Pluralism Under Siege: Islamization, Minority Persecution, and the Erosion of Civil Liberties in Post-Assad Syria

Abstract

When Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa pledged to govern an inclusive Syria in which diversity would be treated as a national strength. Fifteen months later, that pledge has been systematically contradicted. Drawing on constitutional documents, human rights reports, and documentary evidence through March 2026, this article examines how Syria's transitional government has pursued the Islamization of governance while failing to prevent, and in key instances enabling, mass sectarian violence against the country's religious and ethnic minorities. The new constitutional declaration formally elevated Islamic jurisprudence as the principal source of legislation; an all-Sunni Fatwa Council was established to vet legislation; and a series of social norm directives have imposed conservative Islamic standards on a religiously diverse population. Pro-government forces conducted massacres of Alawite civilians in March 2025, with a confirmed death toll exceeding 1,400, followed by mass killings of Druze in July 2025 leaving over 1,000 dead. Christians face systematic intimidation and structural exclusion. The regime's accountability mechanisms have been opaque and inadequate. This article argues that the gap between al-Sharaa's inclusive rhetoric and HTS governance reflects a structural tension between Islamist ideology and Syria's irreducible pluralism, with profound implications for domestic stability and international human rights.