express essential transformations in the regime’s positions, but served to strengthen its base and gain foreign support. Evident from the continuous presence of jihadist ideologies within HTS, it is possible that the organizations goals are still in tandem with Al-Qaeda’s, of erecting an Islamic Caliphate in the Levant. This attitude is supported by the fact that even now there are many uncompromising members of HTS who promote the policy of the introduction of rigid sharia and going to war abroad.

In addition, al-Sharaa’s shifting allegiances and hostilities among jihadists including the ISIS for leader of the Syrian war show that he has been wise on the Syrian theatre. Despite this, he has established HTS as an organisation that is opposed to ISIS, but this seems to be more a question of pragmatism than of principle. While favoring the same over all jihadist causes, the two groups employ different strategies and have slightly different near term goals, with al-Sharaa looking for the implementation of a caliphate in the Levant.

To sum up, marketing and orientation of Al-Qaeda to the objectives in the Levant, the experience of Ahmed al-Sharaa can be described differently. By adopting organizational adaptation and realignment strategies, however, he has publicly disowned the group but the doctrinaire jihadist orientations and goals seem to endure. Appreciating this interactive relationship is important for making sense of the overall processes of jihadist mobilisation in the Levant and their consequences for the regional order.18:07

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Jack daniel
Jack daniel

Written by Jack daniel

Do not judge me before u know me, but just to inform u, you won’t like me

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