Alawites, a minority on the sidelines of Islam

► Who are the Alawites and when they appeared?

Alawites emerge around the 10th century in the particular context of the Shiite world. On the death of Mohammed in 632, a conflict of succession had broken out between his companions on the one hand, at the origin of Sunnism, today largely in the majority in Islam, and on the other his family entourage, in particular the “supporters” (Schi’a, Who gave Shiite) of Ali, for whom power was to return to this cousin and son -in -law of the Prophet and his descendants. “For the Shiites, what matters is to have accompanied the Prophet, hence their insistence on oral tradition and interpretation”, Aghiad Ghanem, doctor of political science and alawite specialist explains.

According to tradition, their founder is Mohammad ibn noseïr al namiri (died in 884), the “door” (a disciple, editor’s note) From the eleventh imam, from whom he would have received a new revelation. Those who are then called noseïris venerate Ali as an incarnation of God, while the majority of Shiites await the return of the twelfth imam, Al Mahdi, “hidden” in the eyes of men and who must reappear at the end of time.

Quickly, the Alawite thought, tinged with esotericism and mysticism, is structured around scholars, the most famous of which is Al Khasibi – his sanctuary in Aleppo was burnt down by Islamists at the end of 2024. In the 13th century, pushed by wars and persecutions, the Alaouites migrate to the coast and take refuge in the mountains. For the Franco-Syrian researcher, it is “This very fragmented geography which caused the emergence of clans, around large families and tribal confederations”. To this are added doctrinal differences, which appeared in the 17th century but always decisive, around the figure of Ali.

► What are the main features of their belief and their rites?

Alawite doctrine is based on the belief in Ali’s divinity, says the meaning, that some identify with visible realities like the Moon. With Mohammed and Salman Persia, he formed a triad contrasting with the strict monotheism of Orthodox Islam. The Prophet Mohammed is therefore secondary there, professing a simplified version of religion intended for the greatest number, the true faith being accessible only to initiates – an initiation practiced with a sheikh and reserved for young men.

“Like most Shiites, the Alaouites distinguish the visible world, that of revelation, from the invisible world subject to interpretation, but with an esoteric dimension much more marked”, Hins Aghiad Ghanem, which explains their ritual domestic practice, even secret, reinforced by successive political contexts – crossed, Ottoman Empire, French protectorate … – and persecutions.

How do they envisage earthly existence? For them, it is the fruit of a forfeiture, because they did not recognize Ali causing time. Hence their belief in mempainecosis (according to which a soul can live in different bodies, including animals), with seven successive incarnations, allowing to redeem itself and return to the original state of light with God.

As for the rites, they often present two faces, according to the dialectic specific to the Alawites: one exterior, complying with the surrounding religious environment – as a proverb, a proverb, “He is not Alawite, the one who, in the midst of forty Muslims (Sunni implied, editor’s note) pious, is not the most pious of all ” –and the other symbolic and secret. The cheikh dynasties, a sort of clergy, is also clearly distinguished from clan leaders. For Aghiad Ghanem, “This explains their great capacity to adapt to different political systems as well as their religious syncretism”, With borrowings made to Christianity (Christmas, Easter, belief in quasi-trinity …), with which they have long cohabited in the mountains, or to Persian religions.

► Are the Alaouites Muslims like the others?

How are the Alaouites in Islam? This complex question is always the object of controversy, both among them and in-house. Aghiad Ghanem spots three types of internal responses. Some alaouites recognize themselves Muslims, in the sense that they adhere to the fundamentals of Islam (Koran, belief that Allah is God and Mohammed, his prophet), even if their interpretation and their practice differ largely; Others are specifically located in the wake of Shiism; Others finally claim a more autonomous existence.

From the outside, the answers also vary. The most conservative and radical was formulated in the 14th century by the scholar Sunni Ibn Taymiyya – a reference for contemporary Islamists -, who denounces them in a fatwa like “More unfaithful than Jews and Christians, even more unfaithful than many idolaters”. In the 1950s, intellectuals from Al-Azhar University (Egypt) pleaded for their acceptance in Islam, while they were rather attached to Shiite Islam from the 1970s by political instrumentalization. In recent decades, they have been taken in pincers between the radical Islamists, for whom they are the worst heretics, and the regime of Bashar al Assad, himself Alaouite, who has continued to exercise his grip while limiting their autonomy.

——–

A presence mainly in Syria

In Syria, Alawites are considered to represent approximately 10 % of the population, or 2 million people, whose young men who have recently fled the country to be removed or died in war.

They are mainly located on the coast and in the mountains of the Djebel Ansariya to the west of the country. Three -quarters of Syrian Alawites live in the Lattaquié region (former Laodicea).

Alawite minorities There are also on the other side of the southern border in Lebanon (around 100,000), and in the north, in Türkiye (around 800,000).