The Alawite faith is rooted from Twelver Shia Islam. Alawites, like fellow Twelver Shias, are proponents of the Twelver Imamate system: believing in the religious leadership of Ali bin Abi Talib and his 11 patrilineal successors. However, there is more that separates the Alawite community as distinct. The founder of this religious group is Ibn Al-Nusayr Al Numairy, who lived at the time of the 10th & 11th Imams, Al Hadi & Al Askari.
He was a companion of Al-Askari (in the 9th century) from whom he learnt jurisprudence and knowledge. Following Al-Askari’s death, the Shia community was fragmented & dominated by Twelver Shias who believed Al-Askari’s son was kept hidden to avoid persecution and divinely entered a stage of Occultation.
During the time of the Abbasid Empire, which experienced a Renaissance due to a bloom of scholarly work in various sciences, intellect, philosophy & jurisprudence, and knowledge translated from Greek, Persian & Syriac into Arabic, Ibn Al-Nusayr founded a Sufi doctrine which coincided with this period of cross-cultural exchange and open mindedness.
Ibn Al-Nusayr, like many others, was influenced by these cultures which, according to Alawites, gave him a deep philosophical dimension for his understanding of Islam. He separated faith from rituals, believing that everyone shares faith yet the rituals,which were less important, differ.
The essence of his doctrine is the unity of religion, and the variety of denominations and viewing all prophets as equals, thus in a way uniting the 3 monotheistic religions, especially since the word ‘religion’ was never mentioned in plural in the Quran.
It is worth mentioning that Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb is an extremely prominent figure for the Alawites to whom he is the successor and holder of the knowledge of the Prophet Mohammed, noting that they do not view him as a messenger nor a prophet.
Following the death of ibn Al-Nusayr his student Abdullah ibn Mohammad Al-Janbalani carried on with the teachings and doctrines of this group. He sent Mohammad Ali Al-Jali and Ali Al-Jesri, who were two of his best students, to promote their creed starting from Janbla, Iraq.
It reached its peak because of Ibn Hamdan Al-Khseibi, ruler of the independent emirate of the Hamadanids, an Arab Shia dynasty around 950 AD in Aleppo.
The community flourished there as a result of conversions and an inflow of settlers from Iraq, gradually spreading to the villages of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range by the Mediterranean a century later.
By 1516, the Ottoman Empire was established throughout Syria, a period particularly oppressive towards the Alawites and other minorities.
The peak of their ostracization was the Massacre of Telal that took place on April 24th, 1517, in the Great Mosque of Aleppo when thousands of Alawites were massacred, forcing surviving Alawites to leave Aleppo and its surroundings, to the Eastern Mediterranean (Northern Lebanon, Western Syria, Iskenderun (historically Syrian, today Turkey’s Hatay Province) where almost all Alawites today reside.
Today, Alawites are centred in the cities & villages of the Syrian Mediterranean governorates of Latakia (~65%) & Tartus (~75%), also forming majorities in several villages in the governorates of Homs & Hama (~20% each).
While some Alawites may descend from Arab settlers from Iraq, most Alawites (like many other fellow Syrians) are believed to be descendants of the ancient indigenous Semitic communities of the Levantine coast, mainly Canaanites (Phoenicians), and Aramaeans as well.
In his book, “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”, T.E. Lawrence wrote about the Alawites during Ottoman rule: “They spoke Arabic but had lived there since the beginning of Greek letters in Syria. Usually, they stood aside from affairs and left the Turkish Government alone in hope of reciprocity”.
Before 2011, Alawites formed over 10% of Syria – the 3rd largest religious community after the Sunnis & Christians. Despite many Alawites,as Syrians of all religious/ethnic backgrounds, being impacted by the war, their percentage has since increased (different Syrian communities were impacted to different extents, depending on their geographical context). At less than 20% today, they form the 2nd largest community.
In addition to Syrian Alawites who recently fled, the community experienced smaller exoduses previously:
As a result of the experiences of the community throughout history, the Alawite faith is known to be esoteric and quite secretive. Alawites have long been associated with and dominated the agricultural field, working as farmers and tending to orchards and vineyards. Growing urbanisation led many Syrian Alawites to move to Damascus & other cities, dominating government roles, working in service, law, medicine & shaping Syria’s media and art scene.
There is a misconception that Alawites speak with a distinct Syrian accent, whereby they pronounce the letter “qaf” as opposed to most Syrians who do not use the guttural letter. However, it is in fact used by many non Alawite Syrians who live throughout the coastal mountains. Alawites born and raised in the cities of Latakia & Tartus do not have this accent.
Syria is home to a diverse and rich mosaic of cultures, and among them are the Circassians, an ethnic group from the Northern Caucasus region. Circassians have a tragic history
Armenian identity is greatly impacted by a deep wound. Today, we celebrate their presence, perseverance and legacy in Syria, and we also acknowledge that many Armenians have become refugees once
Part 8 and the final religious group of the series about Syria’s religious makeup: the Yazidis. Special thanks to Syrian Yazidi followers @wailoo_ & @samarshekho who helped with the info!<br