The Alawites are members of a special Islamic group; there are about 2 million of them in Syria (10-15 per cent of the total Syrian population). Their mother tongue is Arabic, and their traditional homeland is the mountainous region south-east of Latakia, Syria's largest port. The Alawites were persecuted by Sunnite Muslims in earlier centuries, so they retreated to the mountains far from the Mediterranean coast. For a long time, they lived in poverty and without any access to education.
Alawites Origins
It is generally thought that the Alawites (formerly called Nusairians) trace their origins to the religious teacher Muhammad Ibn Nusair (died around 883). His teaching led to a new sect and a consequent splitting from Ismailism, a Shiite cult of Islam. The sect was later called Alawite - named after Ali, Muhammad's much admired cousin and son-in-law (Caliph from 656-661). Their faith has retained many non-Islamic, early oriental beliefs.
Alawite doctrines have not been written down, but rather they are handed down as secrets by the religious leaders. The Alawite faith is a secret religion even today. Alawites do not have mosques, only devotional rooms. They disapprove of the Islamic religious duties (praying five times, fasting during Ramadan etc), but under persecution they sometimes practise them to protect themselves.
Alawites Possibilities
Under the French mandate rule (1920-46), the Alawites were given significant positions in society to counterbalance the powerful Sunnites. Many became officers in the Syrian army and gained influence in society. They adopted the national socialistic ideology of the Arab renewal (Arab Baath) and came to power in 1963 with the 'Baath Party'. Today's Syrian president, Bashar al-Asad, is Alawite, and has only formally converted to Sunni Islam. In the eyes of Sunni Muslims, who form the majority of the Syrian population, the Alawites are perceived as atheistically orientated.
Between 1856 and 1958, missionaries evangelised in the predominantly Alawite regions. Some individual Alawites came to believe in Jesus as their Lord and joined Protestant churches. However, no indigenous Alawite churches came into being. Some of the descendants of these Christians turned back to the religion of their ancestors under pressure from the majority; others - including many Syrian Christians - have emigrated from Syria during recent decades.
Outreach among Alawites needs to begin again, even though it is forbidden to evangelise in Syria. However, Alawites can listen to evangelistic radio programmes and receive Christian TV broadcasts by satellite. In Aleppo or Damascus, they can buy a Bible or Christian books. But rarely will they meet a native Christian who is able to explain the gospel to them.
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Map of Syria
Prayer for Syria:
* Pray that there will be an awakening among the Alawites through the Spirit of God, so that they will search for the truth.
* Pray for the Alawites to turn to Christ through the testimony of Christians and through evangelistic literature and radio and satellite TV programmes.
* Pray for there to be a new freedom for the proclamation of the gospel, especially by foreigners, thus ending 45 years of prohibition.
Background on Syria (World Factbook)
Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, France administered Syria until its independence in 1946. The country lacked political stability, however, and experienced a series of military coups during its first decades. Syria united with Egypt in February 1958 to form the United Arab Republic, but in September 1961 the two entities separated and the Syrian Arab Republic was reestablished. In November 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the Socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawite sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel, and over the past decade Syria and Israel have held occasional peace talks over its return. Following the death of President al-ASAD in July 2000, Bashar al-ASAD was elected as president. Influenced by major uprisings that began elsewhere in the region, antigovernment protests broke out in the southern province of Da'ra in March 2011 and spread to other Syrian cities. Protesters called for the repeal of the restrictive Emergency Law allowing arrests without charge, the legalization of political parties, and the removal of corrupt local officials. The government responded with a mix of force and concessions, including the repeal of the Emergency Law, but as of mid-July 2011 had not succeeded in quelling protests.
Economy of Syria
The Government of Syria has implemented modest economic reforms in the past few years, including cutting lending interest rates, opening private banks, consolidating some of the multiple exchange rates, and raising prices on some subsidized items, most notably, gasoline and cement. Nevertheless, the economy remains highly controlled by the government. Long-run economic constraints include declining oil production, high unemployment, rising budget deficits, and increasing pressure on water supplies caused by heavy use in agriculture, rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and water pollution.
Statistics on Syria
Population: 22,517,750 (July 2011 est.) World rank #52
Life Expectancy at Birth: 74.69 years. World rank #94
Ethnic groups: Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%
Religions: Sunni Muslim 74%, Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects 16%, Christian (various sects) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo)
Languages: Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood
Literacy: 79.6% -- Male: 86%, Female: 73.6%
School Life Expectancy: 11 years
Marketplace in Syria (Damascus) - Video
Sights and Sounds of Syria
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May Allah give Alawites foresight and wisdom. I pray to Allah for their prosperity. I want them to get the best education to become true Islamic. May Allah shower His mercy upon them. Thanks. Nazneen O. Saherwala. (Surat, India)
pray for Syria:
* for Muslims to recieve dreams, visions, and revelations of Christ
* for revival amongst traditional "Christian" populations
* for leaders in Syria to come to Christ
* for Muslims to be dissatisfied with Islam and drawn towards Jesus
* for evangelistic mateirals to be prepared for Muslim Syrians
i am an alawite, and i just smiled to these nonsense informations about alawites, we are the followers of the Ali bin abi Talib who is son in low and true brother of Muhammad a.s., and rightfull succesor of the prophet. how is this possible for us to deny islamic rules which are brought by the our prophet Muhammad and performed by Ali bin abi Talib a.s. . we are true muslims who are bounded to sayyedna Muhammad a.s., his ahlul bayt and holy quran al kareem.
You may say all muslims says those things why do you call yourselves alawite or alawi in arabic saying. Just Remember the conflict between the Ali bin abi talib and muawiyah, we were the shia (supporters) of the Ali bin abi talib called with his name alawi, and the opposites called themselves amawi with the name of muawiya.
Muslims believe in one Allah-the Creator or the Supreme Being. All the Muslims believe in one Quran-the divine book. All the Muslims believe in Namaz, Roza, Haj, Zakat etc. Every fourth man is a Muslim in the world today. Why we are fighting over trivial matters ? We fight among ourselves and we become weak. We must unite and forget the differences. We may have different customs and different languages but we all are the believers of one Allah. Let us pray to Allah to give wisdom to all the Muslims in the world. We must learn to love each other.We must speak with kindness because Allah is the most merciful. Let us be educated in the right sense. Allah is the ultimate knowledge.
Nazneen O. Saherwala (Surat, India).
Sister Nazneen, Your comments are welcome but we need to call a spade a spade. Alawites are declared apostates even by Shia clergy and leading Scholars throughout history. They could not function openly as Alawites and took the cover of Baath party. If you have read the article above, you will know that they were patronized by French colonisliats just like the Qadiyanis were patronized by Britsh in India. Their days are numbered and they will face the wrath of Syrian people and need to be declared as Non Muslims just like Qadiyanis. The problem with Syrian people was that they lacked correct Aqeedah and tolerated such devient sects and now they are suffering.
Oh Abdul hafeez teez you have a long way to go if you believe "Alawites" to be non believers of Islam. Sunnis have slaughtered Alawites for centuries & for what reason? You call yourselves True islamists, yet you and your wahabists are the sole reason Al Qaida and the Taliban extremists are causing problems in this world. Is all this encouraged in the Koran I ask? You're just jealous Sunnis don't know how to rule the lions land of the middle east!!
You have been fed a heap of lies about the Alawite religion. Let us remember that as Muhammad (pbuh) was delivering his last sermon at Ghadeer Khum he said something which no one really emphasises - that Imam Ali (pbuh) will be the successor which Allah has appointed. I am not going to stress this out - the point of the fact is that the Sunni sect continually lies and wages media war against Alawis only because they do not wish to acknowledge the fact that Ali was indeed the Wali, Mawla and Imam as Muhammad (pbuh) repeatedly told his people 27 times during the final sermon.
Alawis are Muslims - they believe in Allah and Allah only as well as do their best (like any believer) to follow the principles and guidelines which has been eloquently put forth in the Holy Book The Quran and the Legacy of Muhammad (pbuh).
@Ali. K "Remember the conflict between the Ali bin abi talib and muawiyah" You cannot try and teach people who choose to be ignorant. Muawiyah was the root of all evil - he bribed people and lied to people and YES he liked to drink wine and feast on lavish meals - he wanted to remain in power even after he was told to step down and in doing so he would wage wars against his muslim brothers with his evil accomplice Amr bin Al'aas.
alawites are not muslim they were never muslim they were known originally as nusrayians and the british in the 40s got the arab nationalism mufti of jeruusualm to declare them as muslim the french later renamed them to alawi the alawi are not muslim at all they are a different religion all together