Stefan Winter has a new book out on the Alawites: A History of the ‘Alawis: From Medieval Aleppo to the Turkish Republic. It came out this year and I haven't had a chance to read it. The introduction is available from Princeton UP.

Ottoman History Podcast has a long interview with Winter, though that covers primarily history rather than theology. In fact, he states he wants to write "secular history", perhaps the first, of the Alevis. Here is how he describes their beliefs. In the book, this covers over three pages, so I'm cutting out most of the stuff that's about origins or of historiographic interest. I'm also breaking paragraphs more frequently to make it more readable online.

In terms of doctrine, ‘Alawism or Nusayrism is a secret mystical revelation of the true nature of God, the cosmos, and the “imamate” (i.e., the belief, common to all Shi‘is, that ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and his lineage were the Prophet Muhammad’s only legitimate successors), passed down from Muhammad Ibn Nusayr, a scholar and companion of the last two visible Shi‘i Imams in the ninth century. Because of the concealed, esoteric nature of the teaching, which, much like in a Sufi order, is transmitted only to select initiates, pious ‘Alawis have naturally been loath to divulge the details of their faith and cult to outsiders, and it has thus become a common cliché to present ‘Alawism as obscure, mysterious, and insufficiently studied.3 In fact, its very fascination has spawned a huge literature in modern times that belies its supposed obscurity.

Some of the first European travelers to the region did not actually meet any ‘Alawis and were content simply to rely on their local interlocutors for their breathless depictions of the sect; even renowned orientalist scholars have repeated outrageous claims to the effect that the ‘Alawis are pagans, that they worship the sun, dogs, and female genitalia or partake in night-time sex orgies as part of their cultic practices—things that have of course formed part of the standard register of accusations against sectarian groups, both Christian and Muslim, throughout history. [...]

Classical scholarship on ‘Alawism, much like on other Eastern religions, has concentrated for the most part on its hypothetical origins and allegorical teaching. [...] Niebuhr’s account is based on information obtained from sympathetic local contacts as well as on a Nusayri treatise apparently seized by the Ottoman authorities, and it already contains in essence what is known about the religion today. Niebuhr stands out among early writers for his attempt to explain ‘Alawism rationally, noting that the “Nusayris” prefer to refer to themselves as “Mûmen” (believers), accurately summarizing their belief structure, and suggesting that accusations regarding their supposed worship of the sun and other celestial bodies might result from a misinterpretation of their catalog of symbolic names and terms.5 [...]

The fascination with ‘Alawism’s roots and doctrines has also brought attention to bear on two aspects of ‘Alawi identity of concern here, namely, the lack of a uniform historical term for the group, and the supposed practice of taqiyya or dissimulation. The name “Nusayri” is first encountered in medieval Muslim heresiographies and has never been used by ‘Alawi scholars in their own writings. On the other hand, the ‘Alawi populace did in many cases identify themselves vis-à-vis others as Nusayris (or, in the contracted colloquial pronunciation of the Arabic plural, an-Nusayriyya, which was then consecrated in European travel reports as “Ansarie,” “Ansairy,” etc.), so that one can presume that, as with other heterodox groups, they eventually appropriated a term that had originally been applied to them by others in a pejorative sense.9

The name “‘Alawi,” while serving occasionally in medieval times to distinguish Imami from Ismaili Shi‘is (see chapter 1), was not adopted until the very end of Ottoman rule; by way of self-identification, Syrian ‘Alawis were more liable to refer to themselves as fellahin (“peasantry”) or as followers of the “Khasibi” path, in distinction to other currents within the early Shi‘i movement. The use of the term to designate and construct a single overarching sectarian community for the first time, typified in the publication of Muhammad Amin Ghalib al-Tawil’s Tarikh al-‘Alawiyyin in 1924,10 to date the only complete history of the ‘Alawis per se, as will be argued in chapter 6, was in itself a historical process proper to the dislocation of the Ottoman Empire.

The other aspect of ‘Alawism that has received considerable, often undue, attention in Western studies is the practice of dissimulation, known in Islamic terminology as taqiyya, by which ‘Alawis as well as members of other sectarian minorities could conceal or at least downplay their identity in order to avoid discrimination. The principle of taqiyya is firmly anchored in Islamic jurisprudence but has historically played a particular role in Shi‘ism and certain Sufi rites, where it can also have the meaning of keeping the mystery of one’s secret knowledge hidden from outsiders.11

Nusayri initiates thus certainly practiced taqiyya as regards their religious precepts, but their Sunni disparagers as well as Western observers have often claimed that this extended to lying about their identity too: “It is their principle to adhere to no certain religion,” the seventeenth-century English voyager Henry Maundrell remarked, “but chameleonlike, they put on the color of that religion, whatever it be, which is reflected upon them from the persons with whom they happen to converse.”12

Not insisting on the nonconformist elements of their faith, or on questions of religion in general, will have come naturally to members of heterodox minorities when traveling or dealing with the authorities over more worldly matters; on the other hand, in a time when different segments of society were even more clearly distinguishable by dress and dialect13 than today, it is highly unlikely that ‘Alawis and other mountaineers were not immediately recognizable for what they were. Mamluk chancery manuals and Ottoman administrative documents, as will be seen, demonstrate that the authorities usually had a precise, well-informed idea of their taxable subjects’ sectarian identities, if only very little concern with their actual confessional beliefs. The capture and execution of certain ‘Alawis in Latakia in the early nineteenth century (see chapter 5) belie the notion that they could merely hide their identity. Taqiyya was, historically speaking, simply never a factor in their interaction with the state or with members of other communities.

(Continue below, with a discussion of Turkish Alevis)

A follow-up question. I remember my Arabic teacher telling me that they were historically persecuted by the Sunni majority, and found refuge in Christian communities, which in turn forged a bond between Alawites and Christians in the Levant. Is there truth to this?