What are the most important ideas and beliefs of the Alawites, and what are the differences between them and other Muslims?

The Alawite sect, formerly known as Nusayris, emerged in the third century Hijri at the hands of Muhammad ibn Nusayr al-Basri al-Numayri, and they are considered among the extremist Shi'a. Alawites believe in the divinity of Ali ibn Abi Talib, glorify Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam for killing Ali, and believe that Ali dwells in the clouds and that thunder is his voice. They venerate and consume wine, and they pray five times without prostration. They do not believe in Hajj or the prescribed Zakat, and they consider fasting to be abstaining from sexual relations with women. They have esoteric interpretations of the pillars of Islam, and their beliefs combine paganism, planet worship, Zoroastrian philosophies, Christianity, and Indian beliefs, along with Shi'a extremism. They celebrate holidays such as Nowruz, Ghadir, and their own Eid al-Adha, share holidays with Christians, and rejoice at the killing of Umar ibn al-Khattab. Islamic scholars, such as Ibn Taymiyyah, consider them to be more infidel than Jews, Christians, and polytheists, and their harm greater than that of warring disbelievers, and that they are always with the enemies of Muslims.