Suchergebnisse

Introduction --. - 1. IBN KHALDUN'S 'ASABIYYA AND THE CYCLE OF FEAR. A Definition of 'Asabiyya and its Sectarian Dimension; How a Group Develops High 'Asabiyya; The Nature and Influence of a Group with High 'Asabiyya; How a Dynasty Maintains 'Asabiyya; Variables for the Success of a Dynasty; How a Group's 'Asabiyya Declines --. - 2. ORIGINS. Foundations of the Sect; Golden Period; Becoming Ibna' al-Jabal (Sons of the Mountain); Fatwas and Officialdom; Ottoman Rule: Continued Alawite Marginalization --. - 3. INTEGRATION. Saving Alawite 'Souls'; New Horizons; Resistance and Receptivity; Artificial Integration; Genuine Integration?; Independent Syria and the 'Problem' of Pluralism; Suspicions of Sectarianism; Alawites Ascendant --. - 4. APOGEE & DECLINE. Early Asad Rule; The Muslim Brotherhood Rebellion; The Hama Tragedy; The Spoils of Power; Struggle for the Asad Dynasty; The Alawite-Iranian Axis; Preparing for Succession --. - 5. RAPID DESCENT. A Modernising Reformer?; New Challenges; Losing Lebanon; Regime Consolidation and Isolation; Alawite Socio-Economic Conditions under Bashar al-Asad; The 'Precarious' Security of the Lebanese Alawites --. - 6. RUMBLINGS OF REVOLUTION. Regime Restoration; Elite Infighting; A Confident Bashar al-Asad; Rising Internal Challenges; A Rising Islamic Tide?; Integration at Last? --. - Conclusion --

"Der Bürgerkrieg in Syrien wird zunehmend von religiösen Motiven geprägt. Das jahrhundertealte Misstrauen, speziell gegen die Alawiten, findet seinen Ausdruck in den Hasspredigten salafistischer Oppositioneller. Der Autor analysiert das Zerwürfnis der religiösen Gruppen. Seine Prognose: Die Aussichten für Minderheiten sind düster." (Autorenreferat)

Anti-regime demonstrations erupted in Syria in 2011 that turned into armed conflicts and then a civil war wrecked the country for over eight years have profoundly impacted all social groups. The Alawite background of the long-lasting ruling family, the Assads, and the growing sectarian characteristics of the conflict drew projections particularly on the Alawite community. Indeed, it was regarded very critical both for the continuation of the ruling regime, and for the potential success of its opposition. There have been many debates in various occasions on the Alawite's relations with the opposition and the Assad administration, however, currently there are few scholarly researches on implications of the civil war with regard to the Alawite community. Moreover, the existing literature underexplored communitarian concerns of the Alawites and effects of clashes on them. It also underestimated breaks among the Alawites, and their complicated relations with the regime and the opposition. This article aimed at analyzing the position of Syrian Alawites in a period that start with the anti-government demonstrations that evolved into the civil war. In this respect, it reviewed the Alawites' relations with both the Assad administration and the opposition, and it discussed implications of the civil war on this community. It appeared that the Alawites did not act in a monolithic way in the face of anti-regime demonstrations; while some of them stood behind the Assad administration, a considerable part of them tended towards opposition. However, the growing sectarian color of the conflict that deepened sectarian concerns of the most of the Alawites, led them to extend their support to the Assad administration against the Islamist-dominated opposition. However, it did not mean that the Alawites had seamless relations with the Assad administration; and the Alawite support for the Assad could not be explained solely by sectarian reasons. There has been a number of sociological, historical and political factors that affected the Alawite choice.

The article examines the religious features of the Alawite religion and briefly describes the religious situation in Iran in the 3rd – 9th centuries. By the comparative characteristic of religious and political currents in Iran in the 9th century the author has come to the conclusion that the ancestral home of the Alawites was the land of Caucasian Albania or Arran. The above conclusions are supported by the ethnic factor as the political activity of ethnic groups and the territories they occupy in Iran. In addition, the author considers other factors that confirm the correctness of determining the origin lands of the Alawite tribes.

Samar Yazbek, a Syrian writer and TV presenter, was detained -- kidnapped, she would say -- not long after the outbreak of the Syrian uprising. She was brought to one of the prisons run by the Mukhabarat intelligence service, blindfolded and taken down to the bowels of the building. Adapted from the source document.