Non-Sunni Muslims in the Late Ottoman Empire: State and Missionary Perceptions of the Alawis
Ebook
The Alawis or Alawites are a minority Muslim sect, predominantly based in Syria, Turkey and Lebanon. Over the course of the 19th century, they came increasingly under the attention of the ruling Ottoman authorities in their attempts to modernize the Empire, as well as Western Protestant missionaries.
Using Ottoman state archives and contemporary chronicles, this book explores the Ottoman government's attitudes and policies towards the Alawis, revealing how successive regimes sought to bring them into the Sunni mainstream fold for a combination of political, imperial and religious reasons. In the context of increasing Western interference in the empire's domains, Alkan reveals the origins of Ottoman attempts to 'civilize' the Alawis, from the Tanzimat period to the Young Turk Revolution. He compares Ottoman attitudes to Alawis against its treatment of other minorities, including Bektashis, Alevis, Yezidis and Iraqi Shi'a.
An important new contribution to the literature on the history of the Alawis and Ottoman policy towards minorities, this book will be essential reading for scholars of the late Ottoman Empire and minorities of the Middle East.
A detailed study on the effects of western domination, the machinations of the late Ottoman Empire and identity construction efforts on a major Middle Eastern religious minority
An important contribution to the existing literature on the history of the Alawis
Offers historical context to the role of the Alawis in the modern Middle East
Uses Ottoman state archives and archival periodicals
Introduction
Research question
Sources
The Current State of the Literature
1. The Nusayris in the Ottoman Empire: A “Heterodox” Tribal Community and the State
1.1. The Nusayri-Alawis: History and Beliefs
1.2. The Ottoman Nusayris: Geography, Social Structure, and Authority
1.3. The Status of the Nusayris in the Ottoman Political System
2. “Appropriate objects of christian benevolence”: Protestant Missionaries and the Nusayris
2.1. Protestant American Millenarian Dreams in the 19th Century
2.2. Mission among “Heterodox” Groups
2.3. The Case of the Nusayris
3. Abdülhamid II's Civilising Mission and the Policy of “Correction of Belief(s)”
3.1. The Roots of “Correction of Belief(s)” and Conversion Campaigns until the 19th Century
3.2. Correcting the Beliefs of the Bektasis after 1826
3.3. “Fine Tuning” during the Tanzimat and the Reign of Abdülhamid II
3.4. The Ottomans Fighting for the Nusayri Soul
4. The Nusayris under Young Turk Rule (1908-1918)
4.1. The Double-Edged Sword of the Young Turk Revolution
4.2. Protestant Missionary Efforts among the Nusayris
4.3. Muslim Responses to Protestant Missionary Work
Conclusion
Bibliography
- Title: Non-Sunni Muslims in the Late Ottoman Empire: State and Missionary Perceptions of the Alawis
- Author: Necati Alkan
- Publisher: I.B. Tauris
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9780755616862, 9780755644742, 0755644743, 0755616863
- Resource ID: LLS:9780755616862
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-04T07:43:49Z
Necati Alkan is Research Associate at the University of Bamberg, Germany. A specialist in late Ottoman History, he is the author of Dissent and Heterodoxy in the late Ottoman Empire: Reformers, Babis and Baha'is and has published widely in edited collections and peer review journals.