Perhaps you've heard of Islam, one of the major world religions, an abrahamic religion with nearly 2 billion adherents around the globe. From Morocco to Indonesia and from Kenya to Bosnia and Herzegovina there are many different Muslim countries with people from all different races being Muslims. Black Muslim majority countries such as Senegal in West Africa and Somalia in East Africa exist. Asian Muslim countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei also exist, as well as South Asian Muslim countries like Bangladesh and the Maldives, and Central Asian Muslim countries exist such as Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. There's obviously Middle Eastern Muslim countries like Syria and Yemen, as we as European Muslim countries like Kosovo, Bosnia, Northern Cyprus, Turkiye, and Albania. Large Islamic ethnic groups like the Pomaks and Indo-Muslims of Suriname exist in places many wouldn't consider to be Islamic such as South American rainforests and Europe. Tatars existed for centuries as a Muslim majority ethnic group in Russia and Ukraine and with a presence in Poland too. Muslims ruled Spain and Portugal for hundreds of years and sparked the renaissance in Europe.

But did you know that there are Muslim majority places in North America? You probably knew about the Sufi shrine in Pennsylvania, the Muslim majority city of Hamtramck, the Islamic strongholds of Dearborn and Detroit, and perhaps even about the Muslim cities founded in New York for American Muslims.

But have you ever heard of the Aliyites? What are the Aliyites and what do Aliyites believe? Who are these unknown Muslims? Are they heretics?

The Aliyite Muslims are part of a small Sufi movement within Zaydi Shia Islam. Some prominent Zaydi Muslim scholars were Sufis, but most throughout history were not. Many more recent Yemeni Zaydis even attacked Sufism because of the Arab nationalist movement and clashes with the Ottoman Turkish expansion in Yemen. Aliyites are a Sufi order within Zaydi Shia Islam, called Al-'Aliyiyyah (Arabic: العليئية). There are possibly two million Aliyites around the world, but many have to hide their beliefs due to persecution by Salafi Sunni Muslims and the Deobandi Muslims in Afghanistan and South Asia. Aliyite Muslims believe in all the Zaydi Imams that Zaydis in Yemen believe in, until up the 1990s, at which point, many Aliyites accept a Zaydi Sufi teacher as an Imam. His name was Imam Razvi and he was a Zaydi Shia, Sufi, and scholar who was born in Bihar, India and lived and died teaching Sufism within Zaydiyyah while in Germany. After him, many Aliyites believe another Imam succeeded him, but it isn't official yet. The Aliyites that aren't hiding their identity due to fear of persecution are mostly in North America, where the Aliyite Muslims are very powerful and rapidly growing in numbers, but mostly underground. Many Sweetgum Kriyul people are Aliyites, especially from the Ethnic Qarsherskiyan tribe. The Ethnic Qarsherskiyan tribe is heavily culturally influenced by the Aliyite belief to the point where Ethnic Qarsherskiyan people and Aliyite Islam are nearly synonymous. Ethnic Qarsherskiyans are the largest but least researched Sweetgum Kriyul tribe. Of the 1 to 2 million Sweetgum Kriyul people in North America, nearly half are Ethnic Qarsherskiyans. There are 400,000 to 1,000,000 Ethnic Qarsherskiyan people in Eastern USA, and the majority of the Ethnic Qarsherskiyan people who identify as Ethnic Qarsherskiyan instead of just mixed race are proud Aliyite Muslims. The Aliyite Islamic influence over even non-Muslims from the Ethnic Qarsherskiyan tribe is deep and profound. Aliyite Muslims lead the Ethnic Qarsherskiyan tribe.

Many Aliyites in North America believe that the soul of Jesus is shared with Imam Ali, but not in reincarnation, as they reject reincarnation. Many also believe that Orisha Ogun wasn't a god, but was an Islamic Imam, whose message has been distorted over time and who has been deified by the misguided people. They believe Orishas were real and were Angels, Imams, Prophets, Saints, and Scholars. Many Aliyites believe in the oneness of Imam Ali with Orisha Ogun. Plenty of Aliyites in North America also believe that Imam Ali came to North America before Columbus and taught Islam to some Native Americans with help from Carolina Parakeets who were winged Islamic messengers that copied Imam Ali and repeated his message.

Carolina Parakeets are sacred in Ethnic Qarsherskiyan tribal culture, with the Aliyites believing Carolina Parakeets are winged messengers of Imam Ali. Important cultural symbols of the Ethnic Qarsherskiyan tribe include the fruit of the Pawpaw tree, the flowers of Spanish Moss, the Monarch Butterfly, the Carolina Parakeet, Live Oak trees, Pond and Bald Cypress trees, Dwarf Palmetto Palm or any palm trees, seashells, and the Ethnic Qarsherskiyan flag.