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

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, administratively part of

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / 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 ...

located north of

Idlib ar, إدلبي, Idlibi , coordinates = , elevation_m = 500 , area_code = 23 , geocode = C3871 , blank_name = Climate , blank_info ...

. Nearby localities include

Maarrat Misrin Ma'arrat Misrin ( ar, مَعَرَّةُ مِصْرِينَ, Maʿarrat Miṣrīn, also spelled Ma'arrat Masrin or Ma'aret Masreen) is a small city in northwestern Syria, administratively part of Idlib Governorate. Ma'arrat Misrin lies an elevation ...

to the south,

Zardana Zardana ( ar, زردنا, also spelled Zerdana or Zirdana) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of Idlib Governorate. The village lies in a relatively flat plain. Nearby localities include Taftanaz to the southeast, al-Fu'ah a ...

to the southeast,

Kafr Yahmul Kafr Yahmul ( ar, كَفْر يَحْمُول, Kafr Yaḥmūl; also spelled, Kafrehmul) is a Syrian village located in Maarrat Misrin Nahiyah in Idlib District, Idlib ar, إدلبي, Idlibi , coordinates = , elevation_m ...

to the east,

Hizano Hizano ( ar, حزانو, also spelled Hazzanu) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located northwest of Idlib. Nearby localities include Kafr Yahmul and Maarrat al-Ikhwan to the south, Zardana to the sout ...

to the northeast,

Kaftin Kaftin ( ar, كفتين, also spelled Keftin or Kaftayn) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located northwest of Idlib. The village is situated at the southern approach of the A'la Mountain. Nearby loca ...

to the north,

Qurqania Qurqania ( ar, قُورْقَانِيَا, Qūrqāniyā, also spelled ''Qurqanya'' or ''Korkania'') is a town in Syria, administratively part of the Harem District of the Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ...

to the northwest and

Haranabush Haranabush ( ar, حرنبوش) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of Idlib Governorate, located northwest of Idlib. It is situated off the eastern slopes of Harim Mountains, A'la Mountain. Nearby localities include Maarrat Misrin ...

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 (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

, 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 ( ar, فَتْحُ الشَّام, translit=Feth eş-Şâm), also known as the Rashidun conquest of Syria, occurred in the first half of the 7th century, shortly after the rise of Islam."Syria." Encyclopædia Br ...

in the 630s,

Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ ( ar, عامر بن عبدالله بن الجراح; 583–639 CE), better known as Abū ʿUbayda ( ar, أبو عبيدة ) was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Islamic prophet M ...

and his army destroyed Maarrat al-Ikhwan and

Sarmin Sarmin ( ar, سَرْمِين, Sarmīn also spelled Sarmeen) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located 15 kilometers southeast of Idlib. It has an altitude of about 390 meters. Nearby localities inclu ...

after capturing

and

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

. Ma'arat al-Ikhwan was one of the major towns, along with Maarrat Misrin and

, 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 (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

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 ( ota, مراد رابع, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; tr, IV. Murad, 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 IV was born in Cons ...

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

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 The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isl ...

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) ( ar, الجيش السوري الحر, al-jaysh as-Sūrī al-ḥur) is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the governm ...

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 non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

''. 2012-12-18.

References

Bibliography

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

History

See also

References

Bibliography