Muhammad al-Ashmar

Muhammad al-Ashmar
Al-Ashmar in al-Midan, 1925
Born	1892 Al-Midan Quarter, Damascus, Syria Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died	1960
Nationality	Syrian
Known for	Militia commander in 1920 Battle of Maysalun Leading figure in 1925-1927 Great Syrian Revolt Commander of Syrian volunteers in 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine

Muhammad al-Ashmar (1892-1960) 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.

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.

Al-Ashmar played a leading role as a commander during the Great Syrian Revolt against French rule between 1925 and 1927. He was also an early liaison between the main leader of the revolt, Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, and the notables of Damascus. He was a part of the first Damascene delegation to al-Atrash, who was based in the Hauran region, along with Nasib al-Bakri and Yahya al-Hayati. Al-Ashmar and al-Atrash were supporters of the Hashemites, who had led the Arab Revolt in 1916, ruled Syria until 1918, and were the nominal leaders of Transjordan and Iraq at the time of the 1925 revolt. Al-Atrash designated al-Ashmar as a field commander of the revolt.