alawites do not believe in daily muslim prayers (salah). the central tenet of nusayrite creed is their belief of ali ibn abi talib being an incarnation of god. nusayrite testimony of faith translates as "there is no god but ali." at the core of the alawite creed is the belief in a divine trinity, comprising three aspects of the one god. the aspects of the trinity are mana (meaning), ism (name) and bab (door). nusayrite beliefs hold that these emanations underwent re-incarnation cyclically seven times in human form throughout history. according to alawites, the seventh incarnation of the trinity consists of ali, muhammad and salman al-farisi. alawites hold that they were originally stars or divine lights that were cast out of heaven through disobedience and must undergo repeated reincarnation (or metempsychosis) before returning to heaven. according to nusayrite beliefs, females are excluded from re-incarnation other beliefs and practices include: the consecration of wine in a secret form of mass performed only by males; frequently being given christian names; entombing the dead in sarcophagi above ground; observing epiphany, christmas and the feast days of john chrysostom and mary magdalene; the only religious structures they have are the shrines of tombs; the book kitab al-majmu, which is allegedly a central source of alawite doctrine, where they have their own trinity, comprising mohammed, ali, and salman the persian. in addition, they celebrate different holidays such as old new year, akitu, eid al-ghadir, mid-sha'ban and eid il-burbara. they also believe in intercession of certain legendary saints such as khidr (saint george) and simeon stylites.
Jihadi