Make up about 3% of Lebanon's population (105, Goldsmith)

Alawites are ARABS, having come to the Levant from an Arab tribe in Iraq when fleeing persecution. Therefore, they are in the at least 90% majority of the Middle East when they identify as Arab. (Goldsmith)

Although they are a religious minority in the country of Lebanon, in their area of Tripoli they make up 60-70% of the population in their region. (Goldsmith)

Food stipulations for Alawi adherents: careful what you eat because it could be a reincarnated soul. Ramadan is not about fasting from food but about fasting from speech (https://books.google.com/books?id=2bli4DyuHRIC&pg=PA89&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=food&f=false)

What Are Their Beliefs?
The Alawis believe that all people were stars in the world of light, but fell from there due to disobedience. They believe they must be reincarnated seven times before they once again return to the stars where Ali is prince. If they are sinful, they will be reborn as Christians until their atonement is complete. Infidels will be reborn as animals. The actual Alawi beliefs and practices are based on their book, the "Kitab al-Majmu".

Rifat Eid led the party through the Bab Al-Tabbaneh-Jabal Mohsen clashes that have repeatedly happened from 2008 onwards, and has supported inhabitants of Jabal Mohsen financially when they could not go to work because of armed conflicts. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT as it shows the reciprocity/loyalty indicative of collective/honor/patristic societies... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifaat_Eid

In his Syriac Chronography, the Syrian Maphrian of the East, Bar Hebraeus (d. 1286), includes a chapter entitled “The History of Those who are Called Nusiraye.”[11] He ascribes the name Nusiraye to an old man who appeared in the year 891 A.D in the country of Aqula (al Kufah, in southern Iraq), in the village called Nasariah. In his Tarikh Mukhtasar al Duwal (a compendium of the history of dynasties), written in Arabic, Bar Hebraeus mentions a village called Nasrana, from which came a certain Abu al Faraj ibn Uthman, who belonged to the extremist sect of al Qaramitah (Carmatians). And in a third place, Bar Hebraeus mentions the Nusayriyyah as an extremist Shia sect.[12] Silvestre de Sacy, who produced Bar Hebraeus’ statements about Nasariah and Nasrana, seems at first to be convinced that the name of the Nusayris derives from the village of Nasariah or Nasrana, where their alleged founder lived. But after further contemplation, de Sacy seems uncertain of this explanation.[13]

Other writers, like Wolff, maintain that the name Nusayris is a diminutive of the Arabic word Nasarah (Christians), and the Nusayris means “little Christians.” Wolff reasons that the adversaries of the Nusayris contemptuously called them by this name because of their many Christian’s rituals and practices.[14] Ernest Renan likewise maintains that Nusayris is a diminutive of Nasarah.[15]

The Alawi creed originated in Iraq during the ninth century. Muhammad ibn Nusayr al-Bakri al-Numari (d. 883) was a disciple of the eleventh Shi’a Imam Hasan al-Askari (d. 873) but was reportedly denounced by the Imam for his unorthodox views. He did establish a wide following, however, and the community grew enough to develop into a faith and to train theologians. By the eleventh century, there were two Alawi centers; one in Baghdad, Iraq and one in Latakia, Syria. The Baghdad center was destroyed by the Mongols in 1258.

Alawi Muslims practice an esoteric form of Shi’a Islam. This complex faith includes an emphasis on a trinity (Muhammad, his nephew and eventual successor Ali, and Salman al-Farisi, an early Persian convert to Islam), a belief in reincarnation, and the celebration of a “mass” involving wine and bread. Alawis have their own unique religious texts, and recognize numerous Muslim, Christian, and Persian holidays.

As a result of their beliefs, Alawis were considered to be heretical since their inception by most Sunni and Shi’a practitioners and recognized scholars. Their marginalization was formalized through a series of fatwas issued by Ibn Taymiyya in the 14th century that declared Alawis “more heretical than the Jews and the Christians and even more heretical than many of the polytheists and their harm to Muhammad’s community is greater than the harm of the infidel fighters such as the Mongols, the Crusaders, and others.”

The fate of the Alawis took a dramatic turn in the 20th century beginning with the period of the French Mandate in Syria (1920-46). Employing a strategy of divide and rule, the French created a separate jurisdiction for the Alawis as part of a larger strategy to counter efforts by the majority Sunni populations to strengthen Arab nationalism. One of the early actions that the Alawis pursued from this position of relative strength was to change their name from Nusayri (imposed upon them by opponents and signaling their outsider status) to Alawi (people of Ali and a clear association with other Shi’a Muslims). They also began to promote themselves as a credible sect of Shi’a Islam through a series of declarations and pronouncements.

The most dramatic turn of all, however, took place in 1936 when the Sunni cleric Muhammad Amin al-Husayni (a pan-Arab nationalist and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) issued a fatwa declaring the Alawis as Muslim. The timing of this declaration coincided with negotiations among factions of Alawis regarding whether to remain as a jurisdiction within Syria or to work to establish a separate independent state. It is unclear whether the fatwa impacted these negotiations in a significant way, but the Alawis remained as a specially designated jurisdiction within Syria until this status was withdrawn by Sunni leaders in the early years of independence.

There were two more fatwas issued in support of the Alawis as legitimate Muslims, and these were issued by Shi’a clerics to specifically affirm that Alawis were credible within this main arm of the faith. The last fatwa was issued in 1973 by Imam Musa al-Sadr who established the Supreme Islamic Shi’ite Council in Tyre, Lebanon in 1969 and was one of the most well respected religious leaders in the region. Sadr issued the fatwa in support of the legitimacy of Hafez al-Assad’s role as President which was being challenged by members of the who claimed that he could not serve as President due to the clause in the Constitution asserting that the President be a Muslim. Sadr reasserted earlier pronouncements that Alawis and Shi’a Muslims are “one” and that claims to the contrary were in keeping with the long line of persecution suffered by Shi’a Muslims throughout history.

Alawis comprise roughly 11% of the population in modern Syria and prior to the French mandate they were primarily concentrated near Latakia where the majority served as peasants to wealthy Sunni and Christian landowners. The French provided opportunities for them to fill the ranks of the military and many Alawis experienced military service as a pathway toward increased social and economic mobility. At the time of independence, Alawis controlled the rank and file of the military and had significant representation in the officer corps. Hafez al-Assad seized power as a military officer in a bloodless coup in 1970 and served as President until his death in 2000 when he was succeeded by his son Bashar al-Assad. Today the Alawis of Syria are the only ruling Muslim religious minority in the region.

Alawites put up Christmas trees and fast during the Christmas season. They believe that God manifested himself in Ali. They believe in reincarnation and sometimes one person will claim to remember being shot in a certain village and go visit his parents there... "a really strange thing"...

They dress like the Christians around them, no abaya or hijab.

They celebrate all the feast days of Christians.

They have many feast days and they love bulgur wheat with chicken. :) called "nidr", something holy to them.

Abu Taqa - a village in Syria. If two people argue, and go to the sheikh, the sheikh can say "Go to Abu Taqa" where they can get the decision.

Secret religion. Women do not participate. Men are initiated at 18 if they want to - they gain status in this way.

They have alcohol/a "mass" at their feast days.

Some fast during Ramadan, some don't. Really, they are not Muslim.

feast days - usually bulgur and the sheikh will sacrifice a chicken or a calf or a lamb