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Muhammad al-Ashmar

politician (1880–1960)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ402962
Source-derived summary

Muhammad al-Ashmar (Arabic: محمد الأشمر) (1892 – 3 March 1960) was a Syrian rebel commander during the Great Syrian Revolt and the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, and a prominent communist figure in post-independence Syria.

Early life and career

Al-Ashmar was born in the al-Midan quarter of Damascus in 1892 during the Ottoman era. He served in the Ottoman Army during World War I. He spent much of his early life studying Islamic theology. France gained control of Syria in 1918, establishing a mandate over the country in 1920. By then, al-Ashmar became a prominent Muslim sheikh based in al-Midan. Al-Ashmar gathered about 40-50 of his men from al-Midan to form part of the civilian volunteer units backing the Syrian forces against the invading French Army at the Battle of Maysalun on 24 July. According to Sami Moubayed, al-Ashmar joined Ibrahim Hananu's militia based in the region of Aleppo.

Al-Ashmar was arrested in 1922 for his earlier participation in the countrywide rebellions and exiled to the southern Hauran region. He managed to return to northern Syria to partake in anti-French activities in the Syrian Coastal Mountains. He was exiled to Amman in Transjordan in 1923.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Muhammad al-Ashmar” as politician (1880–1960). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1892, 1960, 1936, 1939—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Muhammad, al-Ashmar and politician can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as politician (1880–1960). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q402962. The first chronological checks are 1892, 1960, 1936 and 1939.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Muhammad al-Ashmar”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Muhammad al-Ashmar primary sources, Muhammad al-Ashmar archive and Muhammad research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Muhammad al-Ashmar”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Muhammad al-Ashmar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.