https://www.economist.com/middle-ea...uslim-religions-to-help-end-his-pariah-status
In woods, playgrounds and stadiums across Syria, children and adults perform yoga routines. Their palms open in supplication, their arms flung back, they chant “Surya Namaskar “. It sounds like an Arabic blessing for Syria, but means “sun salutation” in Sanskrit. Instructors in Hindu monks’ robes preach the teachings of Shiva, an Indian god said to have founded the practice. “We are offering relief from the stress of real and economic wars,” says a Syrian tutor. Two decades ago a Syrian known as Mazen Isa returned from Rishikesh, a city in the Himalayan foothills known for its yoga studies, and opened a yoga practice in Syria. Scores of meditation centres now operate, free of charge, across the country. A key to their success is that President Bashar al-Assad backs them.
For over a half century the Assad dynasty has allied its own Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam, with Syria’s myriad religious minorities in order to bolster the regime’s dominance over the country’s Sunni Muslim majority. But lately he has enabled other denominations to spread their roots. As well as encouraging yoga, he has let evangelical Christians open churches in houses where converted Muslims can worship. He has even encouraged Jews of Syrian origin to visit Damascus, the capital. This religious influx, he hopes, will swell the regime’s minority base and end his status as a pariah across the world….
In woods, playgrounds and stadiums across Syria, children and adults perform yoga routines. Their palms open in supplication, their arms flung back, they chant “Surya Namaskar “. It sounds like an Arabic blessing for Syria, but means “sun salutation” in Sanskrit. Instructors in Hindu monks’ robes preach the teachings of Shiva, an Indian god said to have founded the practice. “We are offering relief from the stress of real and economic wars,” says a Syrian tutor. Two decades ago a Syrian known as Mazen Isa returned from Rishikesh, a city in the Himalayan foothills known for its yoga studies, and opened a yoga practice in Syria. Scores of meditation centres now operate, free of charge, across the country. A key to their success is that President Bashar al-Assad backs them.
For over a half century the Assad dynasty has allied its own Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam, with Syria’s myriad religious minorities in order to bolster the regime’s dominance over the country’s Sunni Muslim majority. But lately he has enabled other denominations to spread their roots. As well as encouraging yoga, he has let evangelical Christians open churches in houses where converted Muslims can worship. He has even encouraged Jews of Syrian origin to visit Damascus, the capital. This religious influx, he hopes, will swell the regime’s minority base and end his status as a pariah across the world….
