Alawite

:Note: The terms Alawi and Alevi, although related, refer to different religious groups, the latter based in Turkey.

History

The origin of the Alawites is disputed. According to some sources they were originally Nusayri, a sect that broke ties with Twelver Shiites in the 9th century. The Alawites trace their origins to the eleventh Shia Imam, Hasan al Askari (d.873), and his pupil Ibn Nusayr (d.868). Nusayr proclaimed himself the "bab" or door (representative) of the 11th Imam. The sect seems to have been organised by a follower of Ibn Nusayr's known as al-Khasibi who died in Aleppo in about 969. Al-Khasibi's grandson al-Tabarani moved to Latakia on the Syrian coast. There he refined the Nusayri religion and, with his pupils, converted much of the local population. Today Alawites exist as a minority, but politically powerful, religious sect in Syria.

Related Topics:
Twelver Shiites - 9th century - Shia Imam - Hasan al Askari - 873 - Ibn Nusayr - 868 - Aleppo - 969 - Latakia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the 10th century, Alawites were established during the Hamdanid dynasty of Aleppo but they were driven out when the dynasty fell in 1004. In 1097 Crusaders initially attacked them but later allied with them against the Ismailis. In 1120 the Alawites were defeated by the Ismailis and Kurds but three years later they fought the Kurds successfully. In 1297 Ismailis and Alawites tried to negotiate a merger, but it came to nothing.

Related Topics:
10th century - Hamdanid - Aleppo - 1004 - 1097 - Crusaders - Ismaili - 1120 - Kurds - 1297

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Alawites were actively persecuted under Mameluke rule from 1260 onwards. When the Ottoman Empire took control of Syria in 1516, the Turks are said to have killed over 90,000 Alawites. Afterwards, Alawites were regarded as outcasts and the empire sent Turks to settle their lands. Reportedly some of the Turks converted to become Alawites. After Alawites attacked the Ismaili village of Masyaf in 1832, the Pasha of Damascus sent troops against them.

Related Topics:
Mameluke - 1260 - Ottoman Empire - 1516 - Turks - Masyaf - 1832

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Syria and Lebanon came under French mandate. The French gave autonomy to Alawites and other minority groups and accepted Alawites into their colonial troops. Under the mandate, many Alawite chieftains supported the notion of a separate Alawite nation and tried to convert their autonomy into independence. A territory of "Alaouites" was created in 1925. In May 1930 the Government of Latakia was created; it lasted until 28 February 1937 when it was incorporated into Syria.

Related Topics:
Lebanon - Alaouites - 1925 - 1930 - Latakia - 28 February - 1937

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1939 a portion of northwest Syria, the Sanjak of Alexandretta, now Hatay, that contained a large number of Alawites, was given to Turkey by the French, greatly angering the Alawite community and Syrians in general. Zaki al-Arsuzi, the young Alawite leader from Antioch in Iskandarun (later named the Hatay by the Turks) who led the resistance to the annexation of his province to the Turks, later became a founder of the Ba'ath Party along with the Eastern Orthodox Christian schoolteacher Michel Aflaq. After World War II, when the Alawite provinces were united with Syria, Alawite followers of Sulayman al-Murshid tried to resist integration. He was captured and hanged by the newly independent Syrian government in Damascus in 1946.

Related Topics:
1939 - Alexandretta - Hatay - Zaki al-Arsuzi - Antioch - Ba'ath Party - Eastern Orthodox - Michel Aflaq - World War II - Sulayman al-Murshid - Damascus - 1946

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Syria became independent on April 16, 1946. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War over Palestine, Syria endured a succession of military coups in 1949, the rise of the Ba'ath Party, and unification of the country with Egypt in the United Arab Republic in 1958. The UAR lasted for three years and broke apart in 1961, when a secretive military committee, which included a number of disgruntled Alawite officers, including Hafiz al-Asad and Salah Jadid, helped the Ba'ath Party take power in 1963. In 1966, Alawite-oriented military officers successfully rebelled and expelled the old Ba'ath that had looked to Michel Aflaq and (Sunni Muslim) Salah al-Din al-Bitar for leadership. They promoted Zaki al-Arsuzi as the "Socrates" of their reconstituted Ba'ath Party.

Related Topics:
April 16 - 1946 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War - Palestine - 1949 - Egypt - United Arab Republic - 1958 - 1961 - Hafiz al-Asad - Salah Jadid - 1963 - 1966 - Michel Aflaq - Sunni - Salah al-Din al-Bitar - Zaki al-Arsuzi - Socrates

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1970, then-Air Force Colonel Hafez al-Assad took power and instigated a "correctionist movement" in the Ba'ath Party. In 1971 al-Assad became president of Syria, a function that the Constitution only allows a Muslim to embrace. Thence, in 1974 Imam Musa Sadr, leader of Twelver Shiites of Lebanon and founder of the Amal Movement, was asked to proclaim that he accepted the Alawites as real Muslims. Most Muslim authorities - both Sunni and Shiite - still don't recognize them as Muslims. Under the dictatorial Assad regime religious minorities are generally tolerated, although during the Hama Massacre in 1982 perhaps 20,000 predominately Sunnis were killed.

Related Topics:
1970 - Air Force - Colonel - Hafez al-Assad - 1971 - 1974 - Musa Sadr - Lebanon - Amal Movement - Muslims - Sunni - Shiite - Hama Massacre - 1982 - Sunnis

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad maintained the outlines of his father's regime. Although Alawites predominate among the top military and intelligence offices, the civilian government and national economy is largely led by Sunnis. The Assad regime is careful to allow all the religious sects a share of power and influence in the government.

Related Topics:
Hafez al-Assad - 2000

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~