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    en.wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawites

    Alawites

    For other uses, see Alawi (disambiguation).

     Alawites

     ʿAlawīyyah 

    Zulfiqar , a stylised representation of thesword of Ali, is an important symbol for 

     Alawites

    Founder 

    Ibn Nuṣayr 

    Regions with significant populations

     Syria 3 million[1]

     Turkey Ca. 700,000-750,000[2]

     Lebanon Ca. 100,000-120,000[3][4][5]

    Lebanon/Golan Heights 2,100 live in Ghajar 

     Australia 2% of Lebanese-born people in Australia[6]

    Religions

    Shia Islam

    Scriptures

    Quran, List of Shia books

    Languages

     Arabic, Turkish

    The Alawites, also known as Alawis (  ʿAlawīyyah  Arabic: ), are a prominent religious group, centred in Syria,who follow a branch of the Twelver  school of Shia Islam but with syncretistic elements. Alawites revere  Ali (Ali ibn

     Abi Talib), and the name "Alawi" means followers of Ali. The sect is believed to have been founded by Ibn Nusayr 

    during the 9th century. For this reason, Alawites are sometimes called "Nusayris" (Nuṣayrī   Arabic: ), thoughنthis term has come to have derogatory connotations in the modern era; another name, "Ansari" (al-Anṣāriyyah), is

    believed to be a mistransliteration of "Nusayri". Today, Alawites represent 12 percent of the Syrian population andare a significant minority in Turkey and northern Lebanon. There is also a population living in the village of Ghajar in the occupied Golan Heights. They are often confused with the Alevis of Turkey, another Shia sect. Alawites form

    the dominant religious group on the Syrian coast and towns near the coast which are also inhabited by Sunnis,

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    Christians, and Ismailis.

     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).[7] However,

    since the early 2000s, Western scholarship on the Alawite religion has made significant advances.[8] 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.

    The establishment of the French Mandate of Syria marked a turning point in Alawi history. It gave the French the

    power to recruit Syrian civilians into their armed forces for an indefinite period and created exclusive areas for minorities, including an Alawite State. The Alawite State was later dismantled, but the Alawites continued to be asignificant part of the Syrian army. Since Hafez al-Assad took power in 1970, the government has been dominated

    by a political elite led by the Alawite Al-Assad family. During the Islamic uprising in Syria in the 1970s and 1980sthe establishment came under pressure, and the conflict continues as part of the Syrian civil war .

    Contents

     [hide]

    Etymology[edit]

    The Alawites take their name from Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin, son-in-law and first male follower of Muhammad[9] whois considered by Shia Muslims the first Shia Imam and the fourth Rashidun (Rightly-Guided Caliph) by Sunni

    Muslims.[10] French occupying forces used the term Alaouites, a transliteration into French.

    In older sources, Alawis are often called Ansaris. According to Samuel Lyde, who lived among the Alawites duringthe mid-19th century, this was a term they used among themselves. Other sources indicate that "Ansari" is simply

    a Western error in the transliteration of "Nosairi".[11][12] However, the term "Nusayri" had fallen out of currency bythe 1920s, as a movement led by intellectuals within the community during the French Mandate sought to replaceit with the modern term "Alawi". They characterised the older name (which implied "a separate ethnic and religious

    identity") as an "invention of the sect's enemies", ostensibly favouring an emphasis on "connection with

    mainstream Islam"—particularly the Shia branch.[13] As such, "Nusayri" is now generally regarded as antiquated,

    and has even come to have insulting and abusive connotations. The term is frequently employed as hate speechby Sunni fundamentalists fighting against Bashar al-Assad's government in the Syrian civil war , who use its

    emphasis on Ibn Nusayr in order to insinuate that Alawi beliefs are "man-made" and not divinely inspired.[14]

    Recent research has shown that the Alawi appellation was used by the sect’s adherents since the 11th century.The following quote from Alkan (2012) illustrates this point: “In actual fact, the name ‘Alawī’ appears as early as in

    an 11 th-century Nuṣayrī tract (…). Moreover, the term ‘Alawī’ was already used at the beginning of the 20thcentury. In 1903 the Belgian-born Jesuit and Orientalist Henri Lammens (d. 1937) visited a certain Ḥaydarī-Nuṣayr 

    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 calledthemselves the ‘Arab Alawī people’ (  ʿArab  ʿAlevī ṭāʾifesi) 'our  ʿAlawī Nuṣayrī people’ (ṭāʾifatunā al-Nuṣayriyya al-

     ʿAlawiyya) or ‘signed with Alawī people’ (  ʿAlevī ṭāʾifesi imżāsıyla). 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 authorsemphasize; secondly, it hints at the reformation of the Nuṣayrīs, launched by some of their sheikhs in the 19tth

    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 (1919-1938).” [15]

    The Alawites are distinct from the  Alevi  religious sect in Turkey, although the terms share a common etymology

    and pronunciation.[16][17]

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    History[edit]

    Origins[edit]

    The origin of the Alawites is disputed. Local folklore suggests that they are descendants of the followers of the

    eleventh Imam, Hasan al-Askari (d. 873) and his pupil, Ibn Nusayr (d. 868).[18] During the 19th and 20th centuries,some Western scholars believed that Alawites were descended from ancient Middle Eastern peoples such as the

    Canaanites, Hittites,[19][ page needed ][20] or Mardaites.[21]

    The Alawi religious sect seems to have been organised by a follower of Muhammad Ibn Nusayr known as  Al-

    Khaṣ ībī , who died in Aleppo about 969 AD.[22] In 1032 Al-Khaṣ ībī's grandson and pupil, al-Tabarani, moved toLatakia (then controlled by the Byzantine Empire). Al-Tabarani influenced the Alawite faith through his writings and

    by converting the rural population of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range.[22]

     According to Bar Hebraeus, many Alawites were killed when the Crusaders initially entered Syria in 1097;however, they tolerated them when they concluded they were not a truly Islamic sect. Two prominent Alawite

    leaders in the following centuries, credited with uplifting the group, were Shaykhs al-Makhzun (d. 1220) and al-

    Tubani (d. 1300), both originally from Mount Sinjar  in modern Iraq.[23]

    In the 14th century, the Alawites were forced by Mamluk ruler Baibars to build mosques in their settlements, to

    which they responded with token gestures described by the famous Muslim traveler Ibn Battuta.[24][25] During the

    reign of Selim I, of the Ottoman Empire, the Alawites would again experience significant persecution.[26]

    Ottoman Empire[edit]

    The Ottoman Empire oppressed the Alawites,[27] attempting to convert them to Sunni Islam. [28] The Alawis rose up

    against the Ottomans on several occasions, and maintained their autonomy in their mountains.[29]

    In his book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom , T. E. Lawrence wrote:

    The sect, vital in itself, was clannish in feeling and politics. One Nosairi would not betray another,

    and would hardly not betray an unbeliever. Their villages lay in patches down the main hills to the

    Tripoli gap. 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. [30] 

    During the 18th century, the Ottomans employed a number of Alawite leaders as tax collectors under the iltizam

    system. Between 1809 and 1813, Mustafa Agha Barbar , the governor of Tripoli, attacked the Kalbiyya Alawites

    with "marked savagery."[31] Some Alawites supported Ottoman involvement in the Egyptian-Ottoman Wars of 

    1831–1833 and 1839–1841,[32] and had careers in the Ottoman army or as Ottoman governors.[33]

    By the mid-19th century, the Alawite people, customs and way of life were described by Samuel Lyde, an English

    missionary among them, as suffering from nothing except a gloomy plight.[34]

    Early in the 20th century the mainly-Sunni Ottoman leaders were bankrupt and losing the political power, and the

     Alawites were poor peasants.[35][36] Alawites were not allowed to testify in court until after World War I  and the

    dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.[37]

    French Mandate period[edit]

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    Saleh al-Ali, leader of the 1919 AlawiteRevolt against French rule

    Map of French Mandate states in 1921–22(Alawite State in purple)

     After the end of World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Syria andLebanon were placed by the League of Nations under the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. On 15 December 1918 Alawite leader Saleh al-Ali

    called for a meeting of Alawite leaders in the town of Sheikh Badr , urging themto revolt and expel the French from Syria.

    When French authorities heard about the meeting, they sent a force to arrestSaleh al-Ali. He and his men ambushed and defeated the French forces at

    Sheikh Badr , inflicting more than 35 casualties. [38] After this victory al-Ali beganorganising his Alawite rebels into a disciplined force, with its own general

    command and military ranks.

    The Sheikh Badr skirmish began the Syrian Revolt of 1919.[38][39] Al-Aliresponded to French attacks by laying siege to (and occupying) al-Qadmus,

    from which the French had conducted their military operations against him.[38] In November, General HenriGouraud mounted a campaign against Saleh al-Ali's forces in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains. His forces entered al-

     Ali's village of al-Shaykh Badr , arresting many Alawi leaders; however, Al-Ali fled to the north. When a large French

    force overran his positions, he went underground.[38]

    However, despite these instances of opposition, the Alawites greatly favoured French rule and sought its

    continuation beyond the mandate period.[40]

    Alawite State[edit]

    When the French began to occupy Syria in 1920, [41] an Alawite Statewas created in the coastal and mountain country comprising most

     Alawite villages; the French justified this by citing differences betweenthe "backwards" mountain people and the mainstream Sunnis. The

    division also intended to protect the Alawite people from more-powerfulmajorities, such as the Sunnis.

    The French also created microstates, such as Greater Lebanon for theMaronite Christians and Jabal al-Druze for the Druze. Aleppo and

    Damascus were also separate states.[42] Under the Mandate many Alawite chieftains supported a separate Alawite nation, and tried toconvert their autonomy into independence.

    The French encouraged Alawites to join their military forces, in part to

    provide a counterweight to the Sunni majority (which was more hostile to their rule). According to a 1935 letter by

    the French minister of war, the French considered the Alawites and the Druze the only "warlike races" in the

    Mandate territories.[43]

    The region was home to a mostly-rural, heterogeneous population. The landowning families and 80 percent of thepopulation of the port city of Latakia were Sunni Muslim; however, in rural areas 62 percent of the population were

     Alawite peasants. There was considerable Alawite separatist sentiment in the region,[44] evidenced by a 1936letter signed by 80 Alawi leaders addressed to the French Prime Minister which said that the "Alawite peoplerejected attachment to Syria and wished to stay under French protection". Among the signatories was Sulayman Al

    al-Assad, father of Hafez al-Assad. [44] Even during this time of increased Alawite rights, the situation was still sobad for the group that many females had to leave their homes to work for urban Sunnis - many becoming

    mistresses to their employers - which is why it was estimated that 25% of all Alawite children in the 1930s and 40s

    had Sunni fathers.[45]

    In May 1930, the Alawite State was renamed the Government of Latakia in one of the few concessions by the

    French to Arab nationalists before 1936.[44][44] Nevertheless, on 3 December 1936 the Alawite State was re-

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    incorporated into Syria as a concession by the French to the Nationalist Bloc (the party in power in the semi-

    autonomous Syrian government). The law went into effect in 1937.[46]

    In 1939, the Sanjak of Alexandretta  (now Hatay) contained a large number of Alawites. The Hatayan land wasgiven to Turkey by the French after a League of Nations plebiscite in the province. This development greatlyangered most Syrians; to add to Alawi contempt, in 1938 the Turkish military went into İskenderun and expelled

    most of the Arab and Armenian population.[47] Before this, the Alawite Arabs and Armenians comprised most of the

    province's population.[47] Zaki al-Arsuzi, a young Alawite leader from Iskandarun province in the Sanjak of 

     Alexandretta who led the resistance to the province's annexation by the Turks, later became a co-founder of theBa'ath Party with Eastern Orthodox Christian schoolteacher Michel Aflaq and Sunni politician Salah ad-Din al-

    Bitar .

     After World War II, Sulayman al-Murshid played a major role in uniting the Alawite province with Syria. He was

    executed by the Syrian government in Damascus on 12 December 1946, only three days after a political trial.

    After Syrian independence[edit]

    Syria became independent on 17 April 1946. In 1949, after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , Syria experienced a numbe

    of military coups and the rise of the Ba'ath Party.

    In 1958, Syria and Egypt were united by a political agreement into the United Arab Republic. The UAR lasted for 

    three years, breaking apart in 1961 when a group of army officers seized power and declared Syria independent.

     A succession of coups ensued until, in 1963, a secretive military committee (including Alawite officers Hafez al- Assad and Salah Jadid) helped the Ba'ath Party seize power. In 1966 Alawite-affiliated military officers successfullrebelled and expelled the Ba’ath Party old guard followers of Greek Orthodox Christian Michel Aflaq and Sunni

    Muslim Salah ad-Din al-Bitar, calling Zaki al-Arsuzi the "Socrates" of the reconstituted Ba'ath Party.

    In 1970 Air Force General Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, took power and instigated a "Correctionist Movement" in

    the Ba'ath Party. The coup of 1970 ended the political instability which had existed since independence.

    [48]

     RobertD. Kaplan compared Hafez al-Assad's coming to power to "an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jewbecoming tsar  in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the Sunni majority population which had

    monopolized power for so many centuries".[41] In 1971 al-Assad declared himself president of Syria, a position theconstitution at the time permitted only for Sunni Muslims. In 1973 a new constitution was adopted, replacing Islam

    as the state religion with a mandate that the president's religion be Islam, and protests erupted.[49] In 1974, tosatisfy this constitutional requirement, Musa as-Sadr  (a leader of the Twelvers of Lebanon and founder of the AmalMovement, who had unsuccessfully sought to unite Lebanese Alawites and Shiites under the Supreme Islamic

    Shiite Council)[50] issued a fatwa that Alawites were a community of Twelver Shiite Muslims. [51] Under theauthoritarian, secular  Assad government, religious minorities were tolerated more than before but political

    dissidents were not. In 1982, when the Muslim Brotherhood mounted an anti-government Islamist insurgency,Hafez Assad staged a military offensive against them known as the Hama massacre.

    Beliefs[edit]

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     Alawites celebrating at a festival in Banyas, Syriaduring World War II.

    Theology and practices[edit]

     Alawites consider themselves to be Muslims, although some Sunnis

    dispute that they are.[52] Alawite doctrine incorporates Gnostic, neo-

    Platonic, Islamic, Christian and other elements and has, therefore,

    been described as syncretistic.[53][54]

     Alawite beliefs have never been confirmed by their modern religious

    authorities.[55] Alawites tend to conceal their beliefs ( taqiyya) due to

    historical persecution.[56] Some tenets of the faith are secret, known

    only to a select few;[27][57] therefore, they have been described as a

    mystical sect.[58]

    Divinity[edit]

    Their theology is based on a divine triad, [52][59][60] or trinity, which is the core of Alawite belief. [61] The triad

    comprises three emanations of the one God: the supreme aspect or entity called the "Essence"[61] or the

    "Meaning"[60] (both being translations of ma'na), together with two lesser emanations known as his "Name" ( ism),

    or "Veil" (hijab), and his "Gate" (bab).[59][60][61][62] These emanations have manifested themselves in differenthuman forms over several cycles in history, the last cycle of which was as Ali (the Essence/Meaning), Muhammad

    (the Name) and Salman the Persian (the Gate).[59][61][62][63] Alawite belief is summarised in the formula: "I turn to

    the Gate; I bow before the Name; I adore the Meaning".[52][64]

    Reincarnation[edit]

     Alawites hold that they were originally stars or divine lights that were cast out of heaven through disobedience and

    must undergo repeated reincarnation (or metempsychosis[61]) before returning to heaven. [52][62] They can bereincarnated as Christians or others through sin and as animals if they become infidels.[52][65]

    Other beliefs[edit]

    Other beliefs and practices include: the consecration of wine in a secret form of Mass only open to males;frequently being given Christian names; burying the dead in sarcophagi above ground; observing Nowruz,

    Epiphany, Christmas[66] and the feast days of John Chrysostom and Mary Magdalene;,[67] the only religious

    structures they have are the shrines of tombs;[68] the alleged book Kitab al Majmu, which is supposedly a centralsource of Alawite doctrine. Some scholars claim that alawites don't believe women have souls or that they simply

    don't reincarnate.[69][70][71][72]

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     Alawite man in Latakia, early 20thcentury

     Alawi women in Syria, early 20th century

    Opinions on position within Islam[edit]

     Alawites have always described themselves as being Twelver Shiite Muslimsand have been recognized as such by the prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric

    Musa al-Sadr [73] and Iranian religious and political leader Ruhollah

    Khomeini.[74][75] The Sunni Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini

    issued a fatwa recognising them as part of the Muslim community in the interest

    of Arab nationalism.[76][77] However, Athari Sunni (modern day Salafis)

    scholars such as Ibn Kathir  have categorised Alawites as pagans in their 

    writings;[27][78][79] with Ibn Taymiyya arguably being the most virulent anti-

     Alawite in his fatwas[80] and accusing them of aiding the Crusader and Mongol

    enemies of the Muslims.[81] Other Sunni scholars, such as  Al-Ghazali, also

    approved of violence against Alawites, whom he considered as non-

    Muslims.[82] Interestingly, Benjamin Disraeli, in his novel Tancred , also

    expressed the view that Alawites are not Muslims.[83]

    Barry Rubin has suggested that Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad and his son and

    successor Bashar al-Assad pressed their fellow Alawites "to behave like 'regular Muslims', shedding (or at leastconcealing) their distinctive aspects".[84] During the early 1970s a booklet, al-`Alawiyyun Shi'atu Ahl al-Bait  ("The

     Alawites are Followers of the Household of the Prophet") was published, which was "signed by numerous 'Alawi'

    men of religion", described the doctrines of the Imami Shia as Alawite. [85] Additionally, there has been a recentmovement to unite Alawism and the other branches of Twelver Islam through educational exchange programs in

    Syria and Qom.[86]

    Some sources have discussed the "Sunnification" of Alawites under the

    al-Assad regime.[87] Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle

    East Studies, writes that Hafiz al-Assad "tried to turn Alawites into

    'good' (read Sunnified) Muslims in exchange for preserving a modicumof secularism and tolerance in society". On the other hand, Al-Assad

    "declared the Alawites to be nothing but Twelver Shiites".[87] In a paper,

    "Islamic Education in Syria", Landis wrote that "no mention" is made inSyrian textbooks (controlled by the Al-Assad regime) of Alawites,Druze, Ismailis or Shia Islam; Islam was presented as a monolithic

    religion.[88] Ali Sulayman al-Ahmad, chief judge of the Baathist Syrianstate, has said:

    Population[edit]

    Syria[edit]

     Alawites have traditionally lived in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains along the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Latakiaand Tartus are the region's principal cities. They are also concentrated in the plains around Hama and Homs.

     Alawites also live in Syria's major cities, and are estimated at about 12 percent of the country's population[89][90][91]

    (2.6 million, out of a total population of 22 million).[92]

    There are four Alawite confederations — Kalbiyya, Khaiyatin, Haddadin, and Matawirah — each divided into

    tribes.[27] Alawites are concentrated in the Latakia region of Syria, extending north to  Antioch ( Antakya), Turkey,

    and in and around Homs and Hama.[93]

    Before 1953 Alawites held specifically-reserved seats in the Syrian Parliament, in common with all other religious

    communities. After that (including the 1960 census) there were only general Muslim and Christian categories,without mention of subgroups, to reduce sectarianism (taïfiyya).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Council_of_Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antakyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalbiyyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An-Nusayriyah_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alawites&action=edit&section=15http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alawites&action=edit&section=14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismailismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Landishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imamihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashar_al-Assadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Rubinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tancred_(novel)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraelihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Ghazalihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Taymiyyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Kathirhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atharihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_nationalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ummahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haj_Amin_al-Husseinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Mufti_of_Jerusalemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_al-Sadrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alawites&action=edit&section=13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latakia

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     Alawite children in Antioch (now in Turkey), 1938

     Alawite Imam Ali Mosque in Jabal Mohsen,Lebanon

    Turkey[edit]

    See also: Religious minorities in Turkey

    To avoid confusion with the Alevis, the Alawites call themselves  Arap Alevileri  ("Arab Alevis") in Turkish. The term Nusayrī , previously used intheological texts, has been revived in recent studies. In Çukurova,

     Alawites are known as Fellah and Arabuşağı (although the latter is

    considered offensive) by the Sunni population. A quasi-official nameused during the 1930s by Turkish authorities was Eti Türkleri  ("Hittite

    Turks"), to conceal their Arabic origins. Although this term is obsolete, itis still used by some older people as a euphemism.

    The exact number of Alawites in Turkey is unknown; there were

    185,000 in 1970,[94] suggesting about 400,000 in 2009. As Muslims,they are not recorded separately from Sunnis. In the 1965 census (thelast Turkish census where informants were asked their mother tongue),

    180,000 people in the three provinces declared their mother tongue as Arabic; however, Arabic-speaking Sunnis and Christians were alsoincluded in this figure. Turkish Alawites traditionally speak the same dialect of Levantine Arabic  as Syrian Alawites.

     Arabic is preserved in rural communities and in Samandağ. Younger people in the cities of Çukurova andİskenderun tend to speak Turkish. The Turkish spoken by Alawites is distinguished by its accents and vocabulary.Knowledge of the Arabic alphabet is confined to religious leaders and men who have worked or studied in  Arab

    countries.

     Alawites demonstrate considerable social mobility. Until the 1960s, they were bound to Sunni aghas (landholders)around Antakya and were poor. Alawites are prominent in the sectors of transportation and commerce and a large,professional middle class has emerged. Male exogamy has increased, particularly by those who attend universitie

    or live in other parts of Turkey. These marriages are tolerated; however, female exogamy (as in other patrilineal

    groups) is discouraged.

     Alawites, like Alevis, have strong leftist political beliefs. However, some people in rural areas (usually members of notable Alawite families) may support secular, conservative parties such as the Democratic Party. Most Alawites

    feel oppressed by the policies of the Presidency of Religious Affairs  in Turkey (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı).[95][96]

    Lebanon[edit]

    See also: Shia Islam in Lebanon

    There are an estimated 100,000 to 120,000 [3][97] Alawites in Lebanon,

    where they have lived since at least the 16th century.[98] They are oneof the 18 official Lebanese sects; due to the efforts of their leader,  AliEid, the Taif Agreement of 1989 gave them two reserved seats inParliament. Lebanese Alawites live primarily in the Jabal Mohsen

    neighbourhood of Tripoli (where they number 40,000–60,000) and in 15villages in the Akkar District, and are represented by the Arab

    Democratic Party.[99][100][101] Their Mufti is Sheikh Assad Assi. [102]

    The Bab al-Tabbaneh–Jabal Mohsen conflict between pro-Syrian

     Alawites and anti-Syrian Sunnis has affected Tripoli for decades.[103]

    There are also about 2,000 Alawites living in the village of Ghajar,which is split between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.[104] In 1932 the

    residents of Ghajar were given the option of choosing their nationality, and overwhelmingly chose to be a part of 

    Syria (which has a sizable Alawite minority).[105] Before the 1967 Arab-Israeli War , the residents of Ghajar were

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bab_al-Tabbaneh%E2%80%93Jabal_Mohsen_conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Democratic_Party_(Lebanon)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkar_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripoli,_Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taif_Agreementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Eidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islam_in_Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alawites&action=edit&section=17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Religious_Affairshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(Turkey,_current)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrilinealityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exogamyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_mobilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocabularyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accent_(sociolinguistics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0skenderunhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levantine_Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Turkey#1965_censushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslimhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs_in_Turkeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87ukurovahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minorities_in_Turkey#Religious_minoritieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alawites&action=edit&section=16

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    counted in the 1960 Syrian census.[106] When Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, Ghajar was a

    no man's land for two-and-a-half months.

    See also[edit]

    List of Alawites

    References[edit]

    1. Jump up ^ "The 'secretive sect' in charge of Syria" . BBC. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2015.

    2. Jump up ^ "On Turkey's Syrian frontier, fears of a sectarian spillover". Reuters. Retrieved 28 August 2013.

    3. ^ Jump up to: a b http://www.repost.us/article-preview/#!hash=0467cbf01990a23ab00bfe1a45696310

    4. Jump up ^ "Lebanese Allawites welcome Syria's withdrawal as 'necessary'". The Daily Star . 30 April 2005."The Alawis 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 Alawi Union, a council

    of 600 members that are elected every four years."

    5. Jump up ^ "Lebanon’s Alawi: A Minority Struggles in a ‘Nation’ of Sects" . Al Akhbar English. 8 November 

    2011. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    6. Jump up ^ Ghassan Hage (2002). Arab-Australians today: citizenship and belonging  (Paperback ed.).

    Melbourne University Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 0-522-84979-2.

    7. Jump up ^ Friedman, Yaron (2010). The Nuṣayrī-ʻ  Alawīs: An Introduction to the Religion, History, and Identity of the Leading Minority in Syria. p. 68. ISBN 9004178929.

    8. Jump up ^ Friedman, Yaron (2010). The Nuṣayrī-ʻ  Alawīs: An Introduction to the Religion, History, and Identity of the Leading Minority in Syria. p. 67. ISBN 9004178929.

    9. Jump up ^ Kaplan, Robert (February 1993). "Syria: Identity Crisis". The Atlantic . "The term "Alawi" means

    "follower of Ali", the son-in-law of prophet Mohammed who is venerated by millions of Shi'ites in Iran andelsewhere."

    10. Jump up ^ Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C . Greenwood Publishing.ISBN 9780313321092. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    11. Jump up ^ Clymer, R. Swinburne (1 April 2003). Initiates and The People Part 2, May 1929 to June 1930 .Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 9780766153769. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    12. Jump up ^ Howse, Christopher (5 August 2011). "Secretive sect of the rulers of Syria". The Daily Telegraph.

    13. Jump up ^ al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (24 January 2013). "Anti-Islamism in an Islamic Civil War" . The

     American Spectator. Retrieved 4 November 2013.14. Jump up ^ Landis, Joshua (15 December 2013). "Zahran Alloush: His Ideology and Beliefs". Syria

    Comment. Retrieved 24 December 2013.

    15. Jump up ^ See, Alkan, N. (2012) and the references cited therein. Alkan, N. Fighting for the Nuṣayrī Soul:State, Protestant Missionaries and the  ʿAlawīs in the Late Ottoman Empire, Die Welt des Islams, 52 (2012)pp. 23-50.

    16. Jump up ^ "Erdogan, Iran, Syrian Alawites, and Turkish Alevis" . The Weekly Standard . 29 March 2012.Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    17. Jump up ^ The Plain of Saints and Prophets: The Nusayri-Alawi Community of Cilicia ... - Gisela

    Procházka-Eisl, Stephan Procházka. Harrassowitz Verlag. 11 August 2010. ISBN 9783447061780.Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9783447061780http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.dk/books?id=Ixl3NcvAixAC&pg=PA20#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/erdogan-iran-syrian-alawites-and-turkish-alevis_634834.htmlhttp://www.joshualandis.com/blog/zahran-alloush/http://spectator.org/archives/2013/01/24/anti-islamism-in-an-islamic-cihttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8684113/Secretive-sect-of-the-rulers-of-Syria.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780766153769http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.dk/books?id=DnDP09R4s_0C&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780313321092http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.dk/books?id=OLKKVXgEpkoC&pg=PA80#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9004178929http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9004178929http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-522-84979-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.com/?id=J5Edz2OlQNMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanon%E2%80%99s-alawi-minority-struggles-%E2%80%98nation%E2%80%99-sectshttp://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2005/Apr-30/4206-lebanese-allawites-welcome-syrias-withdrawal-as-necessary.ashx#axzz2xTGie9Frhttp://www.repost.us/article-preview/#!hash=0467cbf01990a23ab00bfe1a45696310http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/22/us-syria-crisis-turkey-alawites-idUSBRE89L0MM20121022http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBChttp://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18084964http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alawites&action=edit&section=19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Alawiteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alawites&action=edit&section=18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_man%27s_landhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel

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    18. Jump up ^ "Alawi Islam in the 11th Encyclopædia Britannica". 1911. "Among the more plausibleexplanations is that the name is derived from that of Abu Shu'ayb Muhammad ibn Nusayr, who was anIsma'ilite follower of the eleventh imam of the Shiites at the end of the 9th century. This view has been

    accepted by Nosairi writers, but they transfer Ibn Nusayr to the 7th century and make him the son of thevizier  of Moawiyah."

    19. Jump up ^ Lyde, Samuel (1860). The Asian mystery illustrated in the history, religion, and present state of 

    ... Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    20. Jump up ^ Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (London, 1911), p.241.21. Jump up ^ Mordechai Nisan (1 Jan 2002). Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-

    Expression, 2d ed . McFarland. pp. 114–15. ISBN 9780786451333.

    22. ^ Jump up to: a b Halm, Heinz (2004). Shi'ism. Edinburgh University Press. p. 157. ISBN 9780748618880.Retrieved 17 January 2010.

    23. Jump up ^ Matti Moosa (1987). Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects. Syracuse University Press. pp. 269–71. ISBN 9780815624110.

    24. Jump up ^ Daniel Pipes (1992). Greater Syria. Oxford University Press. p. 161. ISBN 9780195363043.""Every village built a mosque far from the houses, which the villagers neither enter nor maintain. They

    often shelter cattle and asses in it. Often a stranger arrives and goes to the mosque to recite the [Islamic]call to prayer; then they yell to him, 'Stop braying, your fodder is coming.' " [Ibn Battuta]"

    25. Jump up ^ Matti Moosa (1987). Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects. Syracuse University Press. pp. 270–1.

    ISBN 9780815624110.

    26. Jump up ^ Matti Moosa (1987). Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects. Syracuse University Press. p. 275.

    ISBN 9780815624110.

    27. ^ Jump up to: a b c  d  "Alawi Islam". Globalsecurity.org.

    28. Jump up ^ Seale, Patrick. Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East . With the assistance of Maureen

    McConville. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989, c1988.

    29. Jump up ^ Mordechai Nisan. Minorities in the Middle East: a history of struggle and self-expression.

    McFarland, 2002. ISBN 0-7864-1375-1, ISBN 978-0-7864-1375-1

    30. Jump up ^ T. E. Lawrence. Seven Pillars of Wisdom . Book 5, Chapter 58.

    31. Jump up ^ Matti Moosa (1987). Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects. Syracuse University Press. p. 276.ISBN 9780815624110.

    32. Jump up ^ Winter, Stefan (1999). "La révolte alaouite de 1834 contre l'occupation égyptienne: perceptionsalaouites et lecture ottomane". Oriente Moderno (in French) 79 (3): 60–71.

    33. Jump up ^ Winter, Stefan (2004). "The Nusayris before the Tanzimat in the Eyes of Ottoman Provincial

     Administrators, 1804-1834". In Philipp, Thomas; Schumann, Christoph. From the Syrian Land to the Statesof Syria and Lebanon. Würzburg: Ergon. pp. 97–112. ISBN 3899133536.

    34. Jump up ^ Matti Moosa (1987). Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects. Syracuse University Press. p. 277.

    ISBN 9780815624110.

    35. Jump up ^ Field, Michael (1 March 1996). Inside the Arab World - . Harvard University Press.

    ISBN 9780674455214. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    36. Jump up ^ Stratfor (5 May 2011). "Making Sense of the Syrian Crisis". Stratfor. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    37. Jump up ^ Kirkpatrick, David D. (3 September 2012). "Syrian Children Offer Glimpse of a Future of Reprisals". The New York Times.

    38. ^ Jump up to: a b c  d  Moosa, Matti (1987). Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects. Syracuse University Press.

    pp. 282–283. ISBN 0-8156-2411-5.

    39. Jump up ^ Moubayed, Sami M. (2006). Steel & Silk: Men & Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000 . Cune

    Press. pp. 363–364. ISBN 1-885942-41-9.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-885942-41-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_Moubayedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8156-2411-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/world/middleeast/in-syrian-conflict-children-speak-of-revenge-against-alawites.html?pagewanted=allhttp://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110504-making-sense-syrian-crisishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780674455214http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.dk/books?id=mzuJAO7gTmoC&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780815624110http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3899133536http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780815624110http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://telawrence.net/telawrencenet/works/spw/sp_05_058.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780786413751http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0786413751http://books.google.dk/books?id=keD9z1XWuNwC&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Sealehttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-alawi.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780815624110http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780815624110http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195363043http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780815624110http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780748618880http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.com/?id=u5jO3QzVtPUC&pg=PA28&dq=kaysanite#v=onepage&q=kaysanite&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780786451333http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.dk/books?id=x-U-AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moawiyahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isma%27ilitehttp://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Nosairis

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    40. Jump up ^ Daniel Pipes (1992). Greater Syria. Oxford University Press. pp. 166–8. ISBN 9780195363043.

    41. ^ Jump up to: a b Kaplan, Robert (February 1993). "Syria: Identity Crisis". The Atlantic .

    42. Jump up ^ Longrigg, Stephen Hemsley. Syria and Lebanon Under French Mandate. London: Oxford

    University Press, 1958.

    43. Jump up ^ William W. Harris (2003). The Levant: a fractured mosaic . Markus Wiener Publishers.

    ISBN 9781558762640. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    44. ^ Jump up to:a

     b

     c 

     d 

     Khoury, Philip S. Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism,1920–1945 . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987.

    45. Jump up ^ Daniel Pipes (1992). Greater Syria. Oxford University Press. p. 165. ISBN 9780195363043.

    46. Jump up ^ Shambrook, Peter A. French Imperialism in Syria, 1927–1936 . Reading: Ithaca Press, 1998.

    47. ^ Jump up to: a b Jack Kalpakian (2004). Identity, Conflict and Cooperation in International River Systems(Hardcover ed.). Ashgate Publishing. p. 130. ISBN 0-7546-3338-1.

    48. Jump up ^ Kaplan, Robert (February 1993). "Syria: Identity Crisis". The Atlantic . "But the coup of 1970,which brought an Alawi air force officer, Hafez al-Assad, to power, was what finally ended the instability that

    had reigned in Syria since the advent of independence."

    49. Jump up ^ Seale, Patrick. Asad, the Struggle for the Middle East . University of California Press, 1989,

    p.173.

    50. Jump up ^ Riad Yazbeck. "Return of the Pink Panthers?" Mideast Monitor . Vol. 3, No. 2, August 2008.

    51. Jump up ^ The New Encyclopedia of Islam by Cyril Glasse, Altamira, 2001, p.36–7

    52. ^ Jump up to: a b c  d  e "Alawi Islam". Globalsecurity.org

    53. Jump up ^ Prochazka-Eisl, Gisela; Prochazka, Stephan (2010). The Plain of Saints and Prophets: TheNusayri-Alawi Community of Cilicia. p. 81. ISBN 3447061782.

    54. Jump up ^ Friedman, Yaron (2010). The Nuṣayrī-ʻ  Alawīs: An Introduction to the Religion, History, and 

    Identity of the Leading Minority in Syria. p. 67. ISBN 9004178929.

    55. ^ Jump up to: a b 'Abd al‑Latif al‑Yunis, Mudhakkirat al‑Duktur 'Abd al‑Latif al‑Yunis, Damascus: Dar al‑`Ilm,1992, p. 63.

    56. Jump up ^ Secretive sect of the rulers of Syria, The Telegraph, 05 Aug 2011

    57. Jump up ^ The Nuaayri-Alawis (2009) Yaron Friedman

    58. Jump up ^ Lebanon: current issues and background, John C. Rolland (2003). Nova. 1 August 2003.

    ISBN 9781590338711. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

    59. ^ Jump up to: a b c  Böwering, Gerhard et al. (eds.) (2012). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political 

    Thought . p. 29. ISBN 0691134847.

    60. ^ Jump up to: a b c  Friedman, Yaron (2010). The Nuṣayrī-ʻ  Alawīs: An Introduction to the Religion, History,and Identity of the Leading Minority in Syria. p. 77. ISBN 9004178929.

    61. ^ Jump up to: a b c  d  e Prochazka-Eisl, Gisela; Prochazka, Stephan (2010). The Plain of Saints and 

    Prophets: The Nusayri-Alawi Community of Cilicia. p. 82. ISBN 3447061782.

    62. ^ Jump up to: a b c  Peters, F.E. (2009). The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, Volume II . p. 321. ISBN 1400825717.

    63. Jump up ^ Friedman, Yaron (2010). The Nuṣayrī-ʻ  Alawīs: An Introduction to the Religion, History, and 

    Identity of the Leading Minority in Syria. pp. 80, 93–94. ISBN 9004178929.64. Jump up ^ "The 'secretive sect' in charge of Syria" . BBC. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

    65. Jump up ^  Alawis, Countrystudies.us, U.S. Library of Congress.

    http://countrystudies.us/syria/32.htmhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18084964http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9004178929http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1400825717http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3447061782http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9004178929http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0691134847http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781590338711http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.com/?id=-JVOKeNkllgC&pg=PA75&dq=alawi+syncretic#v=onepage&q=alawi%20syncretic&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=3GB31QSFmVYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Yaron+Friedman&hl=en&ei=dEyTTuy7D8KKsgLKy-CNAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Telegraphhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8684113/Secretive-sect-of-the-rulers-of-Syria.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9004178929http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3447061782http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-alawi.htmhttp://www.mideastmonitor.org/issues/0808/0808_2.htm#_ftn1http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7546-3338-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.com/books?id=EmlX4Y7PMjgC&pg=PA130#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195363043http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781558762640http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.dk/books?id=oawsAQAAIAAJ&q=warlike+races#search_anchorhttp://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195363043http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number

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    66. Jump up ^ David S. Sorenson (3 Dec 2013). An Introduction to the Modern Middle East: History, Religion,Political Economy, Politics. Westview Press. p. 64. ISBN 9780813349220.

    67. Jump up ^ Robert Brenton Betts (31 Jul 2013). The Sunni-Shi'a Divide: Islam's Internal Divisions and Their Global Consequences (illustrated ed.). Potomac Books, Inc. p. 29. ISBN 9781612345222.

    68. Jump up ^ Daniel Pipes (1992). Greater Syria. Oxford University Press. p. 161. ISBN 9780195363043.

    69. Jump up ^ Mordechai Nisan (1 Jan 2002). Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-Expression, 2d ed . McFarland. p. 116. ISBN 9780786451333.

    70. Jump up ^ Charles George Herbermann (2005). Encyclopaedia of sects & religious doctrines, Volume 1

    (3rd ed.). Cosmo Publications. pp. 15–16. ISBN 9788177559286.

    71. Jump up ^ Nanny M. W. de Vries; Jan Best. Thamyris. Rodopi. p. 290.

    72. Jump up ^ Ian Strathcarron (2012). Innocence and War: Mark Twain's Holy Land Revisited  (illustrated,reprint ed.). Courier Corporation. p. 78. ISBN 9780486490403.

    73. Jump up ^ Kramer, Martin. "Syria's '‘Alawis and Shi‘ism". "In their mountainous corner of Syria, the 'Alawī claim to represent the furthest extension of Twelver Shiism."

    74. Jump up ^ Diana Darke (2010). Syria (illustrated ed.). Bradt Travel Guides. p. 217. ISBN 9781841623146.

    75. Jump up ^ Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr (17 Apr 2007). The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shapethe Future (illustrated, reprint, annotated ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. p. 92. ISBN 9780393329681.

    76. Jump up ^ Talhamy, Y. (2010). "The Fatwas and the Nusayri/Alawis of Syria". Middle Eastern Studies 46

    (2): 175–194. doi:10.1080/00263200902940251. edit

    77. Jump up ^ Me'ir Mikha'el Bar-Asher; Gauke de Kootstra; Arieh Kofsky (2002). The Nuṣayr−i-ʻ alaw−i Religion: An Enquiry Into Its Theology and Liturgy . BRILL. p. 1. ISBN 978-90-04-12552-0. Retrieved 18March 2011.

    78. Jump up ^ Syria crisis: Deadly shooting at Damascus funeral

    79. Jump up ^ Abd-Allah, Umar F., Islamic Struggle in Syria , Berkeley : Mizan Press, c1983, pp. 43–48

    80. Jump up ^ Daniel Pipes (1992). Greater Syria. Oxford University Press. p. 163. ISBN 9780195363043.

    ""the Nusayris are more infidel than Jews or Christians, even more infidel than many polytheists. They havedone greater harm to the community of Muhammad than have the warring infidels such as the Franks, theTurks, and others. To ignorant Muslims they pretend to be Shi'is, though in reality they do not believe in God

    or His prophet or His book...Whenever possible, they spill the blood of Muslims...They are always the worstenemies of the Muslims...war and punishment in accordance with Islamic law against them are among thegreatest of pious deeds and the most important obligations." [Ibn Taymiyya]"

    81. Jump up ^ Matti Moosa (1987). Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects. Syracuse University Press. pp. 269–70. ISBN 9780815624110.

    82. Jump up ^ Daniel Pipes (1992). Greater Syria. Oxford University Press. pp. 160–1. ISBN 9780195363043.""apostacize in matters of blood, money, marriage, and butchering, so it is a duty to kill them." [Al-Ghazali] "

    83. Jump up ^ Daniel Pipes (1992). Greater Syria. Oxford University Press. p. 162. ISBN 9780195363043.

    84. Jump up ^ Rubin, Barry (2007). The Truth about Syria. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 49.ISBN 9781403982735.

    85. Jump up ^ Abd-Allah, Umar F. (1983). Islamic Struggle in Syria. Berkeley: Mizan Press. pp. 43–48.ISBN 0933782101.

    86. Jump up ^ Esther, Pan (18 July 2006). "Syria, Iran, and the Mideast Conflict". Backgrounder . Council onForeign Relations. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.

    87. ^ Jump up to: a b Syrian comment. Asad's Alawi dilemma , 8 October 2004

    88. Jump up ^ "Islamic Education in Syria: Undoing Secularism". OU. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

    http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/Islamic%20Education%20in%20Syria.htmhttp://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2004/10/asads-alawi-dilemma.htmhttp://web.archive.org/web/20110523091927/http://www.cfr.org/iran/syria-iran-mideast-conflict/p11122http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relationshttp://www.cfr.org/iran/syria-iran-mideast-conflict/p11122http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0933782101http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781403982735http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195363043http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195363043http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780815624110http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195363043http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17085226http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-04-12552-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://books.google.com/books?id=2bli4DyuHRIC&pg=RA1-PA153http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Cite_doi/10.1080.2F00263200902940251&action=edit&editintro=Template:Cite_doi/editintro2http://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2F00263200902940251http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780393329681http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781841623146http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradt_Travel_Guideshttp://www.martinkramer.org/sandbox/reader/archives/syria-alawis-and-shiism/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780486490403http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodopi_(publisher)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9788177559286http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780786451333http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195363043http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781612345222http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780813349220http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westview_Press

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    89. Jump up ^ "Turbulent history colors Syria's ruling Alawite Muslims' fight to keep power". China Post . 9 July2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

    90. Jump up ^ "Syria's Alawites, a secretive and persecuted sect" . Reuters. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

    91. Jump up ^ McDonald-Gibson, Charlotte (18 February 2012). "Syrians flee their homes amid fears of ethnic

    cleansing". The Independent .

    92. Jump up ^ "It's Time to Engage Iran, Russia on Syria" . al-monitor.com. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    93. Jump up ^ "  ʿAlawite". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 17 January 2010.94. Jump up ^ State and rural society in medieval Islam: sultans, muqtaʻ s, and fallahun. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

    1997. p. 162. ISBN 90-04-10649-9.

    95. Jump up ^ Fellahlar'ın Sosyolojisi , Dr. Cahit Aslan, Adana, 2005

    96. Jump up ^  Arap Aleviliği: Nusayrilik , Ömer Uluçay, Adana, 1999

    97. Jump up ^ Zoi Constantine. "Pressures in Syria affect Alawites in Lebanon - The National" . The National . Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    98. Jump up ^ "‘Lebanese Allawites welcome Syria’s withdrawal as 'necessary' 2005, The Daily Star, 30 April" ."The Alawis have been present in modern-day Lebanon since the 16th century and are estimated to number 

    100,000 today, mostly in Akkar and Tripoli."

    99. Jump up ^ [1][dead link ]

    00. Jump up ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (5 August 2008). "Refworld | Lebanon:

    Displaced Allawis find little relief in impoverished north". UNHCR. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    01. Jump up ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (31 July 2008). "Refworld | Lebanon:

    Displaced families struggle on both sides of sectarian divide". UNHCR. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    02. Jump up ^ "Lebanon Muslim leaders held a summit in Beirut | World News Live from Lebanon" . LB: Ya

    Libnan. 21 July 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

    03. Jump up ^ David Enders, McClatchy Newspapers (13 February 2012). "Syrian violence finds its echo inLebanon | McClatchy". Mcclatchydc.com. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

    04. Jump up ^ "Getting rid of Ghajar - Haaretz - Israel News" . Haaretz . Retrieved 17 January 2010.

    05. Jump up ^  A New Fence Is Added to a Border Town Already Split

    06. Jump up ^ Bar, Zvi (10 May 2009). "Getting rid of Ghajar, Zvi Bar'el" . Haaretz . Retrieved 25 December 

    2012.

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to  Alawites.

    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Alawiteshttp://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084425.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/world/middleeast/11lebanon.htmlhttp://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084425.htmlhttp://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/02/13/v-print/138757/syrian-violence-finds-its-echo.htmlhttp://www.yalibnan.com/2012/07/21/lebanon-muslim-leaders-held-a-summit-in-beirut/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4896c47526.htmlhttp://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/489c1be4c.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rothttp://menassat.com/?q=en%2Fnews-articles%2F5210-tripoli-4http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2005/Apr-30/4206-lebanese-allawites-welcome-syrias-withdrawal-as-necessary.ashx#axzz2njhPbwW1http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/pressures-in-syria-affect-alawites-in-lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/90-04-10649-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/12399/Alawitehttp://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/battle-for-syria-just-getting-st.htmlhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrians-flee-their-homes-amid-fears-of-ethnic-cleansing-7079802.htmlhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-syria-alawites-sect-idUSTRE8110Q720120202http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/afp/2012/02/20/332152/Turbulent-history.htm

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