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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: NEW-NUM |
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NOSAIRIS (also known as Ansayrii, sometimes Ansariyeh) , the people who inhabit the mountainous country of N. Syria, which is bounded on the S. by the north end of the Lebanon at the Nahr el-Kebir (Eleutherus), on the N. by Mt Casius, Antioch and the Nahr el-'Asi (Orontes). Various settlements of them are found also in Antioch itself and in Tarsus, Adana, and a few other places, while in harvest time they come down as far as the Biqa (Buka'a). From the time of Strabo until about two centuries ago, the country was famed for its wine, but now more for its tobacco (especially at Latakia). The total number of Nosairis inhabiting this country is variously estimated at from 120,000 to 150,000. The origin of the name Nosairi is uncertain. Among the more possible explanations is that the name is derived from that of Mahommed ibn Nusair, who was an Isma`ilite follower of the eleventh imam of the Shiites at the end of the 9th century. This view has been accepted by Nosairi writers, but they transfer Ibn Nusair to the 7th century and make him the son of the vizier
district
chief
The religion of the Nosairis seems to have been almost the same in the first years of the 5th century A.H. (11th century A.D.)as it is to-day, judging by the references in the.sacred books of the Druses
Door "), through whom the propaganda is made, and through whom one comes to God. A mysterious symbol much used in their ceremonies of initiation consists of the three letters `Ain, Mim, Sin, these being the initials of `Ali, Mahomet and Salman. Of these three, however, `Ali is the supreme. In Sura 6 of the' Majmu` the Nosairi says: " I make for the Door , I prostrate myself before the Name, I worship the Idea." Each of the seven manifestations of God in the ages of the world has been opposed by an adversary.The Nosairis are divided into four sects. (1) The Haidaris (from the name haidari, " lion," given to `Ali on account of his valour) are the most advanced. (2) The Shamalis or Shamsis preserve many traces of the old nature- worship , `Ali (i.e. the supreme god) is the heaven, Mahomet is the sun, Salman the moon. (3) On the other hand the Kalazis, so named from a sheik Mahommed ibn Kalazi (cf. E. Salisbury in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, viii. 237), or Qamaris, hold that the supreme god (`Ali) is the moon, not the sun. Their poetry addressed to the moon is translated by C. Huart in the Journal asiatique, ser. vii. vol. xiv. pp. Igo if. (4) The Ghaibis are worshippers of the air, for God is invisible. In this they come nearer to the ordinary Isma`ilite doctrine. Religion is restricted among the Nosairis to the initiated, who must be adults over fifteen years of age and of Nosairi parentage. The initiator, who must not be a relative, becomes a spiritual father, and the relation cannot be broken except by his consent. The initiation consists of three stages. In the first the novice is received and told to meditate on the three mystic letters; in the second, after a period of forty
ordinary period of gestation), he is taught Suras 5, 6 and g, learns the meaning of the three mystic letters and goes through a further period of instruction from his initiator. The initiated are divided into two classes, the sheiks, who are recruited from the families of sheiks only, and the ordinary members.The Nosairis are believers in metempsychosis. The pious Nosairi takes his rank among the stars, but the body
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