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Topic: Alawites

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	Alawites
		Most of them live from agriculture, but the Alawites are also central in the leadership of Syria, President Bashar al-Assad being an Alawite (similar to his late father, Hafez).
		The Alawites are not Alevi, another religion, which usually is classified as a Shi'i-originated branch of Islam, with some 21 million adherents, mainly in Turkey.
		Through their history, the Alawites have often been in conflict with the rulers as well as other Muslims, who often have claimed that they are not Muslims.
	i-cias.com /e.o/alawites.htm (461 words)

	SyriaComment.com: Anthony Shadid on Alawites and the Regime
		SyriaComment.com: Anthony Shadid on Alawites and the Regime
		Assad is an Alawite, and during the presidency of his father and predecessor, Hafez Assad, the sect emerged from behind the scenes to command the government's most sensitive positions in the military and security services.
		The Alawite region is one of Syria's most secular, reflecting the imprint of a Baath Party that saw tribe and religion as barriers to modernization.
	faculty-staff.ou.edu /L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2005/10/anthony-shadid-on-alawites-and-regime.htm (5608 words)

	Alawite
		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.
		Alawites who have speculated on the success are considerably more optimistic about the percentage of Syrians who considered them Muslim than are their Druze counterparts.
		Traditionally Alawites live in the mountains along the Mediterranean coast of Syria; Latakia and Tartous are the region's principal cities.
	encyclopedia.vestigatio.com /Alawite (2715 words)

	Osmanlı Tarihi Kültürü Medeniyeti Edebiyatı Sanatı
		Alawites do not accept converts or the publication of their texts which is passed down from scholar to scholar.
		The vast majority of Alawites know precious little about the contents of their sacred texts or theology which is guarded by a small class of male initiates.
		Alawites believe that their rewards are not financial gain or property but true knowledge of the Prophets of Allah.
	www.osmanlimedeniyeti.com /wiki/Alawite_.html (2203 words)

	Religious cults and sects, world religions, doctrines and practices - Alawites
		Alawites are estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands, living mainly in Syria, where they account for about 6 percent of the 17 million population, but also in Lebanon and Turkey.
		The Alawites, at about 1.5 million strong in Syria and representing about 12 percent of the country's population, are considered by some to be a distant offshoot of the Shiite branch of Islam.
		Their belief system has been a matter of speculation, rumor and suspicion from more orthodox Muslims of both the Shiite and Sunni sects almost from their beginnings in the ninth century, when the branch was founded by a man named Ibn Nusayr, who declared himself the gateway to truth.
	www.apologeticsindex.org /a21.html (474 words)

	'Alawites in the Muslim World
		The ‘Alawites are composed of a number of tribes, some of which were native to northwest Syria; other tribes emigrated from Iraq in the 12th century.
		The ‘Alawites themselves are divided into five sects, the Sun Sect (Shamsiyya), the Moon Sect (Qamari), the Murshids named after their Messiah, Sliman Murshid/Murshad, the Haidariyya, and the Ghaibiyya.
		He proclaimed himself the Messiah; many 'Alawites followed him, though it should be mentioned that many did not; and his beliefs are not representative of all 'Alawites.
	www.muslimhope.com /Alawites.htm (3063 words)

	Alawites
		Most of them live from agriculture, but the Alawites are also central in the leadership of Syria, President Bashar al-Assad being an Alawite (similar to his late father, Hafez).
		The Alawites are not Alevi, another religion, which usually is classified as a Shi'i-originated branch of Islam, with some 21 million adherents, mainly in Turkey.
		Through their history, the Alawites have often been in conflict with the rulers as well as other Muslims, who often have claimed that they are not Muslims.
	www.i-cias.com /e.o/alawites.htm (461 words)

	Death of Syrian Minister Leaves A Sect Adrift in Time of Strife
		Assad is an Alawite, and during the presidency of his father and predecessor, Hafez Assad, the sect emerged from behind the scenes to command the government's most sensitive positions in the military and security services.
		The Alawite region is one of Syria's most secular, reflecting the imprint of a Baath Party that saw tribe and religion as barriers to modernization.
		In his place, some Alawites say, is a government that cares about the military only to ensure it doesn't rebel; a ruling family most worried about its survival; and a state that promotes not the sect's interest, but networks bound by patronage and power that are growing richer.
	www.washingtonpost.com /wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103001270_pf.html (2159 words)

	Commentary by Rick Francona
		The UAR dissolved in 1961, and in 1963 the Ba'th mounted a military coup in Damascus.
		While the mere fact that the Alawites are considered to be Shi’a by many, their acceptance of pagan and Christian beliefs makes them extreme heretics in the eyes of Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority.
		The Alawites adopted the Arabic language and the Isma’iliyah sect of Islam in the Middle Ages.
	home.earthlink.net /~francona/commentaries/alawites.html (828 words)

	Spartanburg SC \| GoUpstate.com \| Spartanburg Herald-Journal (Site not responding. Last check: )
		Theologically, Alawites today claim to be Twelver Shi'ites, but traditionally they have been designated as "extremists" (Arabic: ØºÙØ§Ø© ghulat) and outside the bounds of Islam by the Muslim mainstream for their high level of devotion to Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib.
		Alawites do not accept converts or openly publish their texts, which are passed down from scholar to scholar.
		There are a few thousand Alawites who live in Lebanon, where the Taif Agreement of 1989 gave them two reserved seats in the Parliament (Alawites are recognized as one of the 18 official Lebanese sects).
	www.goupstate.com /apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=NEWS&template=wiki&text=Alawite (2457 words)

	de alawiten Alawites are a Middle eastern religious...
		Alawites call themselves "Alawi" The term "Alawite" is of relative recent origin and historically they have been called "Nusairis", "Namiriya" or "Ansariyya".
		Alawite status was significantly improved and in 1974 Imam Musa al-Sadr, leader of Twelver Shiites proclaimed that he accepted them as Shiite a muslims.
		In Syria, Alawites live in mountains near the city of Latakia, in cities of Hama and Homs and, due to Hassad's influences, in Damascus.
	www.geodatabase.de /Alawite (840 words)

	Media Guide to Islam (Site not responding. Last check: )
		Alawite is an outgrowth of the 12-Imam Shia Islam, the largest Shia subgroup, which is dominant in Iran.
		Alawites combine elements of orthodox Muslim belief with esoteric Christian rites (such as a Mass-like ceremony) and Iranian Zoroastrian practices, including the celebration of pre-Islamic Persian religious feasts.
		Alawites believe that women do not have souls and that the stars are the deified souls of true believers.
	mediaguidetoislam.sfsu.edu /religion/04c_branches.htm (1212 words)

	A U.S. Strategy for Dealing with Syria
		His regime, dominated by members of his minority Alawite religious group, is resented at home and distrusted in the Arab world.
		In 1966 the Alawites spearheaded a radical rural-based paath faction in the military that displaced Sunni Baathist officers.
		Syria is unlikely to participate in the Middle East peace process unless its minority Alawite regime is broadened or replaced by a coalition that could withstand the domestic backlash that probably would accompany any agreement with Israel.
	www.heritage.org /Research/MiddleEast/bg476.cfm (3339 words)

	By: David Rice Re: Another nation undr God ISTANBUL, Turkey (ITN) Sectarian differences ha
		Alawites, who comprise one-third of Turkey's 60 million people, have been treated as a minority group by the Turkish state, which promotes the Sunni belief.
		The Alawites, predominantly inhabiting Anatolia, the central Turkish plain, maintained some of the characteristics of shamanism, the original religion of Central Asian tribes.
		The Alawites' nervousness grew after an Islamic fundamentalist party, the Welfare Party, polled well in local elections across Turkey a year ago, doubling its votes to 20 percent.
	www.skepticfiles.org /misctext/istanbul.htm (968 words)

	Austin Bay Blog » Syrian Cynicism in The Cartoon War
		Syria is a brutal secular dictatorship run by the Assad clan with the support of their Alawite sect (perhaps ten percent of the population).
		The Alawite religion is secret and Alawites do not accept converts or the publication of their sacred texts.
		The vast majority of Alawites know precious little about the contents of their sacred texts or theology which is jealously guarded by a small class of male initiates.
	austinbay.net /blog/?p=884 (587 words)

	Syria: The Alawites
		The Alawites live mostly in Latakia, a city on Syria’s northeastern coast, and in the surrounding An-Nusariyah Mountains.
		Alawites are a very friendly, hospitable people, but they are also somewhat mysterious.
		For example, the name “Alawite” comes from their belief that Ali, the son-in-law of the Muslim prophet Muhammed, was an incarnation of the deity.
	archives.tconline.org /Stories/april02/fc4.html (708 words)

	Quietly Smiling - August 3, 2006 - The New York Sun
		This general was born an Alawite, and for a variety of reasons, converted to Shi'ism.
		Yet, the very existence of the Alawites provoked the hostility of Syria's mainstream Sunnism, which many centuries ago tried to deal with this nuisance through religiously sanctioned mass murder.
		The "otherness" of the Alawites was much too pronounced, and the obstinate survival of their paganism too unsettling for the triumphalism of Islamic orthodoxy.
	www.nysun.com /article/37293 (691 words)

	That Iraq Feeling Comes to Syria - by Ferry Biedermann
		Add to this mix a defiant speech by the country's young president Bashar Assad in which he called the UN investigation a "plot" against his country, and it is no wonder that many Syrians see their country on a course of confrontation with the international community, similar to Iraq's until the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
		Kanaan was considered one of the most powerful Alawites, second only to the ruling Assad family, and was famed for working the patronage system to perfection, and procuring jobs and business for his people.
		Many Alawites are grumbling that the new generation, that mostly grew up in the cities, looks less well after the rest of the community.
	www.antiwar.com /ips/biedermann.php (1081 words)

	Syria's Minority Alawites Fear for Future
		Alawites are a secretive off-shoot of Shia Islam who revere Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad.
		During Mr Assad's rule the top military and political echelons were filled with Alawites, although he was careful to give other sects a share of the power.
		But social differences remained and many Alawites were abandoned by a state so closely associated with their sect in the minds of most Syrians.
	www.aina.org /news/20051122100733.htm (693 words)

	Do Unto OthersProject-Church of the Science of God
		And in the west, contiguous to Lebanon, was the mountain stronghold of Latakia, dominated by the Alawites, the most oppressed and recalcitrant of French Syria’s Arab minorities, who were destined to have a dramatic effect on post-colonial Syria.
		The term “ Alawite” means “follower of Ali,” the martyred son-in-law of Mohammed who is venerated by millions of Shi’ites in Iran and elsewhere.
		But the coup of 1970, which brought an Alawite air-force officer, Hafez al-Assad, to power, was what finally ended the instability that had reigned in Syria since the advent of independence.
	www.dountoothers.org /syria82406.html (2872 words)

	Syria, Alawites peoples of \| www.30-days.net (Site not responding. Last check: )
		The Alawites were persecuted by Sunnite Muslims in earlier centuries, so they retreated to the mountains far from the Mediterranean coast.
		It is generally thought that the Alawites (formerly called Nusairians) trace their origins to the religious teacher Muhammad Ibn Nusair (died around 883).
		Alawite doctrines have not been written down, but rather they are handed down as secrets by the religious leaders.
	www.30-days.net /ebook6/day06.htm (758 words)

	USATODAY.com - Bashar Assad: A powerful leader or 'an empty vessel'? (Site not responding. Last check: )
		Martin Indyk, a former assistant secretary of State who met many times with Hafez Assad and spent three hours with Bashar Assad a year ago, calls him an "enigma" and an "ingénue" who appears to be not entirely in control of his own government.
		Surrounded by holdovers from his father's 30-year rule and Alawites from Syria's ruling religious sect, Assad is "an empty vessel," says Danielle Pletka, a Middle East expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
		Alawites, who make up 12% of Syria's 18 million population, dominate the security services and would fight any attempt to remove them from power.
	www.usatoday.com /news/world/2005-03-13-syrian-president_x.htm (1128 words)

	The Syrian Alawite Community: Free Muslims Coalition
		The Alawites can be found in Syria only although some claim that the Alevis in Turkey are related, a notion disputed by both the Alawites of Syria and the Alevis of Turkey.
		In the 13th century, the Alawites were persecuted severly by the Mamluks and later were attacked by the Ottomans in their newly settled land of Latikiya on the Syrian Mediterranean coast.
		Furthermore, the Alawites can not sustain indefinitely to remain in power if other essential components are undermining the system such as a viable economy, a persistent brain drain for lack of freedom, a rampant corruption that is disintegrating the fabric of the society, and a helpless and restless youth.
	www.freemuslims.org /news/article.php?article=1804 (1059 words)

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