The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1732 page)

Nu
air
or Alaw
.

An extreme
Sh
‘a
sect, strongly influenced by
Ism
‘
l
s
and Christianity. Mainly found in N. Lebanon, Syria, and S. Turkey, they number over a million, maintaining a tribe-like lineage system. The Nu
air
believe that
‘Al
is the supreme manifestation of God, that the
Qur’
n
is an initiation to devotion to ‘Al
, and that ‘Al
,
Mu
ammad
, and
Salm
n
al-Fars
(identified with the archangel
Gabriel
) are a trinity. Their tenets are mostly secret, for they practice an initiatory rite which lays importance on
ta’w
l