Ma'arrat al-Ikhwan (, also spelled Ma'arrat al-Akwan, Maaret Ikhwan or Martahwan) is a village in northwestern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama Governorate to the sou ...

located north of

Idlib Idlib (, ; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly above sea level, and is southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey. History ...

. Nearby localities include Maarrat Misrin to the south, Zardana to the southeast, Kafr Yahmul to the east, Hizano to the northeast, Kaftin to the north, Qurqania to the northwest and Harbanoush to the west. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Ma'arrat al-Ikhwan had a population of 1,831 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Idlib Governorate. Archived a

It has a significant population of

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

, who inhabit several small villages in the A'la Mountain and its vicinity.

History

During the

Muslim conquest of Syria The Muslim conquest of the Levant (; ), or Arab conquest of Syria, was a 634–638 CE invasion of Byzantine Syria by the Rashidun Caliphate. A part of the wider Arab–Byzantine wars, the Levant was brought under Arab Muslim rule and developed ...

in the 630s,

Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ (; 583–639), better known as Abū ʿUbayda () was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Prophet. He is mostly known for being one of the ten to whom Paradise was promised. He was comm ...

and his army destroyed Maarrat al-Ikhwan and Sarmin after capturing Maarrat Misrin and

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. Ma'arat al-Ikhwan was one of the major towns, along with Maarrat Misrin and Zardana, of the al-Jazr district of Aleppo during the medieval period. Ma'arrat al-Ikhwan is the birthplace of Shaykh Jabir al-Halabi, a renowned religious leader and a leading scholar of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

during the 17th-century. He was honored with the title ''Shaykh al-Islam'' for the District of Aleppo by Ottoman sultan

Murad IV Murad IV (, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; , 27 July 1612 – 8 February 1640) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad I ...

. Following his death in 1640, Sultan Murad ordered the construction of a shrine over his tomb in Ma'arrat al-Ikhwan where it is still visited by both

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s and

to receive blessings. In the mid-19th-century, Dutch merchant and author Thomas Hope visited Maarrat al-Ikhwan and noted that it was inhabited by members of the

Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...

community. In the late 19th-century Ma'arrat al-Ikhwan was described as a large village situated on an open plain and distinguished by roofs that resembled "sugar-cones." In another 19th-century account Western traveler Albert Socin described the place as an impoverished village. During the ongoing Syrian civil war that began in 2011, opposition rebels from the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...

set up a headquarters and military training camp in Ma'arrat al-Ikhwan.Laub, Kari
In Syrian Rebel Training, Motivation Trumps Skill
''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

''. 2012-12-18.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maarrat Ikhwan Populated places in Idlib District Druze communities in Syria

History

See also

References

Bibliography