Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) the dominant force shaping Syria’s transitional governance under Ahmed al-Sharaa—has signaled intentions to reconfigure state authority in ways that reviving Ottoman codes, including the miri (state-owned) land tenure system (the 1858 Ottoman Land Code).
This vision, framed within a pragmatic Islamist framework emphasizing centralized control over resources and pious institutions, directly intersects with the long historical arc of Ottoman management of Christian endowments (waqfs/vakıfs) in Bilad al-Sham.
It should be noted that the Ottoman Miri system considered more than 75% of the land to be state property.
A book by Father Spyridon Tanous, titled “Reviving Ottoman Land Code in Syria,” was recently published on Amazon.
Among its key points, the book sheds light on the 1858 Ottoman Land Code and the dangers of demographic change in Syria resulting from its application by extremist Islamists.
The book also addresses the potential loss of property rights for Christians and other non-Muslims, as well as for communities such as the Alawites and Druze.
Recently, there have been cases of Christian properties being seized under the pretext that they belong to the Ministry of Endowments (Ministry of Islamic Endowments).
