Abu al-Faraj al-Khatib, preacher of the Grand Umayyad Mosque, with colleages in 1958

Image Source: Syrianhistory.com Archive

Sheikh Abu al-Faraj al-Khatib (center) served as preacher of the Umayyad from 1943 to 1968. He was discharged by Salah Jadid after refusing to transform the mosque into a museum. He ran for Parliament in 1961 and lost, but became an MP under Hafez al-Assad in the 1970s.