ʽALAWIYYAH


Meaning of ʽALAWIYYAH in English

or Alawite or Nuṣayriyyah

Minority sect of Shīite Islam.

The sect, which exists mainly in Syria, traces its roots to the teachings of Muḥammad ibn Nuṣayr al-Namīrī (fl. 850) and was chiefly established by Ḥusayn ibn Ḥamdān al-Khaṣībī (d. 957/958). Its basic doctrine includes a deification of Alī and an interpretation of the five Pillars of Islam as symbolic. Some of the group's religious practices are secret; it celebrates some Islamic and some Christian holidays.

Britannica English dictionary.      Английский словарь Британика.