Highlights of the Visit of the Syrian President, Ahmad al-Shara, to Moscow
By: Ustadh Ahmad Al-Sourani
(Translated)

Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 570 - 22/10/2025 CE

Syria’s transitional president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, accompanied by an official delegation that included his foreign minister, Asaad Al-Shaibani, visited the Russian capital, Moscow, on October 15, 2025. They met with Russian President Putin in their first official visit since the fall of the Assad regime, at the end of last year.

Anyone following the news of this visit realizes that it has nothing to do with the demand for Bashar’s extradition, as some are claiming. It is only taking place with American approval to lend more legitimacy to Ahmad al-Sharaa, who has diverse connections. The issue of Russian bases in Syria, and their continued existence, were discussed, and it appears that they have pledged their continued existence. However, one of the most dangerous implications of the visit is that it demonstrates that what comes after the revolution is not what came before it, and that the new course of action requires forgetting the revolution and its constants.

Although Russia, led by Putin, played a key role in stabilizing the Assad regime for ten years following its military intervention in 2015 at Obama’s behest, supporting it with weapons, equipment, and experts and committing the most heinous massacres against the people of Syria, the new Syrian leadership overlooked this criminal past of the Russians. The Syrian delegation left the meeting exchanging smiles and jokes with Putin. Ahmed al-Sharaa even affirmed that he respects all previous agreements with Russia.

As a wave of criticism swept across the visit, its statements, and the resulting calamities that rewarded the Russians for their intervention in Syria, and whitewashed their dark faces, Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani attempted to salvage the situation with an interview on the official Syrian news channel, declaring, “The current Syrian government does not accept previous Russian agreements concluded with the Assad regime, and that they are suspended. All of these previous agreements are being negotiated and re-evaluated.” From this, we see the extent of the Syrian administration’s confusion in managing political matters, contrary to the desires and aspirations of the Syrian people, who hold utter hostility toward Russia. Al-Shaibani was unable to declare these agreements invalid, but instead described them as suspended and open to negotiation and amendment! This contradicts the statements of his president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, regarding respect for the agreements concluded with Russia.

It's worth noting that Al-Shaibani declared in January of this year that the former regime’s allies held $30 billion in foreign debt. After a wave of protests against his statement, no official statement was issued by the Damascus government regarding these debts, indicating an acknowledgment of the debts, for which the Syrian people paid in blood throughout the revolution. Then, it appears that this bereaved people are being forced to repay these debts from their own pockets to appease the Russian enemy!

The saying, “There is no permanent enmity between countries in politics,” is a statement that contradicts Islamic Shariah Law. The Prophet (saw) declared enmity against all countries that were actually at war, and divided the world into the Abode of Islam (Dar ul-Islam) and the Abode of Disbelief (Dar ul-Kufr). His goal was to conquer the lands of the disbelievers and annex them to the Islamic State, transforming them into abodes of Islam governed by the law of Allah (swt), and their security secured by the security of the Muslims, that is, by their own military power.

Despite the small number of Muslims, the Prophet (saw) would correspond with kings and emperors, warning them, «أَسْلِمْ تَسْلَمْ»“Submit to Islam and you will be safe.” Even when he concluded treaties such as the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, it was a temporary truce aimed at neutralizing the Quraysh for a while. This aided in the conquest of Khaybar, and then the Prophet (saw) returned to conquer Makkah. He (saw) never once sat with the leaders of the kuffar, exchanging smiles and reassuring them that they were safe from the Muslim armies, as is happening now between the Syrian administration and Jewish, Russian, or American officials!

This visit cannot be justified, explained, or interpreted in any way. One of the principles of the revolution was to cut off the influence of other countries from our country and their interference in our affairs. It would have been more appropriate to pay attention to the strength of the popular platform whose efforts, with the help of Allah (swt), brought us to Damascus victorious, instead of seeking glory from the kuffar.

Sitting with Russia, the Jewish entity, or the greatest enemy, America, and submitting to Western directives is a continuation of the subservient approach that America seeks to impose on the new administration, which seeks to keep Syria within the fold of the international order, just as it was during the era of the defunct Assad regime. The people of ash-Sham did not rise up to reproduce a secular system subservient to the international order. Instead, they rose up to achieve justice and repel injustice. This will only happen if Islam returns to dominate as a political system, and its state imposes a new international order, rather than being part of this corrupt international order that is criminal against its peoples.

Today, the Ummah is called upon to hold its head high, sever the bonds of dependence on the East and the West, and restore its loyalty to Allah (swt) alone, to His Messenger (saw) and to the Muslims. The dignity of the Islamic Ummah can only be restored through the sovereignty of Islam, and justice on earth, that can only be established by the rule of Allah (swt). The revival of the people of ash-Sham and the Islamic Ummah will only be based on the Islamic Deen and the existence of a comprehensive project emanating from it, by establishing the Islamic state, the Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly Guided Caliphate), on the Method of the Prophethood, which will unify their ranks, sever the hands of colonialists from their lands, and restore their status among the nations of the world, as Allah (swt intended it to be, one Ummah, carrying the message of truth to the world. Allah (swt) said,

[وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هُوَ قُلْ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ قَرِيباً]

“And they say, “When will it be?” Say, “Perhaps it will be soon.”” [TMQ Surah Al-Israa 51].