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Druze, Middle Eastern religious sect that originated from the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam in the 11Th century. Religion dominates their habits and customs. Today, the Druze community numbers about 1 million members who reside mainly in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Israeli-occupied territory of the West Bank (including the Palestinian Authority), and Jordan. There also are small Druze communities in Australia, Europe, and the United States.
The basis of the Druze religion is the belief that AL-Hakim, a caliph (ruler) of the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt, was the incarnation of God. The Ismaili Fatimid rulers claimed descent as well as legitimacy as Muslim caliphs through Fatima, the daughter of the prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Al-Hakim, the sixth caliph, ruled from 996 to 1021. A Turkish Adi (preacher) named Muhammad AL-Darazi spread the notion of al-Hakim as God incarnate to Muslims in the regions now known as Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. Individuals who followed these ideas were named Druze after al-Darazi.
Beliefs and Traditions
The Druze considers their faith to be a new interpretation of the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For them, the traditional story of the Creation is a parable, which describes Adam not as the first human being, but as the first person to believe in one god. Since then, the idea of monotheism has been disseminated by "emissaries" or prophets, guided by "mentors" who embody the spirit of monotheism. The mentors and prophets come from all three religions, and include Jethro and Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, and Salman the Persian and Mohammed - all reincarnations of the same monotheistic idea. In addition, the Druze holds other influential people - regardless of their religion - in great esteem, as the advocates of justice and belief in one god. These include the Egyptian Akhenaton, the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and Alexander the Great.
Although the Druze recognizes all three monotheistic religions, they believe that rituals and ceremonies have caused Jews, Christians, and Muslims to turn aside from "pure faith". They argue that individuals who believe that God will forgive them if they fast and pray, will commit transgressions in the expectation of being forgiven - and then repeat their sins. The Druze thus eliminated all elements of ritual and ceremony; there is no fixed daily liturgy, no defined holy days, and no pilgrimage obligations. The Druze performs their spiritual reckoning with God at all times, and consequently need no special days of fasting or atonement.
The Druze religion is secret and closed to converts. From the theological perspective, the secrecy derives from the tenet that the gates of the religion were open to new believers for the space of a generation when it was first revealed and everyone was invited to join. Since in their belief everyone alive today is the reincarnation of someone who lived at that time, there is no reason to allow them to join today. Therefore, the Druze refrains from proselytizing, and no member of another religion can become Druze.
Druze religious books are accessible only to the initiates, the uqqal ("knowers"). The juhal ("ignorant ones") accept the faith on the basis of the tradition handed down from generation to generation.
Tenets and Precepts
The Druze religion has no ceremonies or rituals, and no obligation to perform precepts in public. The main tenets that obligate all Druze, both uqqal and juhal, are:
# Speaking the truth (instead of prayer)
# Supporting your brethren (instead of charity)
# Abandoning the old creeds (instead of fasting)
# Purification from heresy (instead of pilgrimage)
# Accepting the unity of God
# Submitting to the will of God (instead of holy war)
The uqqal are bound by more precepts than the juhal. Their external appearance is also different: the men have a shaven head covered by a white turban, a mustache and a beard; the women wear a white head scarf, called a naqab. The most pious among the women hide all their hair under a separate covering, the iraqiyah, which is fastened around the head underneath the white scarf.
Druze is forbidden to eat pork, smoke, or drink alcohol.
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What is a Druze? I have heard the word,but I am unfamiliar with the group.?
