Druze

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Druze

PRONUNCIATION: DROOZ
LOCATION: Lebanon; Syria; Israel; Jordan
POPULATION: 1 to 1.5 million (2007)
LANGUAGE: Arabic
RELIGION: Secret Druze faith (Muhwahhidun)

INTRODUCTION

The Druze are both a unique religious and a unique ethnic group whose history dates back to the 11th century AD. Originating in Cairo, Egypt, in 1009–1010, they then spread to the mountains of southern Lebanon and beyond. The Druze faith grew out of the Isma'ili sect of Shia Islam, but from its beginnings it has been an entirely new religion. Disillusioned with the Isma'ilis in 1009–1010, the Druze turned to caliph al-Hakim, of the Fatamid dynasty based in Cairo, Egypt, as their deliverer. In 1017 he declared himself to be the incarnation of God, and the prophet Hamza ibn 'Ali took over al-Hakim's mortal duties as imam (spiritual and political leader). Hamza is considered the leader of the Druze movement. One of his disciples was named Muhammad al-Darazi, who quickly came into conflict with Hamza and was rebuked publicly by him. On the last day of 1019, al-Darazi was assassinated and then proclaimed a heretic. It is commonly believed that the Druze get their name from this heretic; it was probably given to them by their detractors.

Caliph al-Hakim disappeared in 1021 (he was most likely murdered, though no one knows for sure), and Hamza went into hiding. The new caliph, al-Zahir, denounced Druzism and persecuted its followers mercilessly. The Druze in Cairo and north to Aleppo were wiped out. The survivors in southern Lebanon and Syria continued to follow their faith, becoming secretive and highly protective of their survival. Hamza (still in hiding) appointed a new imam named Baha' al-Din after the persecution eased off. Baha' al-Din collected and organized 111 letters and directives written by al-Hakim, Hamza, and Baha' al-Din himself into six books called al-Hikmat al-Sharifa (The Noble Knowledge), the Druze bible. In 1043, the call for converts was closed, and since then it is said that no new converts have been accepted, although a few infusions of new blood have occurred over the centuries. Technically, though, one must be born a Druze; one cannot become one by choice.

The Syrian Druze community grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s as many fled war-torn Lebanon. The Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt was murdered in 1977 in the Lebanese civil war, triggering an increase in Druze aggressions there. Compared to the Arab Muslims and Christians in Israel, the Arab Druze community is relatively well off because of their unqualified support for Israel. This is in marked contrast to the political position of the Druze in Lebanon, which supports traditional Arab nationalist principles favoring Palestinian independence. It is the only Arab community in Israel, besides a small group of Bedu, allowed to serve in the Israeli armed forces.

LOCATION AND HOMELAND

The total Druze population throughout the world is difficult to estimate because of the secrecy of the sect and because, for example, Syria's government demographic information is unreliable. Some estimates put their numbers as high as 2 million, but it is generally thought there are between 1 and 1.5 million. The vast majority of them live in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Jordan. Good estimates as to their dispersion are: Lebanon, 400,000–600,000; Syria, 600,000–800,000; Israel; 85,000 (including 15,000 Syrian Druze living in the Golan Heights); Jordan, 15,000; and at most 80,000 elsewhere in the world. The oldest and largest concentration of Druze is found in Lebanon. The largest communities outside the Middle East are in North and South America, with smaller groups in Australia, West Africa, and Western Europe. All are immigrants from Middle Eastern communities, especially from Lebanon. The Druze population in the United States is estimated at 20,000–27,000. Most US Druze settled in small towns and kept a low profile, joining Protestant churches (usually Presbyterian or Methodist) and often Americanizing their names. However, they continued to send money back to their families in the Middle East and even arranged marriages with persons from their home villages. They have now formed Druze associations in the US to develop community relations in their new homes.

The racial background of the Druze is obscure. They are definitely Arab, with Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Byzantine, and probably European (from the time of the Crusades) physical traits mixed in. This has led to a great variety in physical characteristics among the Druze, despite centuries of marrying within their own group. Most Druze are still hardy, independent farmers living in mountain villages of less than 10,000. Some, however, have moved to larger urban centers and taken on other sorts of jobs. All Druze villages are located on the tops or sides of hills and mountains for a number of reasons, the first and foremost being defense. This position also puts them closer to their holy shrines, which are also always built on the tops or sides of hills and mountains. For farming purposes, it makes it easy to fertilize their fields: they simply collect dung from their livestock, pile it on the hill outside the village, and let the rains carry it down to the fields below. In Lebanon, most Druze have olive groves and fruit orchards. In southern Syria, they are more likely to be wheat farmers.

LANGUAGE

The Druze speak Arabic, with slight distinctive differences. For example, they have kept the qaf, the strong guttural k sound of classical Arabic that has been dropped or changed to a j or hard g sound in other Arabic dialects, and they have retained the dad, a soft, tongued d sound that is close to classical Arabic, which has lost its unique sound in other dialects.

Traditional, religiously significant names used to be common for both boys and girls: Mohammed, Husayn, and 'Ali for boys, and 'A'isha and Fatima for girls. But now most Druze children are given neutral names that are common to Christians and Muslims, such as Samir, Salim, Fu'AD, or Fawzi for boys.

FOLKLORE

See the following section entitled Religion in this article.

RELIGION

The Druze believe that Sunni Muslims follow the First Course of literal interpretation of scriptures, Shia Muslims follow the Second Course of allegorical interpretation, and they themselves follow the Third Course (al-maslak ath-thalith), or Tawhid, of real knowledge of the unity of God and the unity of Being in God. They call themselves Muhwahhidun (rather than Druze), which means, essentially, Unitarian—they believe in absolute monotheism. Their beliefs have been held in secret since the closing of the call for converts in AD 1043. Since then, only a few people from each community in each generation are initiated into the details of the faith. The rest are called the juhhal, which means "noninitiated" but also has an implied meaning of "ignorant" or "uninformed." The juhhal are given a simple outline of the faith to follow.

The initiated are called 'uqqal ('aqil—masculine singular, and 'aqila—feminine singular), or "enlightened," and are put through rigorous tests to determine if they are able to handle the responsibility of enlightenment. Women have been included in the 'uqqal since the beginning of the Druze movement. Those who pass the tests then go through a secret initiation ceremony, after which they wear a heavy white turban and never wear bright colors, swear or use obscene language, drink alcohol, or smoke. The 'uqqal are then divided into two further classes: those who know some of the elementary aspects of the faith, and those who study for years to gain an in-depth knowledge of the mysteries of the religion. This most advanced class of Druze is called the al-ajawid, or "the righteous." At the weekly Thursday-evening worship service, held at a place for seclusion and prayer called a khalwa or majlis, the juhhal attend the first part of the service, where community affairs are discussed, then they leave so the 'uqqal can engage in prayer, study, and meditation.

Because the Druze faith is held in secret, few of their beliefs are known to the wider world. What is known is that they believe that God is One and All is God; God has had many incarnations in this world, including Jesus, but Jesus is not "God's Son" as Christians believe. According to the Druze faith, the caliph al-Hakim was the final incarnation of God in this world. The Druze believe that prayer and ritual are unnecessary when true knowledge of God's unity is gained (prayer is the association of the soul with the oneness of God and is a constant state of being, rather than something one does at certain times of day). The number of souls of believers and nonbelievers is believed to have been fixed at Creation, so every time a Druze dies, another Druze is born, and the soul of the deceased immediately enters the body of the newborn. This belief in the immediate reincarnation of souls leads the Druze to be fierce and fearless warriors, because death simply means they will leave one body and enter another.

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

The Druze believe that they have been freed from ritual on their Third Course, so holy days are not important as religious duties. They do have shrines, called mazar or maqam, located on the tops or sides of hills and mountains they visit frequently. At the tomb of the holy man or woman to whom the shrine is dedicated, the Druze pray quietly, leave small gifts of food and money, and take away small pieces of colored cloth as tokens of divine blessing to be kept in their homes or in the family car. Some families come for extended stays to sacrifice animals in the fulfillment of a vow. Others just have picnics or spend a quiet weekend there. Annual religious festivals attract thousands of Druze to some shrines, such as al-Nabi Shu'ayb. There is also an annual pilgrimage to the alleged burial place of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, near Horns of Hittim in Galilee.

RITES OF PASSAGE

The circumcision of males is not practiced as a ritual rite of passage among the Druze, as it is among Muslims and Jews. Weddings are small gatherings, though they can be extravagant, depending on the wealth of the family. Funerals are huge community events; people from all around attend. Every Druze village has a mawqaf, or "stopping place"—a small cement or stone amphitheater with rows of seats where hundreds, even thousands, can gather to honor and remember the deceased and give condolences to the family. When a respected community or religious leader dies, everyone who knew of the person, whether or not they had ever met, is expected to attend the funeral, either in person or by representative. Funeral arrangements are made immediately after death, and the ceremony is held the next day at the latest. Announcements are made, formerly by a town crier but now usually by loudspeaker, in the deceased's village and other villages where he or she was known. The body is washed, dressed in the finest clothes available, and buried above ground-level just outside the village. Women lament in the traditional Lebanese Muslim way, although not as excessively, and acquaintances tell of the deceased's virtues.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

With the habit of secrecy and defensive privacy that the Druze have developed over their persecuted history, the average Druze has little contact with non-Druze, even in the same small village. Among themselves (and others they feel they can trust), however, the Druze are extremely hospitable and generous. There is a strict code of honor that all Druze are committed to maintaining. For example, Druze men, including soldiers, will never touch a woman in any harmful way, even if she is one of the "enemy" during combat. The Druze look after their own community's orphans, widows, and poor people. There is no such thing as a Druze beggar. If an extended family cannot support one of their members for some reason, the rest of the community will help out. Almost all Druze villages have one or more mudafat (singular, mudafa), guest houses where visitors can stay. There is an extensive system of awqaf (singular, waqf), endowed properties for religious or charitable use given in wills for the purpose of establishing and maintaining khalwa (prayer-houses) or mazar (shrines).

LIVING CONDITIONS

It has been said by many throughout the ages that the Druze are a healthy and handsome lot. Most Druze still live in small villages. Some villages have electricity and telephone service; others do not. Almost all villages now have regular bus and taxi service to major nearby cities.

The quality of Druze life depends greatly on the country in which they live. Those in Israel, for example, generally have a higher quality of life than do those in small villages in Syria or Lebanon. The Diaspora, which accounts for a large number of Druze, live very comfortably in the West.

FAMILY LIFE

The family is central to Druze life, and the Druze make frequent formalized visits to their family members. Even those who have emigrated to other continents maintain their family ties as closely as possible. The most important factor in Druze family life is a woman's honor (ird), and her dishonor is the family's worst humiliation. For this reason, even though women have equal rights politically and religiously, they are socially very restricted (to minimize the possibility of dishonor). Women are expected to marry at a fairly early age (17 to 20) and become stay-at-home homemakers. The minimum age for marriage is 17 for women and 18 for men, but most men do not marry until age 21 to 23. Marriage partners usually come from the same village and frequently from the same extended family (including first cousins). These close family marriages are preferred in order to preserve property and maintain the knowledge of family background and heritage. Marriages are almost always arranged by the family, and the groom pays the bride's family a dowry. Polygamy, and the Islamic custom of mut'a, or temporary marriage, are forbidden, as is marriage to a non-Druze. Shaykhs and masha'ik al-Din (community and religious leaders) administer the law in matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance.

The Druze prefer sons to daughters, particularly for the first-born child, and they will continue to have children until a son is born. The average family has 5 or 6 children, but Druze families can be as large as 10 to 12 children. The failure of a woman to bear children (particularly sons) is a frequent cause for divorce.

CLOTHING

Druze living in small villages still wear traditional clothing. Women wear a blue or black peasant dress with a gauzy white head covering called a mandil, and red slipper-like shoes that are their only spot of bright color. Most juhhal (uninitiated) no longer wear shirwal, the baggy pants that are tight at the ankle, worn by the 'uqqal (initiated). Juhhal men wear the common Arab headscarf, the keffiyeh, and the 'uqqal wear heavy white turbans. Most Druze men sport large moustaches with waxed tips. Westernized Druze dress in modern clothing.

FOOD

Most Druze families grow their own fruit and vegetables and bake their own bread. They eat a mostly vegetarian diet with meat only on special occasions. Typical village meals include olives; mountain bread (paper-thin, round, unleavened bread); eggplant; cauliflower; chickpeas flavored with onions, garlic, and tahini (sesame paste); rice; bulghur (cracked wheat); potatoes; salad (made of tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, and other herbs, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice); yogurt; and seasonal fruit. Lamb (or kid—young goat's meat) is the favorite meat, with chicken second, and then beef. Eating pork is not forbidden, but it is not encouraged, either. Some Druze do occasionally eat pork.

EDUCATION

Among the younger generation of Druze (under age 25), literacy is almost universal. No literacy statistics are available for the general population, but the literacy rate is believed to be fairly high. Most girls traditionally stopped their formal schooling after six years of basic elementary education, but more are now beginning to attend secondary school, and some even go on to university or professional training (as nurses or teachers, for example). Druze women are found on the faculties of universities in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, but it is still very rare for a rural Druze girl to be allowed to leave home to study abroad. The urbanized Druze communities are far less conservative and Druze girls from these areas regularly attend university.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Druze poetry does not have any love songs, focusing instead on themes such as the love of God and of one's native countryside. Druze poets and writers include Samih al-Qasim, a poet from the town of al-Rama in Galilee; and Shaqib Arslan, a Druze prince known as "the prince of eloquence" (amir al-bayan), who was chosen in 1938 to be president of the Arab Academy in Damascus. Druze musicians have become known in both Western classical music (e.g., pianist Diana Taqi al-Din) and traditional Middle Eastern music (e.g., lute (oud) player, singer, and composer Farid al-Atrash [1916–1976]).

WORK

Although they were traditionally farmers, Druze can now be found in all areas of business, including banking, trade, retailing, and transportation services. The former president and principal shareholder of Middle East Airlines, Najib 'Alam al-Dim, was a Druze, and a large percentage of the airline's personnel, including pilots, have been Druze throughout most of the company's existence.

Druze who leave rural communities are often successful businessmen and there are large numbers of Druze working in the oil rich Gulf countries, where they have earned a reputation as hard working and reliable. Druze women rarely work outside the home in rural communities, but in the West and even in the Gulf, Druze women do work in modern jobs.

SPORTS

The Druze enjoy most popular sports including hunting, fishing, soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, water skiing, and water polo.

ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

Traditionally situated rural Druze in the Middle East lead traditional lives. Men dominate the social space and can be seen most days drinking tea in small tea shops. In cities, Druze engage in the sorts of activities typical to the country in which they live. They meet in restaurants, attend and play sporting events, and shop at malls.

FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES

The Druze are known for their weaving, carpet-making, and basketry.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Because they are such a small, close-knit, protective society, the Druze have very few social problems within their own community. Their protective secrecy, however, has grown out of almost constant persecution from outsiders since their inception. Relegated to small mountain villages, the Druze have learned to take care of their own and to be suspicious of strangers. This same protectiveness has led them to be misinterpreted and misunderstood for centuries, accused of everything from communism to fanatical aggression.

Modernity and the Diaspora have somewhat altered the lives of the Druze. As they have moved around the world, changes have slowly emerged. The tradition of dowry, or bride price, has caused some Druze to actually marry outside the community due to lack of financial resources. In Israel and in the Western Diaspora, women regularly take jobs outside of the community, and this has led to changes in Druze traditions.

GENDER ISSUES

Druze women have high status in terms of religion. There are by some accounts, more female uqqal than male, because of teachings that women are more spiritual. Socially, however, women face fairly strict restrictions. It was only in the 1970s that Israeli Druze were allowed to obtain drivers licenses. In most rural Druze communities, women are forbidden to work outside of their home village, go to the cinema, or be photographed—a restriction that has to be overlooked for identity documents in most developed countries. It is forbidden to perform autopsies on Druze women and women are forbidden to give birth in hospitals without female physicians.

Though marriages are generally arranged, the woman has the right to refuse a spouse. Divorce is difficult to obtain, but women as well as men can initiate the proceedings. A man can obtain a divorce on grounds of: failure to bear children, or sons; disobedience; immodest behavior (proven adultery is an automatic, guaranteed ground for divorce); and mental or other chronic illness that makes regular sexual intercourse impossible. A woman can also obtain a divorce on those last grounds, as well as on grounds of impotence, nonsupport, and desertion or prolonged absence. A divorce is irrevocable—once divorced, always divorced. Ex-spouses cannot remarry each other or even be under the same roof ever again. In a divorce, women are almost always given financial compensation because it is difficult for a divorced woman to remarry and thereby be supported.