The Alawites Middle East History Essay Research Paper

Student
Course
Institution
Date
The Alawites
Religious beliefs remain as some of the most important cultural facets of society. People resort to their religions to solve various problems including identity, ethics, morality, and a basic understanding of how to live with other people. Even amidst such value, religion has recently been accused of marking the center of some of the chaos that combs the world in every strategic period. That casts doubt on the lawfulness or even ethics on communities that embed their behaviors and activities on religious beliefs. One of the most religious places in the world in the Middle East. That is a region that is predominantly inhabited by people who showcase their allegiance to the Islamic culture. In the Middle East, individuals, even visitors, are guided by the teachings and principles of the Islamic culture. The dominion of Islam in the region has effectively alienated the understanding that there are other multiple religious sects that bear significant presence in the Middle East and that have not been accorded the supremacy that Islam enjoys. One of such dominated religious sects is the Alawites. The Alawites constitute a religious sect whose primary place of residence in Syria. However, traces of Alawites can be found in Turkey and Lebanon. Bearing their emergence in the recent past, they can render people into questioning who they are, their origin, and why they mark a notable significance in a region that is culturally dominated by Islamic beliefs. This study explores the Alawites of Syria on the grounds of the value that the religion instills on the world, historical origins, the perceptions that they trigger, and the advent of political significance that they currently manifest. The study is vital in understanding the Value of religion in the Middle East and the impacts that it has on followers’ manifestation especially the interactions with neighbors and political significance.
History
The Alawites have a long history that changes depending on the perception by which the narration is captured. Muḥammad ibn Nuṣayr an-Namīrī (fl. 850) teachings mar the roots of Alawism. The sect may have originated as a contemporary prospect of Nusayr’s teachings as the 10th Shiite imam only superficially. Later on, Ḥusayn ibn Ḥamdān al-Khaṣībī (d. 957 or 968) would officiate the formation of the sect within the confines of the Hamdanid dynasty that ruled from 905-1004 (Goldsmith 71). At the demise of the Hamdanid dynasty, the Alawites found a resounding establishment in Aleppo. The fall of Shiite rule marked the onset of disintegration among the Alawite believers. Most such individuals would be subjected to persecution with the then-dominant religious sects including the Mamluks and later by the conquerors of the Ottoman Empire.
The Mutation of the Alawites has taken twists marking the significance that they hold in the cultural practices in the Middle East even currently. By the 11th century, the Alawites had grown to the extent that they trained their own theologians. They also established two Alawi centers with one located in Latakia, Syria and the other in Baghdad, Iraq. The escalation of the persecutions would lead to the destruction of the Baghdad center in...