Druze

The Druze are a secretive Muslim sect, usually considered to be a branch of Ismaili Shi'ism, though their beliefs also reflect the influence of Neoplatonist philosophy, Gnosticism, and several non-Islamic religions. Most Druze (about 700,000) live in Syria, but about 250,000 live in Lebanon and 100,000 in Israel.

The name Druze derives from Anushtakin al-Darazi (died 1018), who was an influential figure in the first years of the Druze movement, though later repudiated by the Druze as a heretic. The Druze themselves prefer to be referred to as 'The Monotheists' (اﻟﻤﻮﺣﺪﻭﻥ, almuwahhidun) or 'The People of Monotheism' (ﺃﻫﻞ اﻟﺘﻮﺣﻴﺪ, ahl altawhid) - see further below.

The Druze trace their origins to the beginning of the eleventh century when Hamza bin Ali ibn Ahmad (985-after 1021), their founder, emigrated from Persia to Egypt and began to preach against various social evils. Drawing on the Ismaili belief that the imams are embodiments of the Intelligences which emanate from Allah, Hamza proclaimed the Fatimid ruler Abu Ali Mansur Tariq al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (996-1021) to be the final such embodiment. (The Druze believe that al-Hakim did not die but disappeared and will one day return to initiate a golden age in the history of the world.) At the same time Hamza strenuously argued against philosophical accounts of the divine nature which appeared to compromise its unity and thus provide a basis for polytheism - hence the desire of the Druze to be known as 'The Monotheists' or 'The People of Monotheism'. The sect quickly spread throughout much of the Islamic world, but during the reign of al-Hakim's successor they were ruthlessly persecuted, large numbers surviving only in the regions in which they are found today, i.e., parts of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

The Druze, who since 1043 have refused to allow outsiders to convert to their faith, live in closed communities, in which there is a clear division between an initiated minority (اﻟﻌﻘﺎﻝ, al'uqqal, the ones who know) and the uninitiated majority (ﺍﻟﺠﻬﺎﻞ, aljuhhal, the ones who do not know). The initiated, who form about 20% of the Druze population, are distinguished from the uninitiated by their style of dress, by their living apart from the rest of the community, and by their having access to the Druze sacred texts.

The Druze have played, and continue to play, a significant part in the history of the Middle East. Although at various times they suffered persecution under the Fatimids, the Mamluks, and the Ottomans, the three foreign dynasties which in turn ruled the Middle East from the eleventh to the beginning of the twentieth century, the Druze often put their formidable military skills at the disposal of these dynasties. During the Crusades, for example, they succeeded in preventing the Crusaders in the port city of Beirut from advancing inland, and in the sixteenth century they prospered as the powerful local agents of the Ottoman Sultans. The Druze have often been in conflict with their Christian neighbours, as in the civil war which broke out in Lebanon in the middle of the nineteenth century and, more recently in the civil war and disturbances which have been a feature of Lebanese history in the final decades of the twentieth century.

From 1921 to 1936, under the post-war French mandate of Syria, the Druze ruled an autonomous state in the south of the country called Jebel (or Jabal) Druze ('Druze Mountain', Jabal ad-Duruz). This was focussed on the Houran (or Hawran) Mountains where the members of the faith had sought refuge from Maronite 'tit-for-tat' persecution in the 1860s. Jebel Druze was previously known as the State of Souaida