The Salafi sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Bakkour appeared in a video recording inside a mosque in northern Syria, during a sermon monitored by “Rights Monitor” on 22 November 2025.
During the sermon, al-Bakkour directed insults at several senior moderate Sunni scholars in Syria, including the late Muhammad Sa‘id Ramadan al-Buti and Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro, former Grand Mufti of Syria. He also proceeded to declare members of the Alawite sect to be unbelievers and to consider them outside the fold of Islam.
Al-Bakkour said in his sermon that some scholars “convinced people that the Nusayris — that is, the Alawites — are Muslims,” adding: “Even today, when you go to the newly liberated areas, you find those who say that we and the Alawites are brothers. Who filled people’s minds and hearts with this? Those who obscured the concept of loyalty and disavowal, and erased the Muslim’s identity until he no longer distinguishes between the ally and the enemy, between the Muslim and the unbeliever, between the opponent and the friend.”
These statements come in the context of an escalation in hate speech against various sects, religions, and ethnicities in Syria, especially after Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham established its control over the region, which has contributed to increased social division and the fueling of violence. At the same time, the instigators—most of whom are close to the interim authority—remain outside the realm of accountability and justice.
