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The Alawites of Syria

The Alawites of Syria, numbering approximately 2,350,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnoreligious community rooted in the coastal mountains of northwestern Syria whose Alawite faith developed from medieval Shi'i traditions. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Levantine Arabic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Alawites

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Syria
People Cluster: Arab, Levant
Primary Language(s): Levantine Arabic (apc)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 2,350,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012176
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Pray for the Alawites of Syria

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Levantine Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Levantine Speakers

Media Resources in Levantine Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Levantine Arabic:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Sabeel Media✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Levantine Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Alawites are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Alawites:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Alawites of Syria

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
readLuke 12:7

Pray that those who don't yet know how to trust in Jesus will not be consumed by worry and anxiety, but will trust in the Father's care and provision for their daily needs and for their eternal salvation

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
readJob 1:20-22

Pray that those who mourn will worship God in the midst of their suffering and loss, recognizing He is the source of all good things and that He is worthy of their praise and trust.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
readJohn 1:7

Pray that God will raise up witnesses to testify about Jesus so that all might believe, knowing that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Alawite Across Countries (ROP3 - 114499) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AlawitesPG012176AlawitesSyria2,350,000Engaged yet UnreachedLevantine ArabicShia Islam
AlawitesPG024573AlawitesTurkiye1,320,000Unengaged and UnreachedLevantine ArabicShia Islam
AlawitesPG011810AlawitesLebanon82,000Engaged yet UnreachedLevantine ArabicShia Islam
AlawitesPG011727AlawitesIsrael2,400Engaged yet UnreachedLevantine ArabicShia Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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