Alawism

Alawism, also known as Nusayrism, is an offshoot of early Shia Islam with influences from Christian, and Gnostic traditions. Its adherents, called the Alawites, are estimated to number around 4 million and are primarily concentrated in the Levant. Alawites venerate Ali ibn Abi Talib, the "first imam" in the Twelver school, as a manifestation of the divine essence.
Alawite beliefs are centered in a divine Trinity, comprising three aspects of the one God, the , the , and the . These emanations are understood to have undergone reincarnation cyclically seven times in human form throughout history, the last seventh incarnation being that of Ali, Muhammad and Salman the Persian. Alawite practices include consecration of wine in the form of Mass, entombing the deceased in sarcophagi, observing cultural holidays such as Akitu, Christmas, Nowruz, Mawlid and Gazwela.
Alawism originated in 9th-century Iraq as a sect that separated from Shia Islam led by Ibn Nusayr, a preacher from the aristocratic Banu Numayr clan. The Alawites were organized in Aleppo during Hamdanid rule in Syria by al-Khasibi, a missionary who had gained patronage from Emir Sayf al-Dawla. In the 11th–12th-century, the Alawite community were budded to the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range with the help of the Banu Muhriz. Later, the Alawites faced severe persecution by waves of the Crusaders, Mamluks, and by Ottoman conquerors. In the aftermath of the First World War, the Alawite State was established in coastal Syria. Although the state was later dismantled, Alawite figures continued to play a pivotal role in the Syrian military and later in the Ba'ath Party. The 1970 coup d'état led by Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, resulted in an establishment of an Alawite-led establishment that continued under his son Bashar al-Assad, who was eventually overthrown during the Syrian civil war.
Fabrice Balanche wrote in 2024 that some core beliefs of the Alawites are rejected by orthodox theologians of Sunni and Shia Islam, with medieval scholar Ibn Taymiyyah calling for the sect to be eradicated. Balanche describes a lonely fatwa by Hajj Amin al-Husseini recognising them as Muslims, given in 1932 at a time when Alawites were denied this formal status, as based on immediate political, anticolonial considerations.
Alawism is one of the main religious groups in the Middle East, with over 4 million followers. They are primarily located in Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. Alawism is the third largest-religion in Syria, accounting for 10% of the country. As the only sect alive, it faces persecution by Islamist extremists.

Etymology

The term Alawite is derived from the Arabic word, denoting the "followers of Ali". The community historically self-identified as Nusayrites, named after their religious founder Ibn Nusayr. However, the term "Nusayri" had fallen out of currency by the 1920s, as a movement led by intellectuals within the community during the French mandate sought to replace it with "Alawite". The term "Nusayrites" is now sometimes considered a religious slur. Another term applied to the group was, which, according to Samuel Lyde, was a term that the mid-19th-century Alawites used among themselves. However, others indicate that is simply a Western error in the transliteration of.
The French were known to have popularised the term Alawite. The community also characterised the older name as an "invention of the sect's enemies", ostensibly favouring an emphasis on "connection with mainstream Islam"—particularly the Shia branch. As such, "Nusayrite" is now regarded as antiquated, and has even come to have insulting and abusive connotations. The term was frequently employed as hate speech by Sunni fundamentalists fighting against Bashar al-Assad's government in the Syrian civil war, who use its emphasis on Ibn Nusayr to insinuate that Alawi beliefs are "man-made" and not divinely inspired. Necati Alkan argued in an article that the "Alawi" appellation was used in an 11th-century Nusayri book and was not a 20th-century invention. The following quote from the same article illustrates his point:

"As to the change from "Nuṣayrī" to "ʿAlawī": most studies agree that the term "ʿAlawī" was not used until after WWI and probably coined and circulated by Muḥammad Amīn Ghālib al-Ṭawīl, an Ottoman official and writer of the famous Taʾrīkh al-ʿAlawiyyīn. However, the name 'Alawī' appears in an 11th-century Nuṣayrī tract as one of the names of the believer. Moreover, the term 'Alawī' was already used at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903 the Belgian-born Jesuit and Orientalist Henri Lammens visited a certain Ḥaydarī-Nuṣayrī sheikh Abdullah in a village near Antakya and mentions that the latter preferred the name 'Alawī' for his people. Lastly, it is interesting to note that in the above-mentioned petitions of 1892 and 1909 the Nuṣayrīs called themselves the 'Arab Alawī people' 'our ʿAlawī Nuṣayrī people' or 'signed with Alawī people'. This early self-designation is, in my opinion, of triple importance. Firstly, it shows that the word 'Alawī' was always used by these people, as ʿAlawī authors emphasize; secondly, it hints at the reformation of the Nuṣayrīs, launched by some of their sheikhs in the 19th century and their attempt to be accepted as part of Islam; and thirdly, it challenges the claims that the change of the identity and name from 'Nuṣayrī' to 'ʿAlawī' took place around 1920, in the beginning of the French mandate in Syria."

The Alawites are distinct from the Alevi sect in Turkey, although the terms share a common etymology and pronunciation. To avoid confusion with the ethnic Turkish and Kurdish Alevis, the Alawites call themselves Arap Alevileri in Turkish. The term Nusayrī, previously used in theological texts, has been revived in recent studies. A quasi-official name used during the 1930s by Turkish authorities was Eti Türkleri, to conceal their Arabic origins. Although this term is obsolete, it is still used by some older people as a euphemism.

Beliefs

Alawites and their beliefs have been described as "secretive". Yaron Friedman, for example, in his scholarly work on the sect, has written that the Alawi religious material quoted in his book came only from "public libraries and printed books" since the "sacred writings" of the Alawi "are kept secret". Some tenets of the faith are kept secret from most Alawi and known only to a select few. They have, therefore, been described as a mystical sect.
Alawite doctrines originated from the teachings of Iraqi priest Muhammad ibn Nusayr, who claimed prophethood, declared himself the "Bāb of the Imams", and attributed divinity to Hasan al-Askari. Al-Askari denounced Ibn Nusayr, and Islamic authorities expelled his disciples, most of whom emigrated to the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, wherein they established a distinct community. Nusayri theology treats Ali, the cousin of the prophet Muhammad, as a manifestation of "the supreme eternal God" and holds a range of gnostic beliefs. Alawite doctrine regards the souls of Alawites as reincarnations of "lights that rebelled against God."
Modern religious authorities have never confirmed Alawites' beliefs. As a highly secretive and esoteric sect, Nusayri priests tend to conceal their core doctrines, which are introduced only to a chosen minority of the sect's adherents. Alawites have also adopted the practice of taqiya to avoid victimization.

Theology and practices

Alawite doctrine incorporates elements of Phoenician mythology, Gnosticism, neo-Platonism, and Christian trinitarianism, blending them with Muslim symbolism in a syncretic fashion.
The Alawite trinity envisions God as composed of three distinct manifestations: the , the , and the , which together constitute an "indivisible Trinity". Ma'na symbolises the "source and meaning of all things" in Alawite mythology; Ma'na generated the Ism, which built the Bab. These beliefs are closely tied to the Nusayri doctrine of reincarnations of the Trinity.
Alawites do not believe in daily Muslim prayers. The Alawites venerate Ali as a physical manifestation of God, with the group's testimony of faith translating to "there is no God but Ali". The Alawite God consists of Ali, Muhammad and Salman the Persian, depicted as the sky, sun, and moon, respectively. Alawites deify Ali as the "last and supreme manifestation of God", who built the universe, attribute to him divine superiority, and believe that Ali created Muhammad and gave him the mission to spread Qur'anic teachings on Earth.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World classifies Alawites as part of extremist Shia sects referred to as the ghulat, owing to the secretive nature of the Alawite religious system and hierarchy. Due to their esoteric doctrines of strict secrecy, conversions into the community were also forbidden.

Reincarnation

Alawites hold that they were originally stars or divine lights that were cast out of heaven through disobedience and must undergo repeated reincarnation before returning to Heaven. Females are considered excluded from reincarnation.
Alawite theologians divided history into seven eras, associating each era with one of the seven reincarnations of the Alawite Trinity. The seven reincarnations can be summarized in the following table.

Era	Ma'na	Ism	Bab
1	Abel	Adam	Gabriel
2	Seth	Noah	Yail ibn Fatin
3	Joseph	Jacob	Ham ibn Kush
4	Joshua	Moses	Dan ibn Usbaut
5	Asaph	Solomon	Abd Allah ibn Siman
6	Saint Peter	Jesus	Rawzaba ibn al-Marzuban
7	Ali	Muhammad	Salman the Persian

The last triad of reincarnations in the Nusayri Trinity consists of Ali, Muhammad, and Salman the Persian.