Alawi
1
9.9
- proper noun
:
alawita
- While most Syrians are Sunni Muslims, the fact that the Assad family is 'Alawi, an offshoot of Shi'ism, helps bridge the religious divide, at least among the leadership of both countries.
Examples
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This is the lesson to be learned and the support and sympathy to be lent to the people of the Syrian rebellion and not to their oppressors, who include not only the Alawi.
Blog text (32) -
However, on the other hand, the threat consisted of an uprising by Sunni Muslim Arabs against a brutal Alawi regime.
Blog text (13) -
Let's see... let's say you were born as Alawi in Syria and now some Shia are demanding power.
Blog text (7) -
I learn that their apartment belongs to an Alawi merchant with whom Aisha's father had close business ties prior to the conflict.
Academic text (2018) -
As I wrote yesterday, I have heard from several different sources that Washington had been hearing from "senior" Syrian sources of real dissatisfaction among top Alawi officers.
Blog text (18) -
Assad's stated animosity toward radical Islam and Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups is mirrored in Al-Qaeda's traditional hatred of the Alawi regime in Syria.
Academic text (2010) -
My interviews with members of these communities indicate that Antakya Jews migrated to Europe, Israel, and North America, and urban Christians mostly to Europe, while peasants from Alawi and Christian villages became temporary labor migrants in Gulf countries.
Academic text (2018) -
While non-Sunni urban populations were mostly bilingual, older women in Hatay's Alawi and Christian villages knew little Turkish and spoke of distant relatives residing in northern Syria.
Academic text (2018) -
In July 2016, while we were preparing for a day-long trip to visit a number of Syrian refugee families residing in Hatay's border villages, an Alawi NGO worker repeatedly advised me to accept their offers of delicacies, even if I did not want to.
Academic text (2018) -
Around 12% of the Syrian population identifies as Alawi, a religious community with unique beliefs within Shia Islam.
Synonyms
7
9.9
A person who belongs to a group of Muslims mainly in Syria
Surface Forms
Etymology
Alawi comes from the Arabic name Ali, meaning 'follower of Ali'. An Alawi is a person in that religious group, mostly found in Syria, so the name shows their shared beliefs and identity.