Following their conversion to Islam in the 18th century, the inhabitants of Bakh'a underwent a religious transformation, shifting from being exclusively Christian to entirelyMuslim.[12][13]
^http://friendsofmaaloula.de/blog/2018/12/06/zerstoertes-bachaa-in-syrien/,"Dear friends of the Aramaean village of Maaloula,We received a heartbreaking video from Bacha‘a, the Aramaic neighboring village of Maaloula. Rebels attacked Maaloula from there, resulting in the complete destruction of the village. There is no life left, and all surviving residents have fled to relatives and friends in other parts of Syria or to Lebanon."
^Rafik Schami (25 July 2011).Märchen aus Malula (in German). Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Company KG. p. 151.ISBN9783446239005.Ich kenne das Dorf nicht, doch gehört habe ich davon. Was ist mit Malula?‹ fragte der festgehaltene Derwisch. >Das letzte Dorf der Aramäer< lachte einer der…
^Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold; P. Behnstedt (1993).Arabisch-aramäische Sprachbeziehungen im Qalamūn (Syrien) (in German). Harassowitz. p. 42.ISBN9783447033268.Die arabischen Dialekte der Aramäer
^Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold; P. Behnstedt (1993).Arabisch-aramäische Sprachbeziehungen im Qalamūn (Syrien) (in German). Harassowitz. p. 5.ISBN9783447033268.Die Kontakte zwischen den drei Aramäer-dörfern sind nicht besonders stark.
^Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold (2006).Lehrbuch des Neuwestaramäischen (in German). Harrassowitz. p. 15.ISBN9783447053136.Viele Aramäer arbeiten heute in Damaskus, Beirut oder in den Golfstaaten und verbringen nur die Sommermonate im Dorf.
^Shannon Dubenion-Smith; Joseph Salmons (15 August 2007).Historical Linguistics 2005. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 247.ISBN9789027292162.…Western Neo-Aramaic (Spitaler 1938; Arnold 1990), which is attested in three villages whose speakers just a few generations ago were still entirely Christian.
^Wolfhart Heinrichs (14 August 2018).Studies in Neo-Aramaic. Brill. p. 11.ISBN9789004369535.The inhabitants of Bakh'a and Jubb'Adin are Muslims (since the eighteenth century), as is a large portion of the people of Ma'lula, while the rest have remained Christian, mostly of Melkite (Greek Catholic) persuasion. The retention of the "Christian" language after conversion to Islam is noteworthy.
Syria
