Alawiyyah

Minority sect of Shite Islam. The sect, which exists mainly in Syria, traces its roots to the teachings of Muammad ibn Nuayr al-Namr (fl. 850) and was chiefly established by usayn ibn amdn al-Khab (d. 957/958). Its basic doctrine includes a deification of Al 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.