Alawites
The Alawites, also known as Alawis (ʿAlawīyyah Arabic: عَلَوِيَّةٌ) are an ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant particularly in the coastal regions or the areas near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Alawism is a sect which branched out from Shi'ism during the 9th century. They live mainly in Syria but also have a presence in neighboring countries Lebanon and Turkey. They initially branched out of the Twelver school however they differ greatly from the Twelvers as they believe in the divinity of Ali. Alawites worship Ali, and the name "Alawi" means followers of Ali. Alawites are also called Nusayris although this term has been considered derogatory.
Alawites Media
Statue of Zulfiqar, the sword of Ali, in the Alawite village of Ghajar in the Golan Heights
An Alawite falconer photographed by Frank Hurley in Baniyas, Syria during World War II
1879 French map of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, here called the "Mountains of the Ansaris", by Léon Cahun
Alawites practising jereed jousting in Qardaha while Ottoman soldiers spectate, from the 1879 travelogue of Cahun
Alawites dancing dabke, by Cahun, 1879
A map of French Mandate states in 1921–22. The Alawite State is in purple.
One form of the flag of the Sanjak of Latakia or Alawite State in northwest Syria under French colonial rule, ca. 1920–1936
January 2025: Turkish Alawite politician Tülay Hatimoğulları gives a speech about anti-Alawite violence in Syria at the Shrine of Khidr.
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