Al-Hirak, Syria

Al-Hirak (Arabic: الحراك also spelled al-Hrak or Herak) is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Izra' District of the Daraa Governorate.

Among its most important features is the ancient mosque, once a Christian monastery and before that a pagan temple for the worship of Baal, the sun god.

In 1596 al-Hirak appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of al-Harak al-Sharqi (the Eastern Hirak), being in the nahiya of Bani Malik al-Ashraf in the Qada Hawran.

They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and bee-hives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 16,000 akçe.

Residential areas and the Abu Bakr al-Saddiq Mosque -serving as military base for the rebels- were reportedly hit by Syrian Army shells.