Who are the Alawites: features of religion, video

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Alawites – who are they?

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Alawites – who are they?

Currents in Islam:

Sunnis;
Sufism;
Shiites;
Ismailis;
Alawites;
druze;
Kharijites;
Wahhabism.

Today the Alawites position themselves as a separate religion and nation. Modern scholars consider Alawism to be one of the many Shiite movements. They distinguished themselves as a separate ethnic group through religious positions that rejected the basic principles of Shiism. It arose in the XNUMXth century.

It was because of the difference in religious teaching from Shiism that allowed the Alawites to stand out as a separate nation and religious group.

There is also an assumption that they existed as a separate ethnic group long before their adoption of Islam. Although the Alawites themselves completely reject such a theory. They believe that their name comes from the name of Ali, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad. It is on Ali and his personality that the entire religion and principles of modern Alawites are built.

Quran and Kitab al-Majmoo

Today the Alawite movement seeks to join the classical Shiites. But in the eyes of the Shiites, they are extremists who completely reject the true teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. They are also called Gnostic Muslims because of their excessive love of mysticism.

The Alawites believe that Ali Ibn Abu Taleb, that is, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, was a literal embodiment of God. And the prophet Muhammad was part of his essence and a reflection of his divine glory.

For such views, Shiites and Sunnis call them sectarians and infidels. After all, they make God out of Ali and reject the Koran as a single sacred book.

But the Alawites are sure that the Koran is only a part of the true revelation that humanity received from God. The Qur’an complements the book Kitab al-Majmu with the true words of God. Since Ali is the embodiment of God, his book Kitab al-Majmu is holy.

It is known that there are 16 suras (chapters) in the book, which speak of the creation of the world and the divinity of Ali. Alawites believe that their sacred books must be interpreted allegorically, only then a person will fully comprehend these sacred texts.

They also believe that people cannot understand and know God. But, if the Lord wants to reveal his essence to man, then prophets come who bring new divine revelations.

Among such prophets were Adam, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Solomon, Isa, Muhammad, who are part of the incarnation of Ali. After all, he gave the prophets a revelation by which people were to live.

It is known that the Alawites completely reject the Sharia mashab. They also reject the Hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad speaks negatively about his uncle Ali.

About the creation of the world

In Alawism, the doctrine of the creation of the world is clearly developed. Alawites believe that man was created by one God Ali. Initially, he created an incorporeal world where a person lived in a spiritual dimension, in which there was no division. Later he created the bodily world, where man received materiality and sex, after which sin arose.

From sins, Ali created shaitans and demons so that they could test and seduce people. The woman was created from the shaitan, therefore she is the offspring of Satan. Some scholars suggest that it is forbidden for Alawites to pray and visit Alawite temples.

The doctrine of reincarnation

In this religion, there is a doctrine of reincarnation. Allegedly after death, the souls of people leave the body and begin to migrate to animals or plants. But if a person was evil, then he can be reincarnated as a pig or a cripple.

Transmigration of the soul occurs seven times. After seven reincarnations, a person can enter the heavenly sphere. It is a kind of analogue of paradise, or in the demonic realm, where he will be in eternal torment. And a woman does not have a soul and, therefore, her goal on earth is to continue the family of her husband and test him.

Today, there are about 3 million followers of Alawism, who mainly live in Syria, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, and Lebanon. There is no single religious Alawite center. The religion of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is Islam (Alawite).