Hikmat al-Hijri

Overview

Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri is a senior spiritual leader of the Druze in Syria and a member of the mashayakh al-aql, the community’s leading spiritual body. He serves alongside Yousef al-Jerboa and Hammoud al-Hinnawi, but holds a distinct position as head of the spiritual presidency. Based in the As-Suwayda area, he became a prominent voice in disputes over the community’s security and political future after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. His demands moved from constitutional safeguards and local autonomy within a united Syria to autonomy under Israel’s protection after severe violence in July 2025. His position has never represented every Druze spiritual leader or armed faction. [1][2][3]

Early life

Al-Hijri comes from a prominent Druze family in which spiritual office passed between family members. He inherited the headship of the spiritual presidency after his brother died in 2012. Al-Jerboa and al-Hinnawi likewise inherited their positions from family members and lead the Ain al-Zaman shrine, a religious institution providing educational and humanitarian services. These parallel offices help explain both al-Hijri’s standing and the limits of any claim that one sheikh speaks for all Druze residents of As-Suwayda. [1]

Career

Al-Hijri criticized Assad’s government over minority protection and the presence of foreign militias. After Assad’s overthrow, he warned against a new tyranny and urged young Druze to defend their towns while preserving Syria’s unity. He called for a comprehensive national conference including Syrians across communities. In January 2025, he expressed confidence in cooperation with the new leadership. At the same time, he said local Druze militias would retain their weapons until a constitution was ratified, a government representing Syria’s sects and communities was formed, and separation of powers was secured. Until then, he said, the Druze would maintain local autonomy in Jabal al-Arab. His statement followed local armed groups’ interception of a military convoy attempting to enter As-Suwayda. [1][4][5]

On February 2, a Syrian defense ministry delegation led by Mustafa al-Bakour, the new government’s envoy to As-Suwayda, met al-Hijri to discuss the military situation. Proposed integration of Druze forces into a restructured Syrian army and the weapons they held remained points of disagreement. Later that month, people close to As-Suwayda’s religious leadership described him as rejecting separation of the province from Syria. Former Assad-regime officers and defectors led by Tareq al-Shoufi had formed the Suwayda Military Council days after Assad’s fall and sought a decentralized Syrian state. Al-Shoufi said al-Hijri supported the council, although al-Hijri initially rejected its formation and its authority to represent the governorate’s Druze. [6][7]

On March 6, protesters in As-Suwayda opposed the new administration and displayed al-Hijri’s picture beside that of Muwaffaq Tarif, spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community. On March 12, al-Hijri hosted a meeting at which Syrian officials and Druze figures signed an administrative and security memorandum. It called for stronger police and security services under the interior ministry, regularization of armed factions and deserters under the defense ministry, protection of public and private institutions, and removal of roadblocks. The meeting showed that negotiations continued even as distrust grew. [8]

Ideology and statements

Al-Hijri demanded local self-government, protection from external militias, and substantive Druze participation in Syria’s political reconstruction. As Ahmed al-Sharaa pursued centralized rule, al-Hijri increasingly advocated decentralized government. Before the July violence, he called al-Sharaa’s government “extremist in every sense of the word.” He sought assistance for Syria’s Druze from Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. In May 2025, after clashes with the new regime, he said trust in its leadership had collapsed, urged international intervention and declared that Israel was no enemy of Syria’s Druze. [1][2][9][10]

Other leaders took different positions. Al-Hinnawi and al-Jerboa remained more willing to engage Damascus and emphasized dialogue and Syrian unity. Laith al-Balous, a separate Druze political and armed figure, favored dialogue and opposed al-Hijri’s calls for Israeli involvement. Their disagreements concerned representation, disarmament, security and the extent of local self-government; they also reflected the existence of several Druze factions rather than a single political or military organization. [1][3][11]

Role in attacks or conflicts

Clashes involving Druze fighters, Bedouin groups and Syrian government forces escalated sharply in As-Suwayda in July 2025, following earlier violence affecting Druze communities. Government and allied forces participated in attacks on Druze civilians, and the fighting produced a severe humanitarian crisis. Armed groups affiliated with al-Hijri fought pro-government forces. The Suwayda Military Council became aligned with him, and an armed Druze faction and council forces operated under his command. Other factions, including Rijal al-Karama, retained separate leadership and positions. Accounts of the fighting also accused council fighters of violence against Bedouin residents. [1][2][3][11][12]

Al-Hijri rejected ceasefires negotiated by other Druze figures and appealed for outside protection as the fighting intensified. Israel struck Syrian military targets, including in Damascus, to protect the Druze. After the July clashes, al-Hijri openly called for Druze autonomy under Israel’s protection. In August, he thanked Israel and other governments for their assistance, called for an independent international investigation, and sought international observers to protect civilians. These later appeals followed his early 2025 support for cooperation with Syria’s new leadership and his rejection of separatism at that stage. [1][2][3][12][13][14]

Death or current status

Al-Hijri remained an active Druze spiritual and political leader after the July 2025 fighting. Internal disputes in As-Suwayda continued later in the year. Muwaffaq Tarif warned him to de-escalate after militia members affiliated with al-Hijri arrested opponents and two detainees were killed. The dispute underscored the division between al-Hijri’s supporters and other Druze figures over armed authority and relations with Damascus. [1][11][15]

Legacy

Al-Hijri’s changing position became central to debate over Druze security and self-government during Syria’s transition. It also became a target of misinformation. An AI-generated video falsely portrayed him urging As-Suwayda gunmen to surrender their weapons and apologizing for his conduct; Verify-Sy and Misbar identified both its video and audio as artificial. Online claims that Druze people collectively acted as Israeli agents turned disputes over al-Hijri’s appeals into anti-Druze hostility. His career illustrates a sharper distinction: spiritual leaders and armed factions held divergent views, and his demand for Israeli protection emerged after the collapse of trust amid violence. [1][2][16]