Alawites
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2008-07-17T04:19:08Z
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:''For the Alaouite dynasty of Morocco see: [[Alaouite Dynasty]], for the former state now in [[Yemen]] see [[Alawi (sheikhdom)]]''{{Infobox Religious group|
| group = Alawites
| flag =
| image= [[Image:Alawiya.JPG|250px]]
| caption =Alawite [[falconer]] in [[Banyas]], [[Syria]], during [[World War II]].
| population = More than 3 million
| region1={{flagcountry|Syria}}
| pop1 = About 2.5 million
| region2={{flagcountry|Lebanon}}
| pop2 = An estimated 100.000<ref>{{Cite web
|url=http://www.tharwaproject.com/node/2127
|title=Tharwa Project
|quote=Alawites have been present in modern-day Lebanon since the 16th century and are estimated to number 100,000 today, mostly in Akkar and Tripoli. The sect is managed through the Islamic Allawite Union, a council of 600 members that are elected every four years.}}</ref>
| region3={{flagcountry|Turkey}}
| pop3 = Tens of thousands, in regions that formerly belonged to Syria.
| region4={{flagcountry|Israel}}
| pop4 = About 2000 live in [[Ghajar]], a village in the [[Golan Heights]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html|title=CIA - The World Factbook - Syria}}</ref>
| region5={{flagcountry|Australia}}
| pop5 = There is a considerable Alawite community in Australia, but the exact number is unclear
| rels = [[Shia Islam]]
| scrips = [[Qu'ran]], [[Kitab al Majmu]]<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-alawi.htm
|title=Alawi Islam
|accessdate=2008-05-31
|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org
|quote=Their prayer book, the source of religious instruction, is the Kitab al Majmu, believed to be derived from Ismaili writings. Alawis study the Quran and recognize the five pillars of Islam, which they interpret in a wholly allegorical sense to fit community tenets.}}</ref>
| langs = [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]]}}
{{Twelvers}}
The '''Alawites''' are a sect of [[Shi'ite]] Islam<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/Alawis.htm
|title=Syria’s Alawis and Shi‘ism
|last=Kramer
|first=Martin
|quote=In their mountainous corner of Syria, the Alawis claim to represent the furthest extension of Twelver Shi'ism.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles452.htm
|title=This election will change the world. But not in the way the Americans imagined.
|last=Fisk
|first=Robert
|accessdate=2006-10-21
|publisher=The Independent UK
|quote=But outside Iraq, Arab leaders are talking of a Shia "Crescent" that will run from Iran through Iraq to Lebanon via Syria, whose Alawite leadership forms a branch of Shia Islam.}}</ref> prominent in [[Syria]]. ''Alawī'' is not to be confused with ''[[Alevi]]'', a different religious sect based in Turkey, although they share the same etymology.
The Alawites take their name from [[Ali|ˤAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib]], cousin and son-in-law of [[Muhammad]],<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan
|title=Syria: Identity Crisis
|last=Kaplan
|first=Robert
|date=1993-02
|publisher=TheAtlantic.com
|quote=The term "Alawite" means "follower of Ali," the martyred son-in-law of Mohammed who is venerated by millions of Shi'ites in Iran and elsewhere.}}</ref> also the 4<sup>th</sup> and last "[[Rightly Guided Caliph]]" of Islam. Historically, the Alawites have been called ''Nusayrī''s (Arabic: نصيريون), ''Nasiriyya'', and ''Ansariyya''.
==History==
[[Image:Alawitewomen.jpg|thumb|left|Alawite women in Syria, early 20th century.]]
The origin of the Alawites is disputed. They are believed to be descendants of people who lived in the [[Fertile Crescent]] at the time of [[Alexander the Great]], and gradually added elements of [[Islam]] and [[Christianity]] to their existing, [[pre-Islamic]] religion, when these flourished in the region.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-alawi.htm
|title=Alawi Islam
|accessdate=2008-05-31
|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org
|quote=The Alawis appear to be descendants of people who lived in this region at the time of Alexander the Great. When Christianity flourished in the Fertile Crescent, the Alawis, isolated in their little communities, clung to their own pre-Islamic religion.}}</ref>
The Alawites themselves trace their origins to the eleventh [[Shia Imam]], [[Hasan al Askari]] (d. 873), and his pupil [[Ibn Nusayr]] (d. 868).<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Nosairis
|title=Alawi Islam in the 11<sup>th</sup> Encyclopædia Brittanica
|date=1911
|quote=Among the more possible explanations is that the name is derived from that of Mahommed ibn Nusair, who was an Isma'ilite follower of the eleventh imam of the Shiites at the end of the 9<sup>th</sup> century. This view has been accepted by Nosairi writers, but they transfer Ibn Nusair to the 7<sup>th</sup> century and make him the son of the vizier of Moawiya I.}}</ref>
Ibn Nusayr proclaimed himself the ''Bāb'' "Door" (representative) of the 11<sup>th</sup> Imam in 857.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.mandrake-press.co.uk/Main_article/alawite.html
|title=Alawite
|publisher=Mandrake Press
|quote=In 857, Muhammad ibn Nusair declared himself as the Bab or representative to the 10th Imam among the Shi'tes.}}</ref> The sect seems to have been organised by a follower of ibn Nusayr known as al-Khasibi, who died in [[Aleppo]] in about 969. Al-Khasibi's grandson, al-Tabarani, moved to [[Latakia]] on the Syrian coast. There he refined the Alawite religion and, with his pupils, converted much of the local population.
In the 10<sup>th</sup> century Alawites were established during the [[Hamdanid]] dynasty of Aleppo, but they were driven out when the dynasty fell in 1004. In 1097, [[First Crusade|Crusaders]] initially attacked them, but later allied with them against the [[Ismailis]]. In 1120, the Alawites were defeated by the Ismailis and [[Kurds]], but three years later, they fought the Kurds successfully. In 1297, the [[Ismailis]] and Alawites tried to negotiate a merger, but it came to nothing.
[[Image:Latakiya-sanjak-Alawite-state-French-colonial-flag.svg|thumb|left|Flag of the now dismantled [[Alawite State]].]]After the fall of the [[Ottoman Empire]], Syria and Lebanon came under [[French mandate of Syria|French mandate]]. The French recognized the term "Alawī" when they occupied Syria in 1920. The French gave autonomy to Alawites and other minority groups and accepted Alawites into their colonial troops.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan
|title=Syria: Identity Crisis
|last=Kaplan
|first=Robert
|date=1993-02
|publisher=TheAtlantic.com}}</ref> Under the mandate, many Alawite chieftains supported the notion of a separate Alawite nation and tried to convert their autonomy into independence. A territory of "[[Alaouites]]" was created in 1925. In May 1930, the Government of [[Latakia]] was created; it lasted until [[February 28]], [[1937]], when it was incorporated into Syria.
In 1939, a portion of northwest Syria, the [[Sanjak of Alexandretta]], now [[Hatay]], that contained a large number of Alawites, was given to Turkey by the French, greatly angering the Alawite community and Syrians in general. [[Zaki al-Arsuzi]], the young Alawite leader from [[Antioch]] in Iskandarun (later renamed ''Hatay'' by the Turks) who led the resistance to the annexation of his province to the Turks, later became a founder of the [[Ba'ath Party]] along with the Eastern Orthodox Christian schoolteacher [[Michel Aflaq]]. After World War II, [[Salman Al Murshid]] played a major role in uniting the Alawite province with the mother land Syria. He was executed by the newly independent Syrian government in [[Damascus]] on [[December 12]], [[1946]] (only three days after a hasty political trial).
Syria became independent on [[April 16]], [[1946]]. Following the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]], Syria endured a succession of military coups in 1949, the rise of the [[Ba'th Party]], and unification of the country with Egypt in the [[United Arab Republic]] in 1958. The UAR lasted for three years and broke apart in 1961 , when a group of army officers seized power and declared Syria independent again; a further succession of coups ensued until a secretive military committee, which included a number of disgruntled Alawite officers, including [[Hafez al-Assad]] and [[Salah Jadid]], helped the Ba'th Party take power in 1963. In 1966, Alawite-oriented military officers successfully rebelled and expelled the old Ba'ath that had looked to the [[Christian]] [[Michel Aflaq]] and the [[Sunni]] [[Muslim]] [[Salah al-Din al-Bitar]] for leadership. They promoted [[Zaki al-Arsuzi]] as the "[[Socrates]]" of their reconstituted Ba'ath Party.
[[Image:Hafez-al-assad-1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hafez al-Assad]], former president of Syria.]]
In 1970, then-[[Syrian Air Force|Air Force]] [[Colonel]] [[Hafez al-Assad]] took power and instigated a [[The Corrective Revolution|"Correctionist Movement"]] in the Ba'ath Party.<ref>{{Cite web
|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan
|title=Syria: Identity Crisis
|last=Kaplan
|first=Robert
|date=1993-02
|publisher=TheAtlantic.com
|quote=But the coup of 1970, which brought an Alawite air force officer, Hafez al-Assad, to power, was what finally ended the instability that had reigned in Syria since the advent of independence.}}</ref> In 1971, al-Assad became president of Syria, a function that the Constitution only allows a [[Muslim]] to embrace. Then, in 1974, Imam [[Moussa Sader|Musa Sadr]], leader of the Twelver Shi'ites of [[Lebanon]] and founder of the [[Amal Movement]], was asked to proclaim that he accepted the Alawites as real [[Muslims]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan
|title=Syria: Identity Crisis
|last=Kaplan
|first=Robert
|date=1993-02
|publisher=TheAtlantic.com
|quote=Today, those Muslims called Alawis are brothers of those Shi'ites called Mutawallis by the malicious.}}</ref> Under the dictatorial but [[secularism|secular]] Assad regime, religious minorities were tolerated, political dissent was not. During an [[Hama Massacre|uprising]] led by the Sunni Islamist [[Muslim Brotherhood]] in 1982 in the city of [[Hama]], perhaps 20,000 were killed by the Syrian military. Many more were killed and arrested throughout Syria and especially in [[Damascus]] and [[Aleppo]].
After the death of [[Hafez al-Assad]] in 2000, his son [[Bashar al-Assad]] maintained the outlines of his father's regime. Although Alawites predominate among the top military and intelligence offices, the civilian government and national economy is largely led by Sunnis, who represent about 70% of Syria's population. The Assad regime is careful to allow all of the religious sects a share of power and influence in the government, but there is clear Alawite domination of the highest levels of power. Today Alawites exist as a minority but politically powerful, religious sect in Syria.
==Beliefs of the Alawites==
Alawites practise religious secrecy. They generally claim they are Muslims, which may be especially the case of the non-initiated. According to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica]], "The basic doctrine of 'Alawite faith is the deification of Ali. They consider themselves to be moderate Shi'ites, not much different from the Twelvers."<ref>[http://secure.britannica.com/ebc/article-9005375]</ref>
[[Image:Sheiks alawi.jpg|thumb|left|Alawite [[Sheikhs]] in religious dress.]]
Theologically, Alawites today claim to be [[Twelver]] [[Shi'ites]],<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan
|title=Syria: Identity Crisis
|last=Kaplan
|first=Robert
|date=1993-02
|publisher=TheAtlantic.com
|quote=In their mountainous corner of Syria, the Alawis claim to represent the furthest extension of Twelver Shi'ism.}}</ref> but traditionally they have been designated as "extremists" ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: غلاة ''[[ghulat]]'') and outside the bounds of [[Islam]] by the Muslim mainstream for their high level of devotion to ˤAlī.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan
|title=Syria: Identity Crisis
|last=Kaplan
|first=Robert
|date=1993-02
|publisher=TheAtlantic.com}}</ref>
The Alawite sect is a somewhat [[Gnostic]] version of Shīˤa Islam.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/259hbbtw.asp|title=All About the Alawites}}</ref> The Alawites believe ˤAlī is the true successor of Muhammad as well as in esoteric reading of the [[Qur'an]]. Alawites regard ˤAlī as the purpose of life and the divine knowledge of the Prophet. Alawites also believe that in each world age, special prophets like Jesus or Muhammad came to show the right path.
ˤAlī, Muhammad and a third entity, [[Salman the Persian]], are important to the faith. Respectively, they are called the Idea, the Name, and the Door (to god). In Sura 6 of the ''Majmuˤ'', one of their texts, it is stated, "I make for the Door, I prostrate myself before God, I worship the essence."
Alawites do not accept converts or openly publish their texts, which are passed down from scholar to scholar. The vast majority of Alawites (the ''Ammah'') know little about the contents of their sacred texts or theology, which are guarded by a small class of male initiates (the ''Khassah'').<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan
|title=Syria: Identity Crisis
|last=Kaplan
|first=Robert
|date=1993-02
|publisher=TheAtlantic.com}}</ref> For [[initiation]], a person must be at least 15 and cannot be a non-Alawite.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Nosairis
|title=Alawi Islam in the 11<sup>th</sup> Encyclopædia Brittanica
|date=1911
|quote=Religion is restricted among the Nosairis to the initiated, who must be adults over fifteen years of age and of Nosairi parentage.}}</ref> They believe in [[metempsychosis]]; the soul of the pious ascends to the starry heavens via a series of transformations. The less pious souls require more transformations.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Nosairis
|title=Alawi Islam in the 11<sup>th</sup> Encyclopædia Brittanica
|date=1911
|quote=The Nosairis are believers in metempsychosis. The pious Nosairi takes his rank among the stars, but the body of the impious undergoes many transformations.}}</ref>
[[Image:Alaw.JPG|thumb|left|Alawites celebrating a festival in Banyas, Syria, during World War II.]]
Several sources suggest that Alawism is a [[syncretic]] sect and has affinities with [[Christianity]], [[Zoroastrianism]], and ancient [[Phoenician]] [[paganism]], but these claims are hard to verify, due to the secret nature of the sect.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.mandrake-press.co.uk/Main_article/alawite.html
|title=Alawite
|publisher=Mandrake Press
|quote=Various sources claim that their rites include remnants of Phoenician sacrificial rituals, that they claim that women have no souls and that they drink wine (possibly a form of communion).}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan
|title=Syria: Identity Crisis
|last=Kaplan
|first=Robert
|date=1993-02
|publisher=TheAtlantic.com
|quote=far more serious is the Alawite doctrine's affinity with Phoenician paganism — and also with Christianity.}}</ref> They are believed to celebrate Christian festivals such as [[Christmas]], [[Easter]] and [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]], as well as the Zoroastrian new year, [[Nowruz]], along with regular Shi'ite festivals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DEFD71131F931A15755C0A9669C8B63|title=Assad Patronage Puts a Small Sect on Top in Syria|last=Sachs|first=Susan|date=2000-06-22|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://i-cias.com/e.o/alawites.htm
|title=Alawites
|publisher=LookLex Encyclopedia
|quote=But they also celebrate some of the same festivals as the Christians, like Christmas and Epiphany, as well as Nawruz, which originally is the Zoroastrian New Year.
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-alawi.htm
|title=Alawi Islam
|accessdate=2008-05-31
|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org
|quote=However, contacts with the Byzantines and the Crusaders added Christian elements to the Alawis' new creeds and practices. For example, ˤAlawīs celebrate Christmas, Easter, and Epiphany.}}</ref>
Because only one book has been translated, outsiders know little about Alawite theology. Hanna Batatu's last book has a short but reliable section on Alawite doctrine, theology, and recent debates within the community. The French tried to pressure leading Alawite [[shaykh]]s to declare ˤAlawiyya a separate religion during the early 1920s, but they lost their battle because many religious leaders refused to do so. After all, Alawites declare themselves to be Muslims in their catechism and believe that Muhammad is God's messenger.
Alawites try to follow the prime example left by ˤAlī. ˤAlī lived out of the eye of the public. Like ˤAlī, the ˤAlawī are called names and rejected by the common; like ˤAlī, Alawites also keep to themselves; like ˤAlī, they say that they "worship God in private and not for show".
Although Alawites recognize the [[five pillars of Islam]], they do not believe that anyone has the privilege of practicing them because they are too pure to be performed by "any" soul. Alawites believe that there is no back door entrance to the gates of Heaven (i.e. follow the five pillars and you receive the keys to heaven). Instead they believe that one should devote his life the way that the prophet Muhammad would have permitted by following the example of ˤAlī.
The insistence on conformism has brought rich political rewards — Alawites enjoy all the rights of Muslims in Syria. Nevertheless, Alawites have paid a steep price for political success and for a share of political power and equality in the nation.
Alawites who have speculated on the success are considerably more optimistic about the percentage of Syrians who considered them Muslim than are their [[Druze]] counterparts. Several claim that 50% of Syrians or more accepted them as Muslims. The reason Alawites give for their success is that they try harder than the Druze to be like orthodox Muslims and to assimilate to the textbook version of Islam.
Alawites are divided into subsects: ''Haydariyyah'', ''Shamsiyyah'' (Sun Sect) and ''Qamariyya'' (Moon Sect).<ref>[http://www.mandrake-press.co.uk/Main_article/alawite.html Alawite<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The sects are oriented by tribe. Some hold a mistaken belief that the Murshidiyya (after [[Salman Al Murshid]]) are an Alawite group.
==Population==
[[Image:Alawiteman.jpg|thumb|Alawite man in [[Latakia]], early 20th century.]]
Traditionally Alawites live in the mountains along the [[Mediterranean]] coast of [[Syria]]; [[Latakia]] and [[Tartous]] are the region's principal cities. Alawites are also concentrated in the plains around [[Hama]] and [[Homs]]. Today Alawites also live in all major cities of Syria. They were never estimated at more than 11% of the Syrian population (which would be about 2 million people if true today). Imami Twelver Shīˤa comprise an additional 10% of the population.
Before 1953, they had reserved seats in the Syrian Parliament, like all other religious communities. After that, including for the 1960 census, there were only general Muslim and Christian categories, without mention of subgroups in order to reduce "[[Communalism (South Asia)|communalism]]" (''taïfiyya'').
There are an estimated 100,000<ref>[http://www.tharwaproject.com/node/2127 TDS - Lebanese Alawites welcome Syria's withdrawal as 'necessary' | The Tharwa project<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Alawites who live in [[Lebanon]], where the [[Taif Agreement]] of 1989 gave them two reserved seats in the Parliament (Alawites are recognized as one of the 18 official Lebanese sects). They live mostly in [[Tripoli (Lebanon)|Tripoli]] and small villages in [[Akkar]].
There are tens of [[Alawis in Turkey|thousands of Alawites]] who live in the [[Hatay]], [[Adana]] and [[Mersin]] provinces of southern Turkey, where they are still called ''Nusayrī'' in order not to confuse them with [[Alevi]]s.
There are also about 2000 Alawites living in the village of [[Ghajar]], split between Lebanon and the Israeli occupied [[Golan Heights]], alongside [[Druze]].
==References==
<references/>
==See also==
*[[Neo-Platonism]]
*[[Druze]]
==External links==
*[http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/Islamic%20Education%20in%20Syria.htm Islamic Education in Syria by Joshua Landis]
*[http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/NEW_NUM/NOSAIRIS_also_known_as_Ansayrii.html Nosairi]
*[[T. E. Lawrence]] [http://telawrence.net/telawrencenet/works/spw/sp_05_058.htm on Syrians, including Nosaris/Alawites]
*[http://www.extenza-eps.com/WDG/doi/abs/10.1515/islm.2005.82.2.349 Ibn Taymiyya's Fatwa against the Nosairi] A .pdf file
*[http://mb-soft.com/believe/txw/nusayri.htm Nusayri]
[[Category:Islamic sects]]
[[Category:Shi'a Islam]]
[[Category:Arab groups]]
[[Category:Alawites| ]]
[[ar:العلويون]]
[[da:Alawitter]]
[[de:Nusairier]]
[[es:Alauitas o Alawitas]]
[[fa:علی اللهی]]
[[fr:Alaouites]]
[[it:Alauiti]]
[[he:עלאווים]]
[[lt:Alavitai]]
[[nl:Alawieten]]
[[ja:アラウィー派]]
[[pl:Alawici (wyznanie)]]
[[pt:Alauítas]]
[[ru:Алавиты]]
[[uk:Алавіти]]