Alawites of Syria

The Alawites of Syria, who are ethnically Arabs, are organized into four different tribes. In terms of their interrelation with the rest of the Syrian community, the Alwaites can be viewed as an ethnie. Even though they are Arabs, they distinguish themselves from other Arabs by embracing a myth of common descent and a common belief. A closer look at relationships within the Alawite community compels us, however, to employ the concept of the tribe. On this level we cannot equate tribe with ethnie since the Alawites are subdivided into four tribes: Matawira, Haddadin, Khayyatin and Kalbiyya.

The current ruling elite in Syria is recruited from the Matawira tribe and more specifically recruited from the Numailatiyya clan. It is obvious that we cannot refer to these tribes as separate ethnic communities, nor can we simply view them as an Alawite sect since they are not only split into four tribes but also religiously subdivided into Shamsis, Qamaris, and Murshidin.

The Alawites are prominently represented in major towns such as Damascus, Aleppo, and Hama as well as Latakia. They also constitute major segments of the ruling military and civilian elites in the Syrian regime whose members, according to Hanna Batatu, are 'chosen with extreme care and it seems unlikely that preference in selection would not have been given to men with close tribal links to Hafiz al-Asad. Many of them are even said to be from his birth place, the village of Qardaha.' In the case of the tribe of al-Matawira we are dealing with a community whose kinsmen have advanced to the ruling elite.

Source: Bassam Tibi, Old Tribes and Imposed Nation-States in the Middle East