Freemasonry in Syria

**Freemasonry in Syria** began in 1748 with the establishment of a lodge in Aleppo by Sir Alexander Drummond. Throughout the centuries, various lodges emerged and dissolved due to political and social changes. Despite opposition and being outlawed in 1965, Freemasons significantly influenced Syrian culture and politics, contributing to independence efforts and social reforms.

## History

On 3 February 1748, the British Counsel to the Ottoman Empire, Sir Alexander Drummond established the masonic lodge in Aleppo, which appeared to have short-lived. Later on, the Grand Orient of Italy and France inaugurated lodges in Damascus in the 1860s, but they disappeared by the end of the century. In April 1868, Ottoman governor Mehmed Rashid Pasha established "King Solomon Lodge" with the support of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Most of these lodges were located to the east of Umayyad Mosque. In 1879, "Syria Lodge" was founded in the affluent Qanawat neighborhood, a charter of the Grand Orient of Italy until 1890. In 1898, "Noor Dimashq Lodge" was opened by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in Mazanet al-Shahem district, and remained active until the emergence of the First World War in 1914.

In the 20th century, the Grand Lodge of Scotland chartered "Lodge Light" in Damascus in 1909, then the Grand Orient de France had the "Qassioun Lodge" in 1922 and another "Syria" lodge in 1924, and later the Grand Lodge of New York established "Ibrahim al-Khalil" lodge in the same city in 1924. In 1928, "al-Isaaf Lodge" was founded in Damascus as an extension of Egyptian Freemasonry. In the meantime, several other Lodges were established in other cities including: Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Latakia, Inab, Alexandretta, and Antakya, in which most of them were under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Italy.

Emir Abdelkader who settled in Damascus was considered one the first members of the organization in Egypt in June 1864, in which he encouraged two of his sons, Mohammed and Mohie Eldin, to found the first lodge in Damascus. Later on, most elites became active members, and their meetings led to many decisive decisions such as proclaiming the Syrian independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1918, and from the French Mandate in 1946. In the 1930s, they tended to use Arabic as their official language with no foreign members, in addition to differentiating their clothing from other European lodges. On 23 April 1935, they deduced the importance of ending the French mandate, creating a national army and seeking admission to the League of Nations. In February 1937, a journalist called Wajih Beidoun reported that some lodges accepted members with no proper registration, and demanded a huge admission fee, meanwhile some of these members used to be corrupt and had illegal commercial dealings. In 1938, another report from Ali Naser Eldin accused his fellow Freemasons of dependency on the West. Syrian Freemasons preferred joining the Scottish instead of English or French lodges which supported the mandates in the Levant. On 13 April 1935, loyalists to the West founded "The Grand Orient Syrian Lodge". Meanwhile, the nationalists led by Ata Bey al-Ayyubi established the "Grand Lodge of Syria" under the charter of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, in order to counter the other lodge. The Grand Lodge of Syria included seven lodges in Damascus: al-Iman, al-Amal, al-Tawfiq, al-Andalus, al-Nahda, al-Ittihad and al-Yarmouk, yet it was forced to close in 1940 under the orders of High Commissioner Henri Dentz.

In the 1940s, the Muslim Brotherhood considered them their main adversaries as they adhered secularism. Following the Syrian independence, there was a new "Lodge of Syria and Lebanon" in 1949, with three other smaller lodges known as Umayya in Damascus, Khalid ibn al-Walid and al-Orouba in Homs. Between 1948 and 1957, the Freemasons became unpopular following the Palestine war, in which the newspapers refused to cover their activities, and certain members started to hide their masonic affiliations.

During the United Arab Republic, the Freemasons destroyed their documents, as they were cautious of Gamal Abdel Nasser who accused them of having relations with foreign countries. However, both Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj and Akram al-Hawrani with their radical socialist views were vital in opposing the Freemasons, claiming they were the reasons behind poverty in Syria and the disastrous loss in the Palestine war. Eventually, Freemasonry was outlawed in Syria by the Ba'ath Party during the presidency of Amin al-Hafiz on 9 August 1965 as being an "illegal secret society", following the capture of Israeli spy Eli Cohen.

## Contributions

Freemasons from the Noor Dimashq and Qassioun lodges managed to Arabize the Faculty of Medicine in the Damascus University including Rida Said, and financed the publication of academic books and journals. They also initiated the Arab Music Academy of Damascus and the Syrian Red Crescent in 1923. The Qassioun Lodge Freemasons built a hospital for tuberculosis patients in Rukneddine, which was later granted to the Syrian authorities in 1936. In addition, they contributed to the construction of Al Mouwasat University Hospital near Old Mezzeh in 1958.

## Ceremonies

Muslims were allowed to take their solemn oath on the Holy Quran, Christians on the Holy Bible, while Atheists were not admitted. Freemasons had to kiss the Holy Scripture, with the letter "G", in reference to God, was central to all Orient lodge meetings, and had the Syrian national anthem, Humat ad-Diyar, played at the beginning of the meetings since 1936. Moreover, they raised the independence flag with its three stars, which represented the three main regions during the Great Syrian Revolt. The lodges were officially registered and used to pay taxes regularly, in addition to presenting their annual balance sheet to the Ministry of Finance. In order to gain membership, applicants must present a certificate of good conduct from the Ministry of Justice with a history clear of criminal offences. Nevertheless, the lodges tended to keep their deliberations confidential; hence, they expelled a journalist called Najib Al Rayes in 1925, who had revealed some content of the meetings.

## Notable Syrian Freemasons

- Emir Abdelkader
- Abd al-Rahman al-Youssef
- Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar
- Adib Shishakli
- Adil Arslan
- Ahmad Nami
- Ata Bey al-Ayyubi
- Bahij al-Khatib
- Fares al-Khoury
- Fawzi Selu
- Hafez al-Assad
- Hanna Malek
- Haqqi al-Azm
- Hassan al-Hakim
- Husni al-Barazi
- Ibrahim Hananu
- Jamil al-Ulshi
- Jamil Mardam Bey
- Lutfi al-Haffar
- Midhat Pasha
- Muhammad Said al-Jazairi
- Mustafa al-Shihabi
- Raouf Al Ayoubi
- Rida Said
- Said al-Ghazzi
- Shaker al-Hanbali
- Shakib Arslan
- Subhi Bey Barakat
- Toufic Shamia
- Wajih al-Haffar
- Wathiq Moayad al-Azm
- Youssef al-Hakim

## Sources

- Jean-Marc Aractingi, Histoire de la franc-maçonnerie au Moyen-Orient: Liban, Syrie, Palestine, Turquie, Egypte, Iran..., Ed.Amazon Digital Services LLC , 2019, ,9781075005473,708 pages.