[Nogbad]

And also these groups like the Nation of Islam and the Five Percenters,
who I don't think are even regarded as Islamic sects.

I know that, and that is exactly what I had in mind.
There are countless sects in the Middle-East and East
which broke off from official Sunni or Shi-ite Islam
and no longer consider themselves, or are considered Moslems.

For example, the Assad family of Syria is not Moslem,
it is Alawi, which is a very small sect in his country.
There also are the Ismailis (the Aga Khan)
(in India but scattered through many other countries),
the Bahais in Iran
(most of whom have fled since the time of Khomeini),
and in Turkey there are many million Alevis
an originally Shiite sect
who practice a form of Islam
but do not attend the mosque
and who have been severely persecuted by the Moslems
(there have been terrible riots in Istanbul
where dozens of people were killed).

The Alevis are especially interesting,
since they have produced several great poets,
and even today, in Turkey,
there are many great Alevi singers and musicians

[Mitchell]

Thanks for posting this; it's very interesting.

I didn't know about the Assad family belonging to the Alawi sect, rather than Islam itself. How does this affect Syria's position with respect to Dar al-Islam and calls for Islamic unity, and the like?

I also didn't know about the Alevi sect in Turkey. You mentioned the Alevi singers, musicians, and poets. Do Alevi generally place great emphasis on the arts?