Nine months have passed since the Syrian population first set out to get rid of the Alawite regime that has ruled Syria for nearly two generations now. In this backdrop lies a very complex story of tough economic conditions, oppression of individual liberties, a regime characterized by violent dictatorship, and more. But one must look at another, very important, element in order to understand the ire of Syria's citizens toward the current regime: the Alawite religion. Most of the Syrian population is composed of Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims, with Alawites constituting on rough estimate only 12 percent of the population. The Alawite religion is considered heresy according to the pillars of Islam, especially according to the most important pillar of The Oath, or Shahada, namely, professing that, "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God." Alawites, whose religion is esoteric, consider Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad, a manifestation of god and of divinity - hence they are named Alawites after Ali. In this context, the religious status of the Prophet Muhammad is seen as completely marginal. Additionally, the Alawite religion contains Christian elements, hence Alawites are sometimes referred to as "Nusairis." In past frequent visits to the Alawite village of Ghajar, I saw many Alawite girls wearing cross pendants, and I also saw statues of the Madonna scattered in a handful of places throughout the village. Hanging on the walls of some Alawite homes, I saw pictures of Christian saints. Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox! And so it was a grotesque sight to see Syrian President Bashar Assad continue in the way of his father, Hafez, by taking an active part in the prayer, at a mosque, on the occasion of the Feast of Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, which began a few days ago. The Alawites also do not make pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) as is required by Islam, and do not fast during Ramadan. In the largely Alawite-inhabited Ghajar, I saw with my own eyes distinguished and esteemed individuals eating and drinking in public during Ramadan. They do not pray five times a day, another requirement of Islam; in fact, they do not pray at all. Only a select few, the so-called "Khaje" (the selected), take part in prayers, including one called the "Quddas" (a prayer acknowledging the divine attributes of Ali) which stands for "Christian mass." During this prayer, they even drink wine, which is known to be prohibited by Islam. Since taking power in Syria, the Alawites have managed to remove from key military positions all those who are not loyal to their beliefs, and only junior command positions have been allocated to a few people from among the Druze, Muslim, and Christian communities. The biggest struggle for Alawites today, therefore, is an existential struggle: They are well aware that yielding to the Muslim majority could lead to fatal results for them as a heretic minority in the eyes of Islam, one that has committed acts of brutal repression even against other religious minorities in Syria and especially against the Muslim majority. The Alawi-Nusayri religion was "born" more than 1,000 years ago and it is mainly practiced in the north-west Latakia area of Syria. One of the greatest scholars of Islam throughout the ages, Taqi ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah, who died in 1328 and was well acquainted with the Alawite religion, wrote an interesting religious legal ruling that the Alawites, who allow the drinking of wine and who believe in the reincarnation of souls and that he who created the heaven and the earth is Ali - are even greater heretics than the Jews and the Christians. According to the scholar, the damage caused by the Alawites is especially great because they present themselves as Shi'ites, but in practice they do not believe in God, in Muhammad or in the Quran. He added that if it was left up to the Alawites, the blood of Muslims would be spilled and would the scholars of Islam would be killed. Ibn Taymiyyah's speculation, raised some 700 years ago, has transformed into a bitter reality today: In February 1982, then-Syrian President Hafez Assad, the father of the current president, ordered his army to indiscriminately murder anyone who stood in its way in the city of Hama, which, at the time, carried the banner of revolt against Hafez's regime. This horrific scenario is being repeated today by Hafez's son, Bashar Assad. It teaches us that the apple does not fall far from the tree. The author is an expert in Middle Eastern religions and is the director of the Multidisciplinary Department for Social and Humanities Studies, Ariel University Center of Samaria.
