ABSTRACT
For many centuries, the Alawis were the weakest, poorest, most rural, most despised, and most backward people of Syria. Over the past half-century, however, they transformed themselves into the powerful ruling elite of Damascus who came to dominate the government and armed forces, and enjoy a disproportionate share of the country's resources. Sunnis and others unsympathetic to the Assad regime answer this question by accusing the Alawis of an elaborate and long-term conspiracy to take power in Syria. The specifics of the Alawi faith are hidden not just from outsiders but even from the majority of the Alawis themselves. In contrast to Islam, which is premised on direct relations between God and the individual believer, Alawism permits only males born of two Alawi parents to learn the religious doctrines. Mainstream Muslims, Sunni and Shi'i alike, traditionally disregarded Alawi efforts at dissimulation; they correctly viewed Alawis as beyond the pale of Islam–as non-Muslims.
