Druze

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DRUZE

DRUZE . The title Druze (Arab. Durzī; pl. Durūz) was given to the community by outsiders who derived it from the name of Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Darazī (d. 1019). Al-Darazī is considered by Druzes to be the "deviate" or "great heretic." Druzes refer to themselves as Muwwaḥḥidūn (Unitarians) or Ahl al-Tawḥīd (the People of Unitarianism). In addition to these titles, the community is often known in the Middle East as Banū Maʿrūf (Sons of Mercy, or Sons of Beneficence). The term Maʿrūf is derived from the Arabic words ʿarafa (to know), maʿrifah (knowledge), and ʿirfān (esoteric knowledge, gnosis). More importantly, the Druze manuscripts refer to the community as madhhab ʿirfānī (a gnostic school), and to its members as Aʿrāf (those who possess knowledge).

There are approximately one million Druzes in the world today, with the majority of them living in Syria (40–50%), Lebanon (30–40%), and Israel (6–7%). Syrian Druzes can be found mainly in the Ḥawrān and Ṣuwaydāʾ provinces, with the city of Ṣuwaydā having the largest Druze population. In Lebanon, Druzes live primarily in the ʿAlayh and the Shūf regions, with smaller populations in Bʿabdā, Marjʿuyūn, Rāshayyā, and al-Matn. Some Druze families also reside in Beirut, where the judiciary and administrative center of the community has its headquarters. In Israel, Druzes live in the Galilee and Carmel Mountain regions, with smaller numbers in other parts of the country. There are also a few thousand Druzes living in Jordan.

In addition to these larger concentrations of Druzes in the Middle East, smaller communities can be found in Australia, Canada, Europe, the Philippines, South America, West Africa, and the United States. These Druze diasporas have established communal associations, such as the American Druze Society, the British Druze Society, the Druze Association of Toronto, the Sidney Druze Society, and La Druzo Brazileiri.

Initiated versus Uninitiated

Religious beliefs unite Druzes into socially cohesive communities and divide them into two main classes: the initiated or wise (ʿuqqāl) and the uninitiated or "ignorant" (juhhāl). The initiated members learn the precepts of their faith through readings and discussions of the sacred writings in the Druze house of prayer (khalwah or majlis). Only those believers who demonstrate piety and devotion and who have withstood the lengthy process of candidacy are introduced to the esoteric teachings and oral traditions of the faith. The Druze doctrine considers women more spiritually prepared than men, and women therefore undergo a less rigorous initiation process. The initiated men and women are easily identified by their modest dark clothes and white head covers.

Initiated persons are further subdivided into a number of categories, with the Ajāwīd (plural of juwayyid, the diminutive form of jayyid, which means "good") as the most devout among the initiated. The Ajāwīd serve as models for behavior, truthfulness, and wisdom, and whenever disputes arise their opinions are both revered and followed. Thus, they provide exclusive authority on the religious doctrine and dictate the proper conduct of members of the community, reinforcing its interactions within families, villages, and the rest of the world.

Uninitiated persons make up the majority of Druze society. They may seek initiation at any age, but their acceptance is based on their character. Although the uninitiated are indeed "ignorant" of the Druze doctrine, they are expected to behave according to certain prescriptions, both spiritual (e.g., devotion to God and his prophets) and moral (e.g., respect for elders, care for the young, and honor for women).

The division of Druzes into the initiated and uninitiated also has important ramifications for the political behavior of members of the community. This social structure may have facilitated Druze political cohesiveness, since religious leadership is provided by the ʿuqqāl, while political leadership is exercised by the juhhāl. However, despite the power held by the political leaders, families continue to consult, revere, and defer to the initiated members of their own families and of the community as a whole. Even though almost none of the initiated members hold political office, their perspectives carry political weight, influencing the decisions of the community's political leaders. Thus, while the initiated exercise strong yet indirect power in enforcing accepted standards for the community, the uninitiated draw strength from, as well as provide protection for, the initiated and the way of life, beliefs, and values they represent.

History versus Genealogy

Druzes trace their genealogy to the beginning of time, believing that tawḥīd has existed in several phases or cycles (adwār) since the creation. They hold that before the biblical (or historical) Adam, there were 343 million years of human existence, and that during that period and up to the present certain communities have professed tawḥīd in one form or another. The Druze manuscripts include an elaborate cosmological doctrine that begins with the prebiblical Adam, referred to as "the pure Adam" (Adam al-Ṣafāʾ ), and known as Adam Kadmun (Primordial Adam) in the Jewish Qabbalah and other religious traditions.

Druze historical origins, on the other hand, are traced to eleventh-century Fāṭimid Egypt. The Fāṭimis (r. 909–1171 ce) are Ismāʿīlī Shīʿah who originated in North Africa but conquered Egypt and built Cairo in 969 ce as their seat of power. According to almost all scholarly accounts, and based on Druze manuscripts, the Druze religious doctrine was founded, approved, supervised, or simply tolerated by the sixth Fāṭimid caliph, al-Manṣūr, known as al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh (r. 996–1021 ce).

In the eyes of many historians, al-Ḥākim was the most controversial among Fāṭimid caliphs, due partly to rumors about a claim for divinity, which he apparently never made, and partly to his early resolutions against the ritualistic practices of several religious communities. Descriptions of al-Ḥākim as insane and eccentric became dominant in mainstream Islamic scholarship and later in the West as well. However, more recent historians have come to view him as an antagonist to ritualistic practices and as a reformer with his own style and approach.

A second important figure in the Druze religious reform movement is Ḥamzah ibn ʿAlī (b. 985), who is considered the main authority behind Druze teachings. Ḥamzah came to Cairo in December 1016 ce, and in May 1017 al-Ḥākim officially conferred the title of imām on him, announcing that he and his associates could begin disseminating their religious reforms. Druze manuscripts tell us that Ḥamzah ibn ʿAlī sent missionaries in every direction of the earth with a document or "proclamation of faith" known as al-Mithāq (the Covenant) by which the prospective converts could commit themselves and pledge their loyalty to the new movement and its religious doctrine. Then he sent twenty of his followers to the supreme Muslim judge, Aḥmad ibn al-ʿAwām, asking him not to adjudicate cases by members of the new movement because the movement's doctrine, among other things, prohibited polygamy and the remarriage of one's divorcee, practices that were authorized in the Islamic courts. Ḥamzah's emissaries were attacked and some were killed.

During this external resistance to the new movement, an internal power struggle arose between Ḥamzah and one of the activists mentioned earlier, al-Darazī. Although Ḥamzah was technically al-Darazī's superior, he decided to withdraw from public preaching in order to prevent any confusion in the ranks of new and prospective converts. Al-Darazī exploited the opportunity of Ḥamzah's withdrawal and not only claimed the title of imām for himself, but also began to falsify Ḥamzah's writings and teachings in order to present al-Ḥākim as divine. This was apparently in the hopes that al-Ḥākim would favor him over Ḥamzah. Instead, al-Ḥākim withdrew his support from al-Darazī and public opposition to al-Darazī's teachings increased. As his defeat neared, al-Darazī redirected the public's attack by declaring that he had acted on Ḥamzah's instructions.

Ḥamzah's previous withdrawal from preaching now worked against him by reinforcing al-Darazī's assertion that he was indeed following Ḥamzah's directives. Consequently, instead of attacking al-Darazī, the crowd turned against Ḥamzah's residence at the Ridan mosque. Although al-Darazī was eventually executed by al-Ḥākim and his teachings were repudiated, some writers thereafter attributed his teachings to the followers of Ḥamzah. In doing so, they referred to such followers as Druzes after Darazī's name, and erroneously portrayed al-Darazī as the founder of Druzism.

In 1021 ce, al-Ḥākim departed on one of his routine trips, but he never returned, leaving fertile ground for speculation. His contemporaries said that he could have been assassinated by his sister's agents, attacked by nomads who had not recognized him, or he could have simply died of natural causes. Whatever the case, his body was never found, and historians have been unable to resolve the mystery surrounding the caliph's life and disappearance. In the same year, Ḥamzah withdrew completely from the public eye and delegated the leadership of the community to Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-Sāmmūqī, who is considered the third important figure in the emergence of the Druze movement.

Bahāʾ al-Dīn took office in a period when the Fāṭimid caliph, al-Ẓāhir, successor of al-Ḥākim, began persecuting members of the new movement. This period of persecution is known in the Druze tradition as a "testing phase" or "hardship" that lasted over five years. After 1026 ce, Bahāʾ al-Dīn wrote letters both to prospective converts in new locations and to those members who had seceded from the movement as a result of the persecution. He also sent missionaries to strengthen and guide believers. Bahāʾ al-Dīn continued his activity until the closing of the Druze tawḥīd movement in 1043. In that year Ḥamzah ibn ʿAlī, Bahāʾ al-Dīn and the other luminaries left Egypt to an unknown destination. Druzes believe that they will all return on the Day of Judgment. Since 1043, Druzism has remained closed to new converts.

In the past nearly one thousand years, Druze communities have faced various challenges, most notably their religious and spiritual decline during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. That period led to the emergence of several important spiritual leaders, the most important being the prolific theologian al-Amīr al-Sayyid al-Tanūkhī (d. 1479), who is the author of a number of treatises and commentaries. On the social and political levels, Druzes have remained a close-knit community and have almost always stayed loyal to the governments under which they lived. Exceptions that are worth mentioning may include the Maʿnīs' uprisings against the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century and the Aṭrashs' rebellion against French rule in the 1920s. Both the Maʿnīs and Aṭrashs were also supported by non-Druze residents of the region.

Beliefs versus Practices

The Druze manuscripts advocate that the sources of tawḥīd are many and include the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qurʾān. The Druze (holy) book, known as The Epistles of Wisdom (Rasāʾil al-Ḥikmah), is in actuality a hermeneutic of biblical and Qurʾanic doctrines rather than an independent book of revelations.

Several beliefs and practices may be highlighted. The first Druze belief is in God and his oneness, without an attempt to penetrate the nature of his being and attributes. With minor variations, the Druze belief in God is consistent with the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition.

Secondly, Druzes believe in the teachings of several intermediaries, including seven spokesmen (nutaqāʾ ) who preached tawḥīd in their times: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muḥammad, and Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl. For each of these seven spokesmen, God provided a foundation (asas) to help in spreading tawḥīd. These helpers are, respectively, Seth, Shem, Ishmael, Aaron/Joshua, Simeon Peter, ʿAli ibn Abī Ṭālib, and al-Qaddah. Because these spokesmen and their helpers came from God, introduced his teachings, and obeyed and worshiped him, Druzes acknowledge and revere them. In addition to the spokesmen and foundations, Druzes believe that there was also a hierarchy of luminaries (ḥudūd) in each cycle. The five central luminaries are, in descending order, the Universal Intellect (al-ʿAql al-Kullī), the Universal Soul (al-Nafs al-Kullīyah), the Word (al-Kalimah), the Preceding (al-Sābiq ), and the Following (al-Tālī). Each of these spiritual luminaries was also represented by a human in each respective period.

Third, Druzes believe in the phenomenon of the transmigration of souls, or more precisely perhaps, metempsychosis. They use the unique term taqāmus, derived from qāmis, meaning "shirt," and not the common Arabic term tanāsukh (reincarnation). Druzes rely on biblical and Qurʾanic passages, as well as on Platonic and Neoplatonic arguments, to support their belief in taqāmus. Generally, and in contrast to other traditions, Druzes believe that after the death of the body the soul is instantly reborn into a new human body. Thus, Druzes do not accept the doctrine that the soul "hovers" without the body, nor the belief that humans are reborn as animals, plants, or things. Moreover, they believe that the soul's punishment or reward is granted only on the Day of Judgment and after a large number of lives in which the soul would have experienced all possible roles, being poor and rich, healthy and ill, and having had long and short lives.

In addition to the above three beliefs in God, intermediaries, and metempsychosis, Druzes believe in the centrality of wisdom (ḥikmah) as a collective body of knowledge concerning theology, cosmology, and eschatology. The word ḥikmah is often associated with The Epistles of Wisdom, but here the use of ḥikmah is distinctive and more cumulative, going beyond the eleventh-century religious doctrine. Some Druze sages are aware of such distinction between the book of ḥikmah and the body of ḥikmah, and they confirm that the world's printed spiritual texts are only a few drops in a vast ocean of wisdom. These drops are partially recorded in a number of ancient and medieval texts, some of which represent versions of older manuscripts with some degree of error.

Related to the belief in ḥikmah and its place in the Druze community is the belief in accessing such ḥikmah through initiation. As stated earlier, initiation in Druzism is a lengthy and arduous process. Like other esoteric and mystical groups, such a process demands that the initiated member be not only of the right character and personality, but also in a ready mental and spiritual state in life.

Finally, Druze religious practices, as distinguished from beliefs, include the following: