At Damascus book fair, Islamist titles and Kurdish culture echo big shifts

Owning a copy of Sayyid Qutb's "Milestones" could land you in jail or worse in Syria when the Assads ruled. But at a Damascus book fair this month, the title by the radical Islamist ideologue was on prominent display and selling well.

Held for the first time since Bashar al-Assad was ousted, this year's Damascus International Book Fair reflects deep changes in Syria since its nominally secular order was overthrown by Islamist rebels led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

In addition to once forbidden Islamist texts, there are titles by secular critics of the ousted government and a section dedicated to Kurdish culture and language, which was banned under Assad's Baathist state but recently recognised as a national tongue by Sharaa.

"In the new Syria, it's a fair where no book is banned," said Zuhair al-Barri, the event coordinator, adding that the country had been in "intellectual and cultural darkness" under Assad.

All books are permitted, he said, except for those that are at odds with "civil peace and social cohesion", that "violate the values and customs of Syrian society", or that glorify the Assad regime.

JAILED FOR OWNING A BOOK

Works by Qutb, who produced much of his writing while imprisoned in Egypt under President Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1960s, were selling very well, said Atef Namous, owner of a publishing house that has reprinted them.

"The demand is huge, not just for 'Milestones' ... all of Sayyid Qutb's works are in high demand," he said, adding that he had so far sold 150 copies of 'Milestones' since the fair opened on February 6.

Qutb, who was executed in 1966, was a literary critic and Islamist thinker whose ideas provided ideological fuel for militancy in Egypt and beyond, and was cited by former al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri as a source of inspiration. Namous argued Qutb's writing has been misrepresented by its critics.

Namous left Syria in the 1980s when Bashar's father, Hafez, was in power and cracking down on Islamists.

"I have many friends who, when their homes were searched and these texts found, it was like their death certificate - a death sentence. Many went to Tadmur prison," he said, referring to one of the most notorious jails in Syria under the Assads.

Also displayed was a hefty volume of fatwas, or religious edicts, by Ibn Taymiyyah, whose 700-year-old works have influenced modern-day Islamists, including militants.

MEMOIRS OF EX-AL QAEDA FIGURE ON SALE

Sharaa, who has vowed to uphold rights and freedoms in the new Syria, was a member of al Qaeda until cutting ties in 2016.

The memoirs of another former senior al Qaeda member, Abu Hafs al-Mauritani, were on sale. Mauritani quit al Qaeda in August 2001 after Osama bin Laden told its Shura Council - without disclosing details - of plans for operations that would lead the United States to invade Afghanistan, ahead of the September 11 attacks, Mauritani said in a 2015 interview with Al Jazeera. He said Islam forbids the killing of innocents.

Another al Qaeda-linked book, containing audio addresses by al Qaeda's former leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was blocked from the fair following a request from Iraq to the Syrian government, Reuters reported last week.

Zarqawi was killed in 2006.

Barri, the coordinator, said the publisher had decided against displaying the book, "Have You Heard the Talk of the Rafida?" because it was having an impact on "international politics".

Iraqi authorities said the book promotes hatred and sectarianism. Rafida is a derogatory term for Shi'ite Muslims.

'A STEP FORWARD'

Veteran rights campaigner Haitham Maleh, whose memoirs were on sale, said the Baathist state had suppressed thought and writing, allowing only books that supported their viewpoint.

"This exhibition represents the beginning of an openness to ideas and global thought," said Maleh, who was jailed by Assad.

It was, he said, "a step forward".

At the Kurdish pavilion, staffed by a woman and a man in traditional Kurdish dress, the works on show included Kurdish poetry and a copy of a Kurdish magazine published in 1932.

The prominent display of Kurdish culture comes at a sensitive juncture for Syria, as the government and Kurdish forces implement a peace deal aimed at integrating Kurdish-run areas of the northeast with Damascus.

Salah Surkji, director of the Kurdish section, said Kurdish books were hidden in Assad's time. "Reading them was done secretly, or they were circulated discreetly, because anyone caught with such books would be subject to questioning and investigation," he said.