A·la·wite

(ä′lə-wīt′) also A·la·wi (ä′lä-wē′)

n. pl. A·la·wites also A·la·wis or Alawi

A member of a branch of Shiism practiced especially in northwest Syria and adjacent parts of Turkey and Lebanon.

[Arabic 'alawī, follower of Ali, Alawite (from 'Alī, Ali ibn Abi Talib + -awī, variant of -ī, adj. suff.) + -ite.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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References in periodicals archive

(27) There is no trace of takfiri discourse in the article, an introduction to Arab Alawism in Turkey and Syria.

Relations between Turkey and Syria in the 1980's and 1990's: Political Islam, Muslim Brotherhood and Intelligence Wars/1980 ve 1990'larda Turkiye ve Suriye arasindaki Iliskiler: Siyasi Islam, Musluman Kardesler ve Istihbarat Savaslari

This means that Alawism is never mentioned in schools in Syria."

How the Assad regime's policies nurtured sectarianism in Syria

The Alevi faith, closely related to Sufism and Anatolian folk culture, is the specifically Turkish version of Alawism, also prominent in Syria, and its adoration of Ali makes it heretical in the eyes of the Sunnis.

TURKEY - Nov 3 - Alevis Protest For Greater Freedoms

-- French colonial administrators tried to classify Syrian Alawism as a separate religion despite resistance from Alawi leaders who were more interested in identifying with Islam.

Syria's Alawites -- a secretive and persecuted sect

"Alawite clerics and many secular historians stress that Alawism is a branch of Shiism and that Alawites respect the Islamic sharia (religious law) and implement its clauses as interpreted by Shiism's sixth imam, Jaafar Sadek," who is Shiism's most influential religious interpreter, it added.

Alawites

Alawism has not made up its mind as to whether it is closer to Shiism or Sunnism.

Deputy FM: Iran Enjoys Stronger Influence Than US

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