Druze Spiritual Authority Calls for Independence to Secure Community’s Survival

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a solemn and expansive year-end message marked by grief, defiance, and political resolve, Sheikh Hikmat Salman Al-Hijri, the spiritual leader of the Unitarian Druze, issued a direct appeal to his community and the international community, declaring that the Druze of Bashan would persist in their demand for dignity, security, and self-determination after what he described as a year of massacres, displacement, and existential threat.

Speaking in a video message published on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, Sheikh Al-Hijri opened with prayers for those killed and wounded, framing his address as a “familial talk” delivered from the position of the Spiritual Leadership at the close of what he called a “difficult year for us all.” He expressed hope that the coming period would be better, conditioned on patience, unity, and perseverance in pursuing what he described as the legitimate demands of the people.

Looking back one year, Al-Hijri described a political rupture in Syria that he said had failed to bring relief or justice.

He recalled the flight of what he termed a “tyrant” under international arrangements and the collapse of a former regime, only to see it replaced, in his words, by “a regime of politicized factions with takfiri gangs mixed with ISIS members and foreigners.”

According to Al-Hijri, the transitional period brought no meaningful change in the suffering of civilians, arguing that the “woes of the tyrant’s regime” merely gave way to the “woes and massacres of the new gangs’ regime,” differing only in name and form.

He said that repeated calls for Syrian rights were met not with reform but with rising hostility toward the Druze community, as what he described as “buried hatred” manifested in fabricated pretexts for invasion and extermination. That hostility, he said, culminated in what he called the tragedies of “Black July,” during which massacres were committed against civilians.

Al-Hijri accused armed groups of burning homes, looting livelihoods, violating honor and social norms, and preventing residents from returning to their villages under what he described as security justifications and international will.

In some of the most harrowing passages of his address, Al-Hijri spoke of martyrs whose bodies could not be retrieved for burial, left exposed and decomposing, a reality he said intensified the gravity of the crime to an extent “unparalleled in human history.”

He said these events compelled Druze men to rise in defense of land, honor, and existence, ultimately defeating what he characterized as an extermination campaign.

From that experience, Al-Hijri said, emerged a decisive political demand.

He announced that the community had declared a request for independence, grounded in the right of self-determination under international law, as the only means of preserving dignity and peace.

He insisted that there would be no retreat from this path as long as the will of the people remained firm and unified, invoking ancestral ties to Bashan and describing the bond between blood, land, and identity as inseparable.

At the same time, the Druze leader warned of continuing dangers. He said the community’s wounds remained open, with women and men still subjected to kidnapping and disappearance, homes shelled nightly, and Bashan under siege “from all sides and in all fields.”

In response, he called on the community to reject internal bickering, revenge, and false accusations, urging mutual trust and adherence to a unified direction aligned with the will of the people of Bashan.

Al-Hijri cautioned against unauthorized claims of representation or divergent political positions that contradict popular consensus. He also directed a sharp message outward, telling those outside the community to stop antagonizing the Druze through what he described as devious methods, stressing that the people of Bashan understood their own circumstances better than anyone else.

The spiritual leader devoted a significant portion of his address to internal accountability and lawfulness.

He said the Spiritual Leadership condemned all outlaw actions and called for traitors and terrorists to be held accountable through competent authorities, not vigilantism. He declared that those who steal from their people, exploit aid, trade in livelihoods, spread discord, or assault public and private property were no different from terrorists and deserved punishment.

While emphasizing due process, he warned that such acts would not be forgotten, even if temporarily overlooked, and drew a firm boundary of belonging by stating that “he who betrayed us is not one of us.”

Expressing regret over what he described as recent acts of abandonment by “weak souls,” Al-Hijri said such individuals were unworthy of belonging to Bashan and had been presented to the judiciary.

He vowed there would be no forgiveness for crimes involving the blood of the people and no mercy for what he termed groups of darkness, terrorism, and treason, declaring that the community would remain in defensive positions.

Beyond the Druze community, Al-Hijri addressed broader regional dynamics. He condemned the continuation of sectarian incitement and what he described as attempts to exterminate minorities, including attacks against Alawite and Christian communities in Homs and along the coast, as well as ongoing assaults on regions held by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

He warned that this approach would bring only destruction to the region and called on international bodies to intervene to stop the violations.

He affirmed full support for the rights of Kurdish people, expressing solidarity with what he described as their legitimate claims, and voiced support for communities along the Syrian coast for their vigilance and rejection of injustice.

He also addressed Druze expatriates worldwide, praising their contributions and resilience in exile, calling them ambassadors of their people and builders of peace wherever they reside.

Al-Hijri concluded with expressions of gratitude to local defense and security forces, Christian communities standing alongside the Druze, and minorities maintaining their identities peacefully. He marked the Christian season by recalling the birth of Christ and praying for a year of peace.

In a notable passage, he extended salutations to the State of Israel, its government and people, and to global powers that he said appreciated the Druze position and sought solutions, pledging loyalty to those who aided the community.

Ending his address from Mount Bashan in Qanawat, Al-Hijri called for patience, discipline, and trust, envisioning Bashan as a future point of stability and a “bright pearl” in the Middle East—free, independent in decision-making, and rooted in its people.