East of the Grand Ummayad reveals that for a century a pivotal Middle Eastern country was ruled by men with a secret allegiance-to the Fraternity of Freemasons.East of the Grand Umayyad is the story of Damascus Freemasonry from 1868 until 1965. It shows how the crème-de-la-crème of Syrian society were Freemasons, men such as Fares al-Khoury and Abdul Rahman Shahbandar (leaders of the anti-colonial movement). This book shows how they contributed to the building of their societies through scholarly work in an academic setting, politics, industry, and philanthropy.