I have a friend who is Lebanese Druze...Ive known him for ever but never really bothered to ask about his religious practices (he probably would tell me anyways :P )
Is there anything known about them?
Ono, i dint care what religion he is but i was just wondering about the religion and what its about. just curious..... : /
OK i dint want any trouble kitten its okay and i thought u said that you will never answer another question again...
anyways Chloe and Lebanon10452km2 and Mexican have really good answers
We're all Lebanese like Pinky said... Why do we care for differences... I don't know specifics about them... but this is from the net:
Druz are a Middle Eastern religious community whose traditional religion began as an offshoot of the Ismaili sect of Islam, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnostic, Noe-Platonic and other philosophies. Druze consider themselves theologically as "an Islamic Unist, reformatory sect". The Druze call themselves Ahl AL-Tawhid ("People of Monotheism") or AL-Muwahhid?n ("Monotheists"). The origin of the name Druze is traced to Nashtakin ad-Darazi, mistakenly believed to be a leader of the Druze, when, in fact he was an enemy.
For more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze
I'll also be waiting for other answers to learn more :P
Druze are very different, they are a mixture of different beliefs in one, dunno how to explain it. Let's see what can i tell you about them, well the majority live in Syria, but lots them in Lebanon too, oh and Israel and Jordan. They came from a sect called Ismail from Shina Islam, they wanted to change it up a bit and reform it, they believe in re-incarnation. oh yes also they think the ruler of Egypt long ago Al-Hakim used to be a incarnation of god. but they are the same as others, i mean they belive in one god, & all the prophets and they dont think they should marry other religons like jews, muslims, christians buddists etc... Also just like christians got the bible and muslims got the koran, they have a book called (kitab el hikma) book of wisdom.
Then of course there is 2 groups, like in islam u have sunna and shia, well druze have 2 groups. 1 group is called the ignorants, the other called the knowledgable, by the way druze consider women higher than men and they think women are part of the knowledgable group.
They are fascinating i studied them and found lots of mystery in their rituals and beliefs.
dint worry, we understand.... you what to learn about the religion, its alright to be curious.
all i know is they do believe in reincarnation, you can not convert into their religion but a Drucie can convert out of their religion. they try to keep it a secret probably because of that or because they went through alto of persecution because of their beliefs.
Druze do not make their beliefs public. Even Druze people know every little of the religion. Only the clergy have access to religious documents in different levels according to their position.
The secrecy is due to the fact that Druze have been persecuted. This is known as Taqiyah. Taqiyah is not only particular to Druze and other Islamic sects also have it.
Contrary to public belief, Druze are not in fact Muslims. They do not believe in what Muslims believe. They rather believe in transmigration of the soul. Their book is called AlHikmah.
They do not accept new members in their sects, and Druze are not allowed to marry from outside the sect. Marriage from outside the sect is seriously frowned upon.
Druze usually live in mountains in Lebanon. I grew up with them and they are wonderful people, largely because they are village people. Contrary to general beliefs, they are not bigots. They are very generous and make excellent friends.
Don't bother asking him about his religious practices because he doesn't practice any. And its not about him not telling you, its about him not having anything to tell you to begin with.
You already got some good answers...I suggest asking this in the Religion and Spirituality section too.
I would also like to suggest watching the movie "The Syrain Bride" ...it is about a Druze girl getting married. It is a very good movie. It made me cry.
they are a small minority in Th's world, that's why..
Druze is a small sect of Islam, but their belief is different from Sunni and Shia..
they're secretive of their beliefs..
currently, many of them reside in Golan Heights...
I myself don't understand about them..
Lebanese Druze?
