By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Former Syrian Mufti Ahmed Hassoun has been nicknamed the "Mufti of Barrels" for supporting the massacre of the Syrian people by the Assad regime.
He once prayed next to Bashar al-Assad and was a strong defender of his regime, but is now behind bars on charges of inciting fighting against the revolutionaries and defending the use of barrels of explosives.
Who is the Mufti of Barrels?
Ahmed Badraddin Mohammed Hassan was born on April 25, 1949 in Aleppo, Syria. He grew up under the care of his father, Sheikh Mohammed Adib Hassan, who spent his entire life teaching.
Hassun earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic literature from Al-Azhar University, where he completed his graduate studies and received a doctorate in Shafi'i jurisprudence.
Indonesia’s Sunan Kalijaka State Islamic University awarded him an honorary doctorate for his 2008 speech before the European Parliament.
Hassun ran for the Syrian parliament and won by a majority in 1990, and remained in office until the second session of parliament in
Hassun served as Mufti of Aleppo between 2002 and 2005, and was a member of the Supreme Council of Fatwa between 2002 and
Following the death of Syrian Mufti Ahmad Kaftaro, Hassun was appointed his successor as Mufti General in 2005, and became a member of the World Association for the Rapprochement of Islamic Sects in Iran, and the Royal Institute of Islamic Thought in Jordan.
He participated in the “Year of Dialogue of Cultures” event at the European Parliament in 2008, and in 2014 he received the “Peace Prize” from the Duchy Foundation.
The Syrian Revolution
During his tenure as Syria's mufti-general, Hassun was known for his pro-Syrian regime and Assad positions and for taking advantage of religious occasions to support, advocate and attack them.
As the Syrian revolution began, Hassun supported the regime's rule, describing the revolution and the mass movement as "a conspiracy against Syrian security backed by terrorists.
Opponents of the regime, in turn, called him the "mufti of barrels" after he called on the Syrian regime to exterminate the opposition in neighborhoods they controlled.
Hassan also attacked Syrian refugees in several interviews and occasions, describing them as servants and workers of Western countries.
At the funeral of artist Sabah Fakhri in Aleppo, Hassun claimed that the map of Syria appears in Surah Al-Tin, asking: "Where is the map of Syria in the Holy Qur'an? (2) And this is the secure land. (3) We created man in the best of calendar.
"This means that we have created people in this country in the most beautiful way. If they leave, we will send them back to the lowest ranks," he said, referring to refugees outside Syria.
Hassun justified the Syrian regime's bombing of civilians in Aleppo, describing the regime's operations as "liberation. "Iranians and Russians have not come as invaders, but as helpers," he said. It also forbade fighting against the Syrian army and made joining the army a legitimate duty.
In 2016, Hassoun visited the Irish Parliament as part of a religious delegation and delivered a speech before the Foreign Affairs Committee, calling on the European Union to ease sanctions against the Syrian government and denying Russia's involvement in crimes against Syrian civilians.
The visit sparked controversy, especially after previous remarks in which he threatened to train suicide bombers to carry out attacks in Europe and the United States if the West launched air strikes on Syria and Lebanon.
A 2017 Amnesty International report revealed that senior Syrian government officials had ordered the execution of nearly 13,000 detainees in Saydnaya prison over the past five years after the sentences were approved by the Syrian mufti, during which Hassun was in office.
After the mufti-general's approval of the death penalty, approval was obtained from the defense minister or the chief of staff of the Syrian army, who had the authority to decide on Assad's behalf.
After the mufti-general's approval of the death penalty, approval was obtained from the defense minister or the chief of staff of the Syrian army, who had the authority to decide on Assad's behalf.
In November 2021, Assad announced the abolition of the post of mufti by decree No. 28, which repealed Article 35 of the law regulating the work of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which appointed the mufti general of the republic. At the same time, it strengthened the powers of the Jurisprudence Scientific Council in the Ministry of Endowments.
According to the decree, the duties of the Scientific Jurisprudence Council were to determine the beginning and end of the migration months, see the moon, prove and announce jurisprudence rules related to Islamic religious worship and slogans; These were the duties that had previously fallen on the shoulders of the Mufti of the Republic.
On February 18, 2025, Syrian protesters raided his home in Aleppo amid slogans demanding his trial after he appeared publicly in the city.
The trial
In March 2025, Syrian authorities arrested Ahmed Hassouni at Damascus International Airport while trying to leave the country, based on an arrest warrant issued by the prosecutor general.
Hassun has been free since the fall of the Assad regime, but before his arrest, he had sparked a wave of anger and division among Syrians after he was seen walking in Aleppo (where he lives). They described what the Assad regime had done against Syrians.
More than a year after his arrest, the first trial of former mufti Ahmad Hassoun began on Thursday morning at the Damascus Palace of Justice. The hearing was chaired by Judge Fakhruddin Mustafa Aryan, in the presence of Prosecutor General Judge Advisor Hassan Turba and several local and international human rights organizations.
The Fourth Criminal Court judge charged Hassun with inciting murder, participating in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The charges were based on Hassun's contacts with Bashar al-Assad, Director General of Intelligence Ali Mamluk and a number of senior officers and militia leaders, as well as statements and speeches that were considered incitement against civilians and demands to destroy areas with barrels of explosives.
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