Alawites

The Alawites, also known as Nusayrites, are an ethnoreligious group that live primarily in the Levant and follow Alawism, a religious sect that splintered from early Shi'ism during the ninth century. Alawites venerate Ali ibn Abi Talib, revered as the first Imam in the Twelver school as the physical manifestation of God, the Mahdi who will appear at the end of time to cleanse the world of evil and injustice. Twelver refers to the belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imams, and their belief that the last of these Imam, the Mahdi, has already been born, was subsequently concealed, but will reemerge to establish justice and peace on earth. He is recorded as being a descendant of Muhammad, and will appear shortly before the Prophet Īsā (Jesus Christ) reappears. The Mahdi will lead the Muslims to rule over the entire world. Alawite theology and rituals sharply differ from Shia Islam in several ways. For example, various Nusayrite rituals involve the drinking of wine/ The sect does not prohibit the consumption of alcoholic drinks. As a creed that teaches the symbolic/esoteric reading of Qur'anic verses, Nusayrite theology maintains belief in reincarnation and views Ali ibn Abi Talib as a divine incarnation of God. The Alawite believe in a divine Trinity, encompasing three aspects of the one God. These aspects are Mana (meaning), Ism (Name) and Bab (Door). Nusayrite beliefs hold that these emanations experienced cyclical reincarnation seven times in human form throughout history. According to Alawites, the seventh incarnation of this trinity consists of Ali, Muhammad, and Salman al-Farisi, a non-Arab Persian religious scholar and companion of Muhammad. Ibn Nusayr and his followers are regarded as the founders of the religion. According to Christian theologian and historian Bar Hebraeus, many Alawites were killed when the Crusaders initially entered Syria in 1097, but the invaders tolerated them when they discerned they were not a truly Islamic sect.