page_title: Islam in Syria
section_title: Alawites
hierarchical_section_title: Islam in Syria / Alawites
caption_attribution_description: English: Brasilia - The president of the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar Al-Assad during a visit to Congress Português: Brasília - O presidente da República Árabe Síria, Bashar Al-Assad, em visita ao Congresso Nacional
context_page_description: Islam is the most practiced religion in Syria, constituting approximately 71% of the population and forming a majority in most of the districts of the country. The Muslims in Syria follow various different sects of Islam and are from various ethnic and linguistic groups.
  The Sunni Muslims make up the majority of Muslims in the country. The Alawites are the predominant non-Sunni group, followed by Shia Ismailis and orthodox Shia Twelvers. There are also some Kurdish and Turkmen Alevi in northern Syria. Christians, the main non-Muslim group in the country, comprise 10%. There is also a Quranist community within Syria.
  The Sunnis are mainly of the Shafi'i madhhab with pockets of Hanafi and Hanbali. Several large Sufi orders are active in the country, including the Naqshbandi and Qadiriyya. Although not traditionally considered as Muslims, the Druze make up 4% of the total population.
context_section_description: The Alawites are the second largest religious group in Syria, after the Sunni Muslims. Hafez al-Assad and his son, President Bashar al-Assad, belong to the Alawite sect.
  Alawites are divided into two main groups: traditional Alawites, who form the majority, and the minority Murshid Alawites (which rose from a modern schism in the Alawite sect at the beginning of the 20th century).
  In 1991 Professor Alasdair Drysdale and Professor Raymond Hinnebusch said that Alawites formed approximately 11.5% of the country's population. More recently, Dr. Pierre Beckouche said that 11% of the country's population was Alawite before 2011. The CIA has estimated Alawites at 15% of the Syria's population.
  The Alawites mainly live in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, particularly in the countryside of the Latakia Governorate and the Tartus Governorate on the western side of the mountains, and in the countryside of the Homs Governorate and Hama Governorate on their eastern side. They form a majority (around 60%) in Latakia and Tartus. In the Homs and Hama areas, they make up around 10% of the population in both the countryside and the cities, living in Talkalakh, Al-Mukharram, Al-Qabu, Shin, Al-Riqama, the Houla plain, Maryamin, Qarmas, Al Muhani, and the areas of Zahra and Naziha.
caption: Current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is an Alawite.[12]
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