Alawite Islam?

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thephilosopher6

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Does anyone have more information about what Alawite Muslims believe in? I know they’re a sect of Shia Islam, usually regarded by most Sunnis and some other Shia as heretical, though I do know the Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah has some among their ranks and actively protects their communities from Sunni extremist in Syria. I also hear Shia Iran supports their communities. Their beliefs seem to be very secretive, but I heard they have their own concept of a trinity and worship Islamic prophet Muhammad as well as his successor Ali who is revered heavily by all Shias. I hear they also believe in reincarnation. Apart from that I can’t find much else about them. Anyone have any resources or additional information to share?
 
If you’re referring to the Nusayris, then they aren’t considered Muslims. They’re a syncretic group who practice Islam in public but who secretly practice things such as the Eucharist.
 
I searched “Nusayris” and got this Wikipedia link to “Alawites.”

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawites

Here’s a couple of things that I found interesting:

(1)
"The sect is believed to have been founded by Ibn Nusayr during the 9th century. For this reason, Alawites are sometimes called Nusayris (Arabic: ‫نصيرية‬‎‎ Nuṣayrīyyah), though the term has come to be used as a pejorative in the modern era."

(2)
“Alawites have historically kept their beliefs secret from outsiders and non-initiated Alawites, so rumours about them have arisen.** Arabic accounts of their beliefs tend to be partisan (either positively or negatively).**[14] However, since the early 2000s, Western scholarship on the Alawite religion has made significant advances.[15] At the core of Alawite belief is a divine triad, comprising three aspects of the one God. These aspects or emanations appear cyclically in human form throughout history. The last emanations of the divine triad, according to Alawite belief, were as Ali, Muhammad and Salman the Persian. Alawites were historically persecuted for these beliefs by the Sunni Muslim rulers of the area.”

It occurs to me that in the Middle East today we see the terrible result of extreme partisanship, and I appreciate even more the foresight that the founders of America gave to controlling the effects of faction. I pray that the checks and balances built into our government succeed because it would be terrible to go down a road to a place of extreme partisanship that is in anyway similar to the Middle East.
 
7_Sorrows said:
I am confused. Is Assad an Alawite?

Do they worship in designated mosques? Or in private homes?
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Good question!!! Anyone? Anyone?

What if all of the death and destruction in the Middle East grew out of a disagreement between a very small number of people - maybe a number as small as two people who just had a disagreement that over the centuries mushroomed. The thought brings to my mind lyrics from Dave Mason’s song We Just Disagree:

“There ain’t no good guy, there ain’t no bad guy
There’s only you and me and we just disagree”
 
M-Dent said:
There’s been some debate if Alawites share some common beliefs with the Twelvers (found in Iran).

al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/05/alawite-sect-muslim-misconceptions.html
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The whole issue of religion in the ME is so confusing. I understand the Sunni and the Shia are the two main branches of Islam - and they don’t get along.

About the Alawites I read this:

“The Alawites take their name from Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin, son-in-law and first male follower of Muhammad,[16] who is considered by Shia Muslims the first Shia Imam, and by Sunni Muslims the fourth Rashidun (Rightly-Guided) caliph.[17]French occupying forces used the term Alaouites, a transliteration into French.”

And this:

“The modern period has witnessed tremendous changes in the definition of the ʿAlawīs and the attitude towards them in the Muslim world. … In order to end their long isolation, the name of the sect was changed in the 1920s from Nusạyriyya to ʿAlawiyya, “followers of ʿAlī”, a synonym for Shīʿism. By taking this step, leaders of the sect expressed not only their link to Shīʿism, but to Islam in general.[93]”

And this:

"According to Peter Theo Curtis, the Alawi religion underwent a process of “Sunnification” during the years under Hafez Al Assad’s rule, so that Alawites became not Shia, but effectively Sunni. Public manifestation or “even mentioning of any Alawite religious activities” was banned, as was any Alawite religious organizations or “any formation of a unified religious council” or a higher Alawite religious authority. “Sunni-style” mosques were built in every Alawite village, and Alawi were encouraged to perform Hajj.[94] ".

I also read that Asma al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad’s wife, is a Sunni Muslim. Yet the regime is allied with Iran - definitely a Shia country. To make matters more confusing the Islamist terrorist are Sunni.
 
SalamKhan said:
If you’re referring to the Nusayris, then they aren’t considered Muslims. They’re a syncretic group who practice Islam in public but who secretly practice things such as the Eucharist.
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I understand your perspective as an orthodox Sunni Muslim that Alawites are not true Muslims, but in the broader scholarly context, Alawites are grouped in as Muslims, and indeed, many Shia regimes do consider them as such as well.
 
HCTC said:
The whole issue of religion in the ME is so confusing. I understand the Sunni and the Shia are the two main branches of Islam - and they don’t get along.
Click to expand...
It is very complex. Especially to many of us Westerners.

If you read some of the links you’ll most likely come to the conclusion what the Alawites practice is a bit of a syncretistic theology. They have some sort of belief in a mystical knowledge that is revealed to the faithful {in a secretive manner} and that they revere/protect that with a sort of secrecy/mystery. How they are measured by many in the two main branches of Islam may be somewhat how Catholics have considered Freemasonry?
HCTC said:
About the Alawites I read this:

“The Alawites take their name from Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin, son-in-law and first male follower of Muhammad,[16] who is considered by Shia Muslims the first Shia Imam, and by Sunni Muslims the fourth Rashidun (Rightly-Guided) caliph.[17]French occupying forces used the term Alaouites, a transliteration into French.”

And this:

“The modern period has witnessed tremendous changes in the definition of the ʿAlawīs and the attitude towards them in the Muslim world. … In order to end their long isolation, the name of the sect was changed in the 1920s from Nusạyriyya to ʿAlawiyya, “followers of ʿAlī”, a synonym for Shīʿism. By taking this step, leaders of the sect expressed not only their link to Shīʿism, but to Islam in general.[93]”

And this:

"According to Peter Theo Curtis, the Alawi religion underwent a process of “Sunnification” during the years under Hafez Al Assad’s rule, so that Alawites became not Shia, but effectively Sunni. Public manifestation or “even mentioning of any Alawite religious activities” was banned, as was any Alawite religious organizations or “any formation of a unified religious council” or a higher Alawite religious authority. “Sunni-style” mosques were built in every Alawite village, and Alawi were encouraged to perform Hajj.[94] ".

I also read that Asma al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad’s wife, is a Sunni Muslim. Yet the regime is allied with Iran - definitely a Shia country. To make matters more confusing the Islamist terrorist are Sunni.
Click to expand...
 
M-Dent said:
It is very complex. Especially to many of us Westerners.
Click to expand...
This is truly over-simplification, but I am beginning to see the ME situation as a family disagreement that has gone on for centuries. When family disagreements go on for an extended time, each side collects a list of transgressions that the other side has committed. Then they use each transgression as a justification for hostility.

Just imagine the lists that Sunni and Shia have. It must be ginormous; and if you didn’t grow up in the family, you have little hope of understanding it. Because we share the planet with these people, it’s a little like we married into their family. What do we do? Do we take sides? I don’t think so. Do we disconnect from the extended family? Not wise. We might naturally spend more time with whichever side of the family is less angry, and help family members who want to get away from the situation. We could try to steer them towards constructive activities - education, economic development, etc. We can try to stop them from hurting each other - especially their children and other people who live in their neighborhood.

However, I do remain open to understanding more fully.
 
7_Sorrows said:
If most Muslims consider Alawite to not be true Islam, how do the people of Syria and other ME leaders feel about Assad who worships a minority and controversial
(Some would say) religion?
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I was in Damascus for 3 1/2 months 20 years ago, and at that time nobody seemed to care. I can’t speak to the attitudes now.
 
thephilosopher6 said:
I understand your perspective as an orthodox Sunni Muslim that Alawites are not true Muslims, but in the broader scholarly context, Alawites are grouped in as Muslims, and indeed, many Shia regimes do consider them as such as well.
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‘broader scholarly context’, in this context, is academically useless. It is not even an issue of whether they are Muslims with some heretodox beliefs, as is the case with the Twelver Shiahs or the Mutazilites. Nusayris, like the Ismailis, Druze and Ahmadis, are completely outside the fold of Islam. For the sake of argument, would you consider us (Muslims) to be Christians just because we believe in Prophet Isa ibn Maryam (A)?
 
SalamKhan said:
‘broader scholarly context’, in this context, is academically useless. It is not even an issue of whether they are Muslims with some heretodox beliefs, as is the case with the Twelver Shiahs or the Mutazilites. Nusayris, like the Ismailis, Druze and Ahmadis, are completely outside the fold of Islam. For the sake of argument, would you consider us (Muslims) to be Christians just because we believe in Prophet Isa ibn Maryam (A)?
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I’m just going to go by what they consider themselves to be and what they are generally grouped in as outside of the context of Sunni Islam because I do not practice Sunni Islam.
 
thephilosopher6 said:
I’m just going to go by what they consider themselves to be and what they are generally grouped in as outside of the context of Sunni Islam because I do not practice Sunni Islam.
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I understand what you’re trying to say, and I’m clarifying my position.
 
SalamKhan said:
‘broader scholarly context’, in this context, is academically useless. It is not even an issue of whether they are Muslims with some heretodox beliefs, as is the case with the Twelver Shiahs or the Mutazilites. Nusayris, like the Ismailis, Druze and Ahmadis, are completely outside the fold of Islam. For the sake of argument, would you consider us (Muslims) to be Christians just because we believe in Prophet Isa ibn Maryam (A)?
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I appreciate your (name removed by moderator)ut here as we have very few Muslims who participate at CAF.

Can you answer my question about Assad, if he is an Alawite, how is he viewed by
other Muslims in the Middle East - especially the Sunni and Shia?
 
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