Which quasi-Muslim Middle Eastern minority do you find more interesting: Druzes or Alawites?

[Anglojew]

Alawites.
Apparently they consider John the Baptist the Messiah.

[Raslen3]

I like Alawites/Alevis because they are mostly open-minded, modern and well-cultured. I don't know about Druzes.

Alwaites and Alevis are very different groups , Alawites are the ones found in the syrian coast and Antioch while Alevis are the ones found in central Turkey . They are both shia but they have a lot of differences .

[Raslen3]

Most alawites consider themselves to be muslims , and they are pretty much a mainstream shia group now , in the past they had a few ideas that were considered heretical (like a trinity and reincarnation although both are misunderstood) . Druze come from Shia Islam too but they are more unique , I heard some druze claiming they are muslims (and they are in a way) but others want to distance themselves from Islam calling themselves another group that is completly different (which is also true to a degree) .

In my opinon , I find the yazidis to be the most unique of all middle eastern religious groups .

[Óttar]

Alawites.
Apparently they consider John the Baptist the Messiah.

I believe you are thinking of the Mandaeans who have been called "St. John Christians."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandaeans

[StonyArabia]

I like Alawites/Alevis because they are mostly open-minded, modern and well-cultured. I don't know about Druzes.

Alevis or Qizilbash were not always open minded and they were in fact militant. However they became isolated from Iran, and there believes turned different. It's no wonder many people have strong dislike to the Safavid's from the Iraqi Arabs, to the Uzbeks, and Pashtuns who eventually managed to invade Persia at the time. Alwaites and Alevis have very different outlook and even historical origins. Alwaites btw are also found in Western Iraq, but for the most part they have converted to Sunni Islam, but some families are well known to have Alwaite origins. Alwaites are Arabo-Levantines, Alevis are Turko-Iranians, big difference right there. There might have been some intermixing due to similar name and slight shared believes, but this due to both having Shia origins.

Alwaites today for the most part have become very similar to mainstream Shiaism due to the effort of Musa Sadr and many Lebanese and Shia Iraqi clerks. Alwaites originated in Southern Iraq but it was not conducive, so the preacher went to the mountain areas of Syria where it was. It's possible these people were Christians originally before their religion got intermingled with Shia aspects of Islam.

The Druze I find more interesting, as they often always maintain a neutral position, but many of them don't identify as Muslims, despite their religion being rooted in such. What I find interesting is that they have lot of Hindu influence, and they are rooted in Ismailism, and that Ismailism became popular among recently converted Hindus especially Khojas. The majority of Ismailis are from India. What I like about the Druze, is that they are loyal to any nation that's going to govern them, this why many of them are pro-Israel or anti-Israel depending on their location. The Druze in Syria I believe have maintained a neutral position thus far. I also believe the Druze might have been a pagan mountain population before they converted to "Islam" which can be a possibility.

[Kamal900]

Both in equal measure.

[Papastratosels26]

Alawites

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[archangel]

Druzes and their beliefs are interesting imho