Editing Hafez al-Assad (section)

=== Early life===
{{See also|Al-Assad family}}

Hafez al-Assad was born on 6 October 1930, in Qardaha, a town in the north-west of Syria. He was born into a poor [[Alawite]] family belonging to the [[Kalbiyya]] tribe of [[Alawites]].{{sfn|Bengio|1998|p=135}}{{sfn|Jessup|1998|p=41}}{{sfn|Reich|1990|p= 52}} His paternal grandfather, Sulayman al-Wahhish, gained the nickname ''al-Wahhish'' (wild beast) for his strength.{{Sfn|Seale|1990|p=3}} Hafez al-Assad's parents were Na'isa Shalish and [[Ali al-Assad]].{{sfn|Alianak|2007|pp=127–128}} His father married twice and had eleven children.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p= 5}} Hafez was his ninth son and the fourth from his second marriage.{{sfn|Alianak|2007|pp= 127–128}}

By the 1920s, Ali was respected locally and was initially opposed to the [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon]], a French-ruled [[League of Nations]] [[League of Nations mandate|mandate]] officially established in 1923.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p= 25}} Nevertheless, Ali Sulayman later cooperated with the French administration and was appointed to an official post.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p= 20}} Local residents called him "al-Assad" (the lion) for his accomplishments{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=25}} and, in 1927, he made the nickname his surname.{{sfn|Alianak|2007|p= 128}}