Mabujah ( also spelled ''Mabuja'', ''Mabouja'', ''Mabouga'', ''Mabujeh'' or ''Al Mab`ujah'') is a village in central Syria located in the

Sabburah Subdistrict Sabburah () is a Syrian nahiyah (subdistrict) located in Salamiyah District in Hama. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Sabburah Subdistrict had a population of 21900 in the 2004 census. The district is predominantly inha ...

of the

Salamiyah District Salamiyah ( ') is a district (mantiqah) administratively belonging to Hama Governorate, Syria. At the 2004 Census it had a population of 187,123. Its administrative district is the city of Salamiyah. Sub-districts The district of Salamiyah is div ...

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā'') is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Aleppo Governorates to the north, Raqqa Gove ...

. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Mabujah had a population of 2,929 in the 2004 census. A majority of the village's inhabitants are Ismaili Muslims, but there are also significant communities of

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 ...

and

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

s. During the ongoing Syrian Civil War, on 31 March 2015, terrorists from

ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

attacked the village and murdered from 37 to 44 of its inhabitants. Those killed came from all of the village's religious sects and included whole families.

Syrian Arab Army The Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF; ) were the combined armed forces of Syria from 1963 to 2024. They served during the rule of the Ba'ath Party in Syria. The SAAF consisted of the Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Air D ...

forces repelled the militants hours later. According to the Syrian military, the attack was part of IS's efforts to advance toward the cities of

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

and

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

via the

Syrian Desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...

References

{{Hama Governorate, salamiyah Populated places in Salamiyah District Alawite communities in Syria Ismaili communities in Syria