Ali ibn Sulayman al-Assad ( né al-Wahsh ; 1875 – 1963) was a Syrian farmer, tribal leader, and religious authority best known as the father of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and grandfather of current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Personal life

Ali ibn Sulayman al-Wahsh was the son of Sulayman ibn Ahmed ibn Ibrahim ibn Sulayman al-Wahsh. The

al-Assad family The al-Assad family ( ar, عَائِلَة الْأَسَد '), also known as the Assad dynasty, has ruled Syria since General Hafez al-Assad became President of Syria in 1971 under the Ba'ath Party. After his death, in June 2000, he was succee ...

lived in

Qardaha Qardaha ( ar, القَرْدَاحَة / ALA-LC: ''Qardāḥah'') is a town in northwestern Syria, in the mountains overlooking the coastal town of Latakia. Nearby localities include Kilmakho to the west, Bustan al-Basha to the southwest, Harf a ...

, an Alawite town in the mountainous Latakia Sanjak of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. They are members of the

Kalbiyya The Kalbiyya, ( ar, القلبية) Qalbiyya are one of four tribes, or tribal confederations, of the Alawite community in Syria. Syrian Presidents Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad are from the Kalbiyya. Alawite background The Kalbi ...

tribe. Ali was known for protecting the weak, and in the 1920s had assisted refugees fleeing the former Aleppo province when France gave parts of it to Turkey. He was one of the few literate Alawites in his home village, and the only man in his village to subscribe to a newspaper. For his accomplishments, Ali was called ''al-Assad'' ( ar, الأسد, lit=the lion) by his fellow Alawites, and made the nickname his surname in 1927. Ali married 3 times and over three decades had eleven children. His first wife Sa'ada was from the district of Haffeh. They had three sons and two daughters. His second wife was Na'isa, twenty years younger than him. She was the daughter of Uthman Abbud from the village of Qutilba, about 12 kilometres further up the mountain. They had a daughter and five sons. Hafez was born on 6 October 1930 and was the fourth child.

Political influence

Ali ibn Sulayman al-Assad was one of the signatories of a supposed letter "No. 3547" addressed to

French Prime Minister The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister i ...

Léon Blum on 15 June 1936, which implored the French not to abandon Syria. However, historian Stefan Winter argues that this letter is a forgery. The disputed letter states: The letter praises the Jews in Palestine and includes them among the groups that are persecuted by the Muslims. It is possible that this aspect of the letter was not sincere but was intended to curry favor with Léon Blum, the French Prime Minister to whom it was addressed, who was a Jew. On 31 August 2012, the permanent representative of France to the United Nations

Gérard Araud Gérard Araud (born 20 February 1953) is a retired French diplomat who served as Ambassador of France to the United States from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Director General for Political and Security Affairs of the Ministry of Forei ...

mentioned the letter in response to the Syrian diplomat

Bashar Jaafari Bashar Jaafari, also Ja'afari, ( ar, بشار الجعفري) (born April 14, 1956) is the former Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. His qualifications include a Bachelor of ...

Notes

References

Websites

Stefan Winter: ''The Asad Petition of 1936: Bashar’s Grandfather Was Pro-Unionist'', in: Syria Comment, 14 June 2016.

Bibliography