Alawism

Alawism (Arabic: علوية, romanized: ʿAlawiyya), also known as Nusayrism (Arabic: نصيرية, romanized: Nuṣayriyya), is an offshoot of early Shia Islam with influences from ancient Iranian, 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 ma'na (meaning), the ism (name), and the bab (door). 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 ghulat 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 (r. 945–967). 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 ghulat sect alive, it faces persecution by Islamist extremists.