Wikipedia
Aqarib (, also known as Aqarib al-Safiyah is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located east of Hama at the edge of the Syrian Desert. Nearby localities include al-Salamiyah and Tell al-Tut to the southwest, Uqayribat to the southeast and Sabburah to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Aqarib had a population of 3,830 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Ismailis.
Aqarib was founded in the late 19th century by Ismaili migrants from the area of Shaizar, a town west of Hama. The Ismailis had been evicted from their homes by a prominent landowning family based in Hama who owned the area around Shaizar. Part of the reason the migrants chose to settle in Aqarib was its proximity to al-Salamiyah, the center of Ismaili life in Syria.