Finally free to speak his mind, the young imam doesn’t hold back. “Sharia [Islamic religious law] should be the basis for law, because 80 percent of Syrians are Muslims,” he says, responding to a question about Syria’s future. “But we need an Islamic government that will respect all the sects in Syria, whatever they are. We won’t oppose any non-Muslims, and we won’t force them to follow sharia.”
Al-Ashawi, in addition to leading services at mosques around Azaz, has been moonlighting as an FSA fighter. In August of last year, he says, when the town celebrated the death of its first martyr, he did what no imam in Azaz dared to do — he prayed publicly for the fallen man. The same night, after his sermon provoked anti-regime demonstrations, he was arrested by security officials and sent to jail in Aleppo.
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