Druze: Difference between revisions
Markup fix. |
BOT--Reverting link addition(s) by 189.61.1.223 to revision 486116871 (http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7854/transfer29.html [geocities\.com]) |
||
Line 44: | Line 44: | ||
| publisher=Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics | location = IL |
| publisher=Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics | location = IL |
||
| work=Statistical Abstract of Palestine | year = 2006 |
| work=Statistical Abstract of Palestine | year = 2006 |
||
| format=PDF}}</ref> The Institute of Druze Studies estimates that 40%–50% of Druze live in Syria, 30%–40% in Lebanon, 6%–7% in Israel, and 1%–2% in Jordan.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.druzestudies.org/druzes.html | publisher = Institute of Druze Studies | title = Druzes}}</ref>{{ |
| format=PDF}}</ref> The Institute of Druze Studies estimates that 40%–50% of Druze live in Syria, 30%–40% in Lebanon, 6%–7% in Israel, and 1%–2% in Jordan.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.druzestudies.org/druzes.html | publisher = Institute of Druze Studies | title = Druzes}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status |last=Dana |first=Nissim |pages=99 |publisher=Sussex University Press |year=2003 |isbn=1903900360 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=2nCWIsyZJxUC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=druze+population+lebanon}}</ref> |
||
Large communities of expatriate Druze also live outside the Middle East in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the United States, and West Africa. They use the [[Arabic language]] and follow a social pattern very similar to those of the other peoples of the [[Levant|eastern Mediterranean region]].<ref>{{Citation | first = Rabah | last = Halabi | title = Citizens of equal duties—Druze identity and the Jewish State | page = 55 | language = Hebrew}}</ref> |
Large communities of expatriate Druze also live outside the Middle East in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the United States, and West Africa. They use the [[Arabic language]] and follow a social pattern very similar to those of the other peoples of the [[Levant|eastern Mediterranean region]].<ref>{{Citation | first = Rabah | last = Halabi | title = Citizens of equal duties—Druze identity and the Jewish State | page = 55 | language = Hebrew}}</ref> |
||
Line 66: | Line 66: | ||
In 1016 ad-Darazi and his followers openly proclaimed their beliefs and called people to join them, causing riots in Cairo against the Unitarian movement including Hamza bin Ali and his followers which led to the suspension of the movement for one year and the expulsion of ad-Darazi and his supporters.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/595974l | title = Al-Darazî and Ḥamza in the Origin of Druze Religion | first = MGS | last = Hodgson | year = 1962}}.</ref> |
In 1016 ad-Darazi and his followers openly proclaimed their beliefs and called people to join them, causing riots in Cairo against the Unitarian movement including Hamza bin Ali and his followers which led to the suspension of the movement for one year and the expulsion of ad-Darazi and his supporters.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/595974l | title = Al-Darazî and Ḥamza in the Origin of Druze Religion | first = MGS | last = Hodgson | year = 1962}}.</ref> |
||
Although the Druze religious books describe ad-Darazi as the "insolent one" and as the "Calf" who is narrow minded and hasty, the name "Druze" is still used for identification and for historical reasons. In 1018 ad-Darazi was assassinated for his teachings |
Although the Druze religious books describe ad-Darazi as the "insolent one" and as the "Calf" who is narrow minded and hasty, the name "Druze" is still used for identification and for historical reasons. In 1018 ad-Darazi was assassinated for his teachings, some sources claim to be executed by Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.<ref name=about/><ref name=samy>{{cite book|title= The Druzes: An Annotated Bibliography | last= Swayd| first= Samy | publisher=ISES Publications|location=Kirkland, WA, USA|year=1998|isbn=0966293207}}</ref> |
||
Some authorities see in the name "Druze" a descriptive epithet, derived from Arabic [[dâresah]] ("those who study").<ref>{{Citation | url = http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/DRO_ECG/DRUSES_or_DRUZES_Arab_Druz_.html | year = 1911 | title = Encyclopædia Britannica | page = 606}}.</ref> Others have speculated that the word comes from the Arabic-Persian word ''Darazo'' ({{lang|fa|درز}} "bliss") or from [[Shaykh]] Hussayn ad-Darazī, who was one of the early converts to the faith.<ref name |
Some authorities see in the name "Druze" a descriptive epithet, derived from Arabic [[dâresah]] ("those who study").<ref>{{Citation | url = http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/DRO_ECG/DRUSES_or_DRUZES_Arab_Druz_.html | year = 1911 | title = Encyclopædia Britannica | page = 606}}.</ref> Others have speculated that the word comes from the Arabic-Persian word ''Darazo'' ({{lang|fa|درز}} "bliss") or from [[Shaykh]] Hussayn ad-Darazī, who was one of the early converts to the faith.<ref name=najjar/> In the early stages of the movement, the word "Druze" is rarely mentioned by historians, and in Druze religious texts only the word ''Muwaḥḥidūn'' ("Unitarian") appears. The only early Arab historian who mentions the Druze is the 11th century Christian scholar [[Yahya of Antioch]], who clearly refers to the heretical group created by ad-Darazī rather than the followers of Hamza ibn 'Alī.<ref name=najjar>{{cite book | last = Al-Najjar | first = 'Abdullāh | title = Madhhab ad-Durūz wa t-Tawḥīd (The Druze Sect and Unism) | publisher = Dār al-Ma'ārif | location = Egypt | year = 1965 | language = Arabic}}</ref> As for Western sources, [[Benjamin of Tudela]], the Jewish traveler who passed through Lebanon in or about 1165, was one of the first European writers to refer to the Druzes by name. The word ''Dogziyin'' ("Druzes") occurs in an early Hebrew edition of his travels, but it is clear that this is a scribal error. Be that as it may, he described the Druze as "mountain dwellers, monotheists, who believe in 'soul eternity' and [[reincarnation]]."<ref>{{cite book |
||
| last = Hitti |
| last = Hitti |
||
| first = Philip K |
| first = Philip K |
||
Line 79: | Line 79: | ||
| origyear = 1924 |
| origyear = 1924 |
||
| isbn = 0-86356-690-1 |
| isbn = 0-86356-690-1 |
||
| pages = 13–14}}</ref> |
| pages = 13–14 |
||
}}</ref> |
|||
===Early history=== |
===Early history=== |
||
Line 89: | Line 90: | ||
{{quote |Remove ye the causes of fear and estrangement from yourselves. Do away with the corruption of delusion and conformity. Be ye certain that the Prince of Believers hath given unto you free will, and hath spared you the trouble of disguising and concealing your true beliefs, so that when ye work ye may keep your deeds pure for God. He hath done thus so that when you relinquish your previous beliefs and doctrines ye shall not indeed lean on such causes of impediments and pretensions. By conveying to you the reality of his intention, the Prince of Believers hath spared you any excuse for doing so. He hath urged you to declare your belief openly. Ye are now safe from any hand which may bring harm unto you. Ye now may find rest in his assurance ye shall not be wronged. Let those who are present convey this message unto the absent so that it may be known by both the distinguished and the common people. It shall thus become a rule to mankind; and Divine Wisdom shall prevail for all the days to come.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://ismaili.net/drupal5/node/10766 | title = Ismaili | publisher = Islam Heritage Field}}</ref>}} |
{{quote |Remove ye the causes of fear and estrangement from yourselves. Do away with the corruption of delusion and conformity. Be ye certain that the Prince of Believers hath given unto you free will, and hath spared you the trouble of disguising and concealing your true beliefs, so that when ye work ye may keep your deeds pure for God. He hath done thus so that when you relinquish your previous beliefs and doctrines ye shall not indeed lean on such causes of impediments and pretensions. By conveying to you the reality of his intention, the Prince of Believers hath spared you any excuse for doing so. He hath urged you to declare your belief openly. Ye are now safe from any hand which may bring harm unto you. Ye now may find rest in his assurance ye shall not be wronged. Let those who are present convey this message unto the absent so that it may be known by both the distinguished and the common people. It shall thus become a rule to mankind; and Divine Wisdom shall prevail for all the days to come.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://ismaili.net/drupal5/node/10766 | title = Ismaili | publisher = Islam Heritage Field}}</ref>}} |
||
Al-Hakim became a central figure in the Druze faith even though his own religious position was disputed among scholars. [[John Esposito]] states that al-Hakim believed that "he was not only the divinely appointed religio-political leader but also the [[nous | cosmic intellect]] linking God with creation",<ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=lZXTFCN93kkC&pg=PA156&dq=druze+hakim+John+Esposito&ei=bBaDSL-ZAozaigHaxdG8DQ&sig=ACfU3U1jUwRJDGMsL3BIUbiX5DzfmMcawg#PPA156,M1 | title = Melville's Clarel and the Intersympathy of Creeds | first = William | last = Potter | page = 156}}.</ref> while others like [[Nissim Dana]] and [[Mordechai Nisan]] state that he is perceived as the manifestation and the reincarnation of God or presumably the image of God.{{ |
Al-Hakim became a central figure in the Druze faith even though his own religious position was disputed among scholars. [[John Esposito]] states that al-Hakim believed that "he was not only the divinely appointed religio-political leader but also the [[nous | cosmic intellect]] linking God with creation.",<ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=lZXTFCN93kkC&pg=PA156&dq=druze+hakim+John+Esposito&ei=bBaDSL-ZAozaigHaxdG8DQ&sig=ACfU3U1jUwRJDGMsL3BIUbiX5DzfmMcawg#PPA156,M1 | title = Melville's Clarel and the Intersympathy of Creeds | first = William | last = Potter | page = 156}}.</ref> while others like [[Nissim Dana]] and [[Mordechai Nisan]] state that he is perceived as the manifestation and the reincarnation of God or presumably the image of God.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=keD9z1XWuNwC&pg=PA98&dq=Mordechai+Nisan++druze&ei=IJ5uSLuLMZOkiwHp99SCBg&sig=ACfU3U2QHNki1phQdaWTIOKngGyVPLnTbw#PPA100,M1 | title = Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-expression | first = Mordechai | last = Nisan | page = 95}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=2nCWIsyZJxUC&dq=druze+Nissim+Dana&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=XqdY8x2TYr&sig=yMfzBjScKqQX7oxYfAkLMx9qyc0&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA3,M1 | title = The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status | first = Nissim | last = Dana}}</ref>{{Rp | needed = yes}} |
||
Some Druze and non-Druze scholars like Samy Swayd and [[Sami Makarem]] state that this confusion is due to confusion about the role of the early preacher ad-Darazi, whose teachings the Druze rejected as heretical.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA217&dq=The+Druzes:+A+New+Study+of+Their+History,+Faith+and+Society+Al-Hakim&ei=bNeFSOnMGZzwigGj_ejbBQ&sig=ACfU3U3BPEoV7YZP4FEgBiqD7Xflt_gLZg#PPA217,M1 | title = Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia | first1 = Josef W | last1 = Meri | first2 = Jere L | last2 = Bacharach | publisher = Routledge | year = 2006 | ISBN = 0-415-96690-6}}.</ref> These sources assert that al-Hakim rejected ad-Darazi's claims of divinity,<ref name= samy/><ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=kY0oedX32BwC&pg=PA128&dq=Hamza+bin+Ali+druze&ei=hxV-SLTaB4KijgHJvKXtDw&sig=ACfU3U3Joonyh4sX6X3A6xx9ngHmddJ59w#PPA127,M1 | title = The Olive and the Tree: The Secret Strength of the Druze | first1 = Dr Ruth | last1 = Westheimer | first2 = Gil | last2 = Sedan}}.</ref>{{ |
Some Druze and non-Druze scholars like Samy Swayd and [[Sami Makarem]] state that this confusion is due to confusion about the role of the early preacher ad-Darazi, whose teachings the Druze rejected as heretical.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA217&dq=The+Druzes:+A+New+Study+of+Their+History,+Faith+and+Society+Al-Hakim&ei=bNeFSOnMGZzwigGj_ejbBQ&sig=ACfU3U3BPEoV7YZP4FEgBiqD7Xflt_gLZg#PPA217,M1 | title = Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia | first1 = Josef W | last1 = Meri | first2 = Jere L | last2 = Bacharach | publisher = Routledge | year = 2006 | ISBN = 0-415-96690-6}}.</ref> These sources assert that al-Hakim rejected ad-Darazi's claims of divinity,<ref name= samy/><ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=kY0oedX32BwC&pg=PA128&dq=Hamza+bin+Ali+druze&ei=hxV-SLTaB4KijgHJvKXtDw&sig=ACfU3U3Joonyh4sX6X3A6xx9ngHmddJ59w#PPA127,M1 | title = The Olive and the Tree: The Secret Strength of the Druze | first1 = Dr Ruth | last1 = Westheimer | first2 = Gil | last2 = Sedan}}.</ref><ref name="Dix">{{Cite book | last =Swayd | first =Sami | year = 2006| title =Historical dictionary of the Druzes | series =Historical dictionaries of peoples and cultures | volume =3 | publication-place =Maryland, USA | publisher =Scarecrow Press | isbn =0-8108-5332-9}}</ref> and ordered the elimination of his movement while supporting that of Hamza ibn Ali.<ref>{{Citation | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=rezD7rvuf9YC&pg=PA921&vq=druze&dq=druze+god+hakim&lr=&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1&sig=ACfU3U2oOT-YmEy4ZP0xOseugnG-PP-HQg#PPA921,M1 | contribution = M. Th. Houtsma | first = EJ Brill | title = First encyclopaedia of Islam | year = 1913–36}}.</ref> |
||
Al-Hakim disappeared one night while out on his evening ride — presumably assassinated, perhaps at the behest of his formidable elder sister [[Sitt al-Mulk]]. The Druze believe he went into [[The Occultation| Occultation]] with Hamza ibn Ali and three other prominent preachers, leaving the care of the "Unitarian missionary movement" to a new leader, Bahā'u d-Dīn. |
Al-Hakim disappeared one night while out on his evening ride — presumably assassinated, perhaps at the behest of his formidable elder sister [[Sitt al-Mulk]]. The Druze believe he went into [[The Occultation| Occultation]] with Hamza ibn Ali and three other prominent preachers, leaving the care of the "Unitarian missionary movement" to a new leader, Bahā'u d-Dīn. |
||
Line 103: | Line 104: | ||
===During the Crusades=== |
===During the Crusades=== |
||
It was during the period of Crusader rule in Syria (1099–1291) that the Druze first emerged into the full light of history in the Gharb region of the [[Chouf]] Mountains. As powerful warriors serving the Muslim rulers of Damascus against the [[Crusades]], the Druze were given the task of keeping watch over the crusaders in the seaport of Beirut, with the aim of preventing them from making any encroachments inland. Subsequently, the Druze chiefs of the Gharb placed their considerable military experience at the disposal of the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) |
It was during the period of Crusader rule in Syria (1099–1291) that the Druze first emerged into the full light of history in the Gharb region of the [[Chouf]] Mountains. As powerful warriors serving the Muslim rulers of Damascus against the [[Crusades]], the Druze were given the task of keeping watch over the crusaders in the seaport of Beirut, with the aim of preventing them from making any encroachments inland. Subsequently, the Druze chiefs of the Gharb placed their considerable military experience at the disposal of the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] rulers of Egypt (1250–1516); first, to assist them in putting an end to what remained of Crusader rule in coastal Syria, and later to help them safeguard the Syrian coast against Crusader retaliation by sea.<ref>[http://www.druzeheritage.org/dhf/Druze_History.asp druzeheritage.org]</ref> |
||
In the early period of the [[Crusades|Crusader]] era, the Druze feudal power was in the hands of two families, the [[Tanukh]]s and the [[Talal Arslan|Arslans]]. From their fortresses in the Gharb district (modern [[Aley]] Province) of southern Mount Lebanon, the Tanukhs led their incursions into the Phoenician coast and finally succeeded in holding Beirut and the marine plain against the [[Franks]]. Because of their fierce battles with the [[crusaders]], the Druzes earned the respect of the [[Sunni]] Muslim Caliphs and thus gained important political powers. |
In the early period of the [[Crusades|Crusader]] era, the Druze feudal power was in the hands of two families, the [[Tanukh]]s and the [[Talal Arslan|Arslans]]. From their fortresses in the Gharb district (modern [[Aley]] Province) of southern Mount Lebanon, the Tanukhs led their incursions into the Phoenician coast and finally succeeded in holding Beirut and the marine plain against the [[Franks]]. Because of their fierce battles with the [[crusaders]], the Druzes earned the respect of the [[Sunni]] Muslim Caliphs and thus gained important political powers. After the middle of the twelfth century, the Ma'an family superseded the Tanukhs in Druze leadership. The origin of the family goes back to a Prince Ma'an who made his appearance in the Lebanon in the days of the 'Abbasid Caliph [[al-Mustarshid]] (1118 AD-1135 AD). The Ma'ans chose for their abode the [[Chouf]] district in the southern part of Western Lebanon, overlooking the maritime plain between [[Beirut]] and [[Sidon]], and made their headquarters in [[Baaqlin]], which is still a leading Druze village. They were invested with feudal authority by Sultan [[Nur ad-Din Zangi|Nur-al-Dīn]] and furnished respectable contingents to the Muslim ranks in their struggle against the Crusaders.<ref name=Hitti/> |
||
===Persecution during the Mamluk and Ottoman period=== |
===Persecution during the Mamluk and Ottoman period=== |
||
Having cleared Syria of the Franks, the [[Mamluk]] Sultans of Egypt turned their attention to the schismatic Muslims of Syria. In 1305, after the issuing of a [[fatwa]] by the scholar [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] calling for [[jihad]] against all non-[[Sunni]] Muslims like the Druze, [[Alawites]], [[Ismaili]], and [[Shia Muslim|twelver]] Shiites. [[Al-Nasir Muhammad|al-Malik al-Nasir]] inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Druze at [[Keserwan District|Keserwan]] and forced outward compliance on their part to orthodox Sunni Islam. Later, under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Turks, they were severely attacked at [[Ayn-Ṣawfar]] in 1585 after the Ottomans claimed that they assaulted their caravans near [[Tripoli]]. |
Having cleared Syria of the Franks, the [[Mamluk]] Sultans of Egypt turned their attention to the schismatic Muslims of Syria. In 1305, after the issuing of a [[fatwa]] by the scholar [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] calling for [[jihad]] against all non-[[Sunni]] Muslims like the Druze, [[Alawites]], [[Ismaili]], and [[Shia Muslim|twelver]] Shiites. [[Al-Nasir Muhammad|al-Malik al-Nasir]] inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Druze at [[Keserwan District|Keserwan]] and forced outward compliance on their part to orthodox Sunni Islam. Later, under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Turks, they were severely attacked at [[Ayn-Ṣawfar]] in 1585 after the Ottomans claimed that they assaulted their caravans near [[Tripoli]].<ref name=Hitti/> |
||
Consequently, the 16th and 17th centuries were to witness a succession of armed Druze rebellions against the Ottomans, countered by repeated Ottoman punitive expeditions against the Chouf, in which the Druze population of the area was severely depleted and many villages destroyed. These military measures, severe as they were, did not succeed in reducing the local Druze to the required degree of subordination. This led the Ottoman government to agree to an arrangement whereby the different [[nahiyes]] (districts) of the [[Chouf]] would be granted in ''iltizam'' ("fiscal concession") to one of the region's [[amir]]s, or leading chiefs, leaving the maintenance of law and order and the collection of its taxes in the area in the hands of the appointed amir. This arrangement was to provide the cornerstone for the privileged status which ultimately came to be enjoyed by the whole of Mount Lebanon in Ottoman Syria, Druze and Christian areas alike.<ref |
Consequently, the 16th and 17th centuries were to witness a succession of armed Druze rebellions against the Ottomans, countered by repeated Ottoman punitive expeditions against the Chouf, in which the Druze population of the area was severely depleted and many villages destroyed. These military measures, severe as they were, did not succeed in reducing the local Druze to the required degree of subordination. This led the Ottoman government to agree to an arrangement whereby the different [[nahiyes]] (districts) of the [[Chouf]] would be granted in ''iltizam'' ("fiscal concession") to one of the region's [[amir]]s, or leading chiefs, leaving the maintenance of law and order and the collection of its taxes in the area in the hands of the appointed amir. This arrangement was to provide the cornerstone for the privileged status which ultimately came to be enjoyed by the whole of Mount Lebanon in Ottoman Syria, Druze and Christian areas alike.<ref>[http://www.druzeheritage.org/dhf/Druze_History.asp Druze History]</ref> |
||
===Ma'an dynasty=== |
===Ma'an dynasty=== |
||
{{Main|Maan family}} |
{{Main|Maan family}} |
||
[[File:fakhreddincastle.jpg|right|frame|Fakhreddin castle in Palmyra]] |
[[File:fakhreddincastle.jpg|right|frame|Fakhreddin castle in Palmyra]] |
||
With the advent of the Ottoman Turks and the conquest of Syria by [[Selim I|Sultan Selim I]] in 1516, the [[Ma'ans]] were acknowledged by the new rulers as the feudal lords of southern Lebanon. Druze villages spread and prospered in that region, which under Ma'an leadership so flourished that it acquired the generic term of ''Jabal Bayt-Ma'an'' (the mountain of the Ma'an family) or ''Jabal al-Druze''. The latter title has since been usurped by the [[Hawran]] region, which since the middle of the 19th century has proven a haven of refuge to Druze emigrants from Lebanon and has become the headquarters of Druze power.{{Sfn | Hitti | 1924}}{{Rp | needed = yes}} |
|||
With the advent of the Ottoman Turks and the conquest of Syria by [[Selim I|Sultan Selim I]] in 1516, the [[Ma'ans]] were acknowledged by the new rulers as the feudal lords of southern Lebanon. Druze villages spread and prospered in that region, which under Ma'an leadership so flourished that it acquired the generic term of ''Jabal Bayt-Ma'an'' (the mountain of the Ma'an family) or ''Jabal al-Druze''. The latter title has since been usurped by the [[Hawran]] region, which since the middle of the 19th century has proven a haven of refuge to Druze emigrants from Lebanon and has become the headquarters of Druze power.<ref name=Hitti/> |
|||
Under [[Fakhr-al-Din II|Fakhr-al-Dīn II]] (Fakhreddin II), the Druze dominion increased until it included almost all Syria, extending from the edge of the Antioch plain in the north to [[Safad]] in the south, with a part of the Syrian desert dominated by [[Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle |Fakhr-al-Din's castle]] at Tadmur ([[Palmyra]]), the ancient capital of [[Zenobia]]. The ruins of this castle still stand on a steep hill overlooking the town. Fakhr-al-Din became too strong for his Turkish sovereign in [[Constantinople]]. He went so far in 1608 as to sign a commercial treaty with [[Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany]] containing secret military clauses. The Sultan then sent a force against him, and he was compelled to flee the land and seek refuge in the courts of [[Tuscany]] and [[Naples]] in 1614. |
|||
Under [[Fakhr-al-Din II|Fakhr-al-Dīn II]] (Fakhreddin II), the Druze dominion increased until it included almost all Syria, extending from the edge of the Antioch plain in the north to [[Safad]] in the south, with a part of the Syrian desert dominated by [[Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle|Fakhr-al-Din's castle]] at Tadmur ([[Palmyra]]), the ancient capital of [[Zenobia]]. The ruins of this castle still stand on a steep hill overlooking the town. Fakhr-al-Din became too strong for his Turkish sovereign in Constantinople. He went so far in 1608 as to sign a commercial treaty with [[Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany]] containing secret military clauses. The Sultan then sent a force against him, and he was compelled to flee the land and seek refuge in the courts of [[Tuscany]] and [[Naples]] in 1614. |
|||
In 1618 political changes in the Ottoman sultanate had resulted in the removal of many enemies of Fakhr-al-Din from power, signaling the prince's triumphant return to Lebanon soon afterwards. |
In 1618 political changes in the Ottoman sultanate had resulted in the removal of many enemies of Fakhr-al-Din from power, signaling the prince's triumphant return to Lebanon soon afterwards. |
||
Line 127: | Line 129: | ||
Fakhr-al-Din finally traveled to [[Turkey]], appearing before the sultan, defending himself so skillfully that the sultan gave him permission to return to Lebanon. |
Fakhr-al-Din finally traveled to [[Turkey]], appearing before the sultan, defending himself so skillfully that the sultan gave him permission to return to Lebanon. |
||
Later, however, the |
Later, however, the sultan changed his orders and had Fakhr-al-Din and his family killed on 13 April 1635 in [[Istanbul]], the capital city of the [[Ottoman Empire]], bringing an end to an era in the history of Lebanon, a country which would not regain its current boundaries, which Fakhr-al-Din once ruled, until Lebanon was proclaimed a [[republic]] in 1920. |
||
Fakhr-al-Din was the first ruler in modern Lebanon to open the doors of his country to foreign Western influences. Under his auspices the French established a khān (hostel) in Sidon, the [[Florentine]]s a consulate, and Christian missionaries were admitted into the country. Beirut and Sidon, which Fakhr-al-Din beautified, still bear traces of his benign rule. |
Fakhr-al-Din was the first ruler in modern Lebanon to open the doors of his country to foreign Western influences. Under his auspices the French established a khān (hostel) in Sidon, the [[Florentine]]s a consulate, and Christian missionaries were admitted into the country. Beirut and Sidon, which Fakhr-al-Din beautified, still bear traces of his benign rule. |
||
Line 134: | Line 136: | ||
{{Main|Shihab family}} |
{{Main|Shihab family}} |
||
[[File:Druzewomantantur.jpg|thumb|right|Druze woman wearing a [[tantour]], [[Chouf]], Lebanon – 1870s]] |
[[File:Druzewomantantur.jpg|thumb|right|Druze woman wearing a [[tantour]], [[Chouf]], Lebanon – 1870s]] |
||
As early as the days of [[Saladin]], and while the Ma'ans were still in complete control over southern Lebanon, the [[Shihab]] tribe, originally [[Hijaz]] Arabs but later settled in Ḥawran, advanced from Ḥawran, in 1172, and settled in [[Wadi-al-Taym]] at the foot of mount [[Hermon]]. They soon made an alliance with the Ma'ans and were acknowledged as the Druze chiefs in ''Wadi-al-Taym''. At the end of the 17th century (1697) the Shihabs succeeded the Ma'ans in the feudal leadership of Druze southern Lebanon, although they reportedly professed Sunni Islam, they showed sympathy with Druzism, the religion of the majority of their subjects. |
|||
As early as the days of [[Saladin]], and while the Ma'ans were still in complete control over southern Lebanon, the [[Shihab]] tribe, originally [[Hijaz]] Arabs but later settled in Ḥawran, advanced from Ḥawran, in 1172, and settled in [[Wadi-al-Taym]] at the foot of [[Hermon|Mt. Hermon]]. They soon made an alliance with the Ma'ans and were acknowledged as the Druze chiefs in ''Wadi-al-Taym''. At the end of the 17th century (1697) the Shihabs succeeded the Ma'ans in the feudal leadership of Druze southern Lebanon, although they reportedly professed Sunni Islam, they showed sympathy with Druzism, the religion of the majority of their subjects. |
|||
The Shihab leadership continued until the middle of the 19th century and culminated in the illustrious governorship of [[Bashir Shihab II|Amir Bashir Shihab II]] (1788–1840) who, after Fakhr-al-Din, was the most powerful feudal lord Lebanon produced. Though governor of the Druze Mountain, Bashir was a crypto-Christian, and it was he whose aid [[Napoleon]] solicited in 1799 during his campaign against Syria. |
The Shihab leadership continued until the middle of the 19th century and culminated in the illustrious governorship of [[Bashir Shihab II|Amir Bashir Shihab II]] (1788–1840) who, after Fakhr-al-Din, was the most powerful feudal lord Lebanon produced. Though governor of the Druze Mountain, Bashir was a crypto-Christian, and it was he whose aid [[Napoleon]] solicited in 1799 during his campaign against Syria. |
||
Having consolidated his conquests in Syria ( |
Having consolidated his conquests in Syria (1831–1838), [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]], son of the viceroy of Egypt, [[Muhammad Ali Pasha]], made the fatal mistake of trying to disarm the Christians and Druzes of the Lebanon and to draft the latter into his army. This was contrary to the principles of the life of independence which these mountaineers had always lived, and resulted in a general uprising against Egyptian rule. The uprising was encouraged, for political reasons, by the British. The Druzes of Wadi-al-Taym and Ḥawran, under the leadership of [[Shibli al-Aryan]], distinguished themselves in their stubborn resistance at their inaccessible headquarters, ''al-Laja'', lying southeast of Damascus.<ref name=Hitti/> |
||
===Qaysites and the Yemenites=== |
===Qaysites and the Yemenites=== |
||
{{Main|Battle of Ain Darra}} |
{{Main|Battle of Ain Darra}} |
||
[[File:DruzeOttomanHakim.jpg|thumb|left|Meeting of Druze and Ottoman leaders in [[Damascus]], about the control of Jebel Druze]] |
[[File:DruzeOttomanHakim.jpg|thumb|left|Meeting of Druze and Ottoman leaders in [[Damascus]], about the control of Jebel Druze]] |
||
The conquest of Syria by the Muslim Arabs in the middle of the seventh century introduced into the land two political factions later called the [[Qaysites]] and the [[Yemenites]]. The Qaysite party represented the Ḥijaz and [[Bedouin]] Arabs who were regarded as inferior by the Yemenites who were earlier and more cultured emigrants into Syria from southern Arabia. Druzes and Christians grouped in political rather than religious parties so the party lines in Lebanon obliterated racial and religious lines and the people grouped themselves regardless of their religious affiliations, into one or the other of these two parties. The sanguinary feuds between these two factions depleted, in course of time, the manhood of the Lebanon and ended in the decisive [[battle of Ain Dara]] in 1711, which resulted in the utter defeat of the Yemenite party. Many Yemenite Druzes thereupon immigrated to the [[Hawran]] region and thus laid the foundation of Druze power there.{{Sfn | Hitti | 1924}}{{Rp | needed = yes}} |
|||
The conquest of Syria by the Muslim Arabs in the middle of the seventh century introduced into the land two political factions later called the [[Qaysites]] and the [[Yemenites]]. The Qaysite party represented the Ḥijaz and [[Bedouin]] Arabs who were regarded as inferior by the Yemenites who were earlier and more cultured emigrants into Syria from southern Arabia. Druzes and Christians grouped in political rather than religious parties so the party lines in Lebanon obliterated racial and religious lines and the people grouped themselves regardless of their religious affiliations, into one or the other of these two parties. The sanguinary feuds between these two factions depleted, in course of time, the manhood of the Lebanon and ended in the decisive [[battle of Ain Dara]] in 1711, which resulted in the utter defeat of the Yemenite party. Many Yemenite Druzes thereupon immigrated to the [[Hawran]] region and thus laid the foundation of Druze power there.<ref name=Hitti/> |
|||
===Civil War of 1860=== |
===Civil War of 1860=== |
||
{{Main|1860 Lebanon conflict}} |
{{Main|1860 Lebanon conflict}} |
||
The Druzes and their Christian [[Maronite]] neighbors, who had thus far lived as religious communities on friendly terms, entered a period of social disturbance in the year 1840, which culminated in the [[1860 Lebanon conflict|civil war of 1860]]. |
The Druzes and their Christian [[Maronite]] neighbors, who had thus far lived as religious communities on friendly terms, entered a period of social disturbance in the year 1840, which culminated in the [[1860 Lebanon conflict|civil war of 1860]].<ref name=Hitti/> |
||
After the [[Shehab]] dynasty converted to Christianity, the Druze community and feudal leaders came under attack from the regime with the collaboration of the [[Catholic Church]], and the Druze lost most of their political and feudal powers. Also, the Druze formed an alliance with [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and allowed [[Protestant]] missionaries to enter Mount Lebanon, creating tension between them and the Catholic Maronites, who were supported by the French. |
After the [[Shehab]] dynasty converted to Christianity, the Druze community and feudal leaders came under attack from the regime with the collaboration of the [[Catholic Church]], and the Druze lost most of their political and feudal powers. Also, the Druze formed an alliance with [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and allowed [[Protestant]] missionaries to enter Mount Lebanon, creating tension between them and the Catholic Maronites, who were supported by the French. |
||
Line 153: | Line 157: | ||
The [[Maronite]]-Druze conflict in 1840–60 was an outgrowth of the Maronite Christian independence movement, directed against the Druze, Druze feudalism, and the Ottoman-Turks. The civil war was not therefore a religious war, except in Damascus, where it spread and where the vastly non-Druze population was anti-Christian. The movement culminated with the 1859–60 massacre and defeat of the Christians by the Druzes. The civil war of 1860 cost the Christians some ten thousand lives in [[Damascus]], [[Zahlé]], [[Deir al-Qamar]], [[Hasbaya]], and other towns of Lebanon. |
The [[Maronite]]-Druze conflict in 1840–60 was an outgrowth of the Maronite Christian independence movement, directed against the Druze, Druze feudalism, and the Ottoman-Turks. The civil war was not therefore a religious war, except in Damascus, where it spread and where the vastly non-Druze population was anti-Christian. The movement culminated with the 1859–60 massacre and defeat of the Christians by the Druzes. The civil war of 1860 cost the Christians some ten thousand lives in [[Damascus]], [[Zahlé]], [[Deir al-Qamar]], [[Hasbaya]], and other towns of Lebanon. |
||
The European powers then determined to intervene, and authorized the landing in Beirut of a body of French troops under [[Charles-Marie-Napoléon de Beaufort d'Hautpoul| General Beaufort d'Hautpoul]], whose inscription can still be seen on the historic rock at the mouth of [[Nahr al-Kalb]]. French intervention on behalf of the Maronites did not help the Maronite national movement, since France was restricted in 1860 by Britain, which did not want the [[Ottoman Empire]] dismembered. But European intervention pressured the Turks to treat the Maronites more justly.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1478-1913.1977.tb03313.x | last1 = Abraham | first1 = Antoine | year = 1977 | title = Lebanese Communal Relations | journal = Muslim World | volume = 67 | issue = 2| pages = 91–105}}</ref> |
The European powers then determined to intervene, and authorized the landing in Beirut of a body of French troops under [[Charles-Marie-Napoléon de Beaufort d'Hautpoul| General Beaufort d'Hautpoul]], whose inscription can still be seen on the historic rock at the mouth of [[Nahr al-Kalb]]. French intervention on behalf of the Maronites did not help the Maronite national movement, since France was restricted in 1860 by Britain, which did not want the [[Ottoman Empire]] dismembered. But European intervention pressured the Turks to treat the Maronites more justly.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1478-1913.1977.tb03313.x | last1 = Abraham | first1 = Antoine | year = 1977 | title = Lebanese Communal Relations | url = | journal = Muslim World | volume = 67 | issue = 2| pages = 91–105}}</ref> Following the recommendations of the powers, the Ottoman Porte granted Lebanon local autonomy, guaranteed by the powers, under a Christian governor. This autonomy was maintained until World War I.<ref name=Hitti/><ref>{{Citation | title = The Druzes and the Maronites under the Turkish Rule from 1840 to 1860 | first = Charles | last = Churchill | year = 1862}}.</ref>{{Rp | needed = yes}} |
||
===Rebellion in Hauran=== |
===Rebellion in Hauran=== |
||
Line 167: | Line 171: | ||
<!--This section requires citations and sourced information from reliable 3rd party sources. Unsourced information may be challenged and removed. A copy/edit may be required to clean up potential POV statements. --> |
<!--This section requires citations and sourced information from reliable 3rd party sources. Unsourced information may be challenged and removed. A copy/edit may be required to clean up potential POV statements. --> |
||
[[File:Druze warriors.jpg|thumb|left|Druze warriors preparing to go to battle with Sultan Pasha al-Atrash in 1925]] |
[[File:Druze warriors.jpg|thumb|left|Druze warriors preparing to go to battle with Sultan Pasha al-Atrash in 1925]] |
||
In Syria, most Druze live in the [[Jebel al-Druze]], a rugged and mountainous region in the southwest of the country, which is more than 90 percent Druze inhabited; some 120 villages are exclusively so.<ref name=landis>{{cite web |url= http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/Joshua_Landis_Druze_and_Shishakli.htm |title=Shishakli and the Druzes: Integration and intransigence | first = Joshua | last = Landis |work=The Syrian Land: Processes of Integration and Fragmentation | location = Stuttgart | publisher = Franz Steiner Verlag | year = 1998 | pages = 369–96 | editor1-first =T | editor1-last = Philipp | editor2-first = B | editor2-last = Schäbler}}</ref> |
In Syria, most Druze live in the [[Jebel al-Druze]], a rugged and mountainous region in the southwest of the country, which is more than 90 percent Druze inhabited; some 120 villages are exclusively so.<ref name=landis>{{cite web |url= http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/Joshua_Landis_Druze_and_Shishakli.htm |title=Shishakli and the Druzes: Integration and intransigence | first = Joshua | last = Landis |work=The Syrian Land: Processes of Integration and Fragmentation | location = Stuttgart | publisher = Franz Steiner Verlag | year = 1998 | pages = 369–96 | editor1-first =T | editor1-last = Philipp | editor2-first = B | editor2-last = Schäbler}}</ref> |
||
[[File:Flag of Druze.svg|thumb|right|Flag of [[Jabal el Druze (state)|Jabal el Druze]] representing the five Druze principles(خمس حدود); other variations of the flag exist]] |
[[File:Flag of Druze.svg|thumb|right|Flag of [[Jabal el Druze (state)|Jabal el Druze]] representing the five Druze principles(خمس حدود); other variations of the flag exist]] |
||
The Druze always played a far more important role in Syrian politics than its comparatively small population would suggest. With a community of little more than 100,000 in 1949, or roughly three percent of the Syrian population, the Druze of Syria's southeastern mountains constituted a potent force in Syrian politics and played a leading role in the nationalist struggle against the French. Under the military leadership of [[Sultan Pasha al-Atrash]], the Druze provided much of the military force behind the [[Great Syrian Revolt|Syrian Revolution]] of 1925–27. In 1945, [[Amir Hasan al-Atrash]], the paramount political leader of the Jebel al-Druze, led the Druze military units in a successful revolt against the French, making the Jebel al-Druze the first and only region in Syria to liberate itself from French rule without British assistance. At independence the Druze, made confident by their successes, expected that Damascus would reward them for their many sacrifices on the battlefield. They demanded to keep their autonomous administration and many political privileges accorded them by the French and sought generous economic assistance from the newly independent government.<ref name=landis /> |
The Druze always played a far more important role in Syrian politics than its comparatively small population would suggest. With a community of little more than 100,000 in 1949, or roughly three percent of the Syrian population, the Druze of Syria's southeastern mountains constituted a potent force in Syrian politics and played a leading role in the nationalist struggle against the French. Under the military leadership of [[Sultan Pasha al-Atrash]], the Druze provided much of the military force behind the [[Great Syrian Revolt|Syrian Revolution]] of 1925–27. In 1945, [[Amir Hasan al-Atrash]], the paramount political leader of the Jebel al-Druze, led the Druze military units in a successful revolt against the French, making the Jebel al-Druze the first and only region in Syria to liberate itself from French rule without British assistance. At independence the Druze, made confident by their successes, expected that Damascus would reward them for their many sacrifices on the battlefield. They demanded to keep their autonomous administration and many political privileges accorded them by the French and sought generous economic assistance from the newly independent government.<ref name=landis /> |
||
[[File:SyrianDouroze.jpg|thumb|left|Druze leaders meeting in [[Jebel al-Druze]], [[Syria]], 1926]] |
[[File:SyrianDouroze.jpg|thumb|left|Druze leaders meeting in [[Jebel al-Druze]], [[Syria]], 1926]] |
||
Well-led by the Atrash household and jealous of their reputation as Arab nationalists and proud warriors, the Druze leaders refused to be beaten into submission by Damascus or cowed by threats. When a local paper in 1945 reported that President [[Shukri al-Quwatli]] (1943–49) had called the Druzes a "dangerous minority", Sultan Pasha al-Atrash flew into a rage and demanded a public retraction. If it were not forthcoming, he announced, the Druzes would indeed become "dangerous" and a force of 4,000 Druze warriors would "occupy the city of Damascus." Quwwatli could not dismiss Sultan Pasha's threat. The military balance of power in Syria was tilted in favor of the Druzes, at least until the military build up during the 1948 War in Palestine. One advisor to the Syrian Defense Department warned in 1946 that the Syrian army was "useless", and that the Druzes could "take Damascus and capture the present leaders in a breeze."<ref name=landis /> |
Well-led by the Atrash household and jealous of their reputation as Arab nationalists and proud warriors, the Druze leaders refused to be beaten into submission by Damascus or cowed by threats. When a local paper in 1945 reported that President [[Shukri al-Quwatli]] (1943–49) had called the Druzes a "dangerous minority", Sultan Pasha al-Atrash flew into a rage and demanded a public retraction. If it were not forthcoming, he announced, the Druzes would indeed become "dangerous" and a force of 4,000 Druze warriors would "occupy the city of Damascus." Quwwatli could not dismiss Sultan Pasha's threat. The military balance of power in Syria was tilted in favor of the Druzes, at least until the military build up during the 1948 War in Palestine. One advisor to the Syrian Defense Department warned in 1946 that the Syrian army was "useless", and that the Druzes could "take Damascus and capture the present leaders in a breeze."<ref name=landis /> |
||
During the four years of [[Adib Shishakli]]'s rule in Syria (December 1949 to February 1954) (on August 25, 1952: [[Adib al-Shishakli]] created the [[Arab Liberation Movement]] (ALM), a progressive party with [[pan-Arabist]] and [[socialist]] views),<ref> |
During the four years of [[Adib Shishakli]]'s rule in Syria (December 1949 to February 1954) (on August 25, 1952: [[Adib al-Shishakli]] created the [[Arab Liberation Movement]] (ALM), a progressive party with [[pan-Arabist]] and [[socialist]] views),<ref>[http://www.syrianhistory.com/node/3379 syrianhistory.com]</ref> the Druze community was subjected to a heavy attack by the Syrian regime. Shishakli believed that among his many opponents in Syria, the Druzes were the most potentially dangerous, and he was determined to crush them. He frequently proclaimed: "My enemies are like a serpent: the head is the Jebel al-Druze, the stomach [[Homs]], and the tail Aleppo. If I crush the head the serpent will die." Shishakli dispatched 10,000 regular troops to occupy the Jebel al-Druze. Several towns were bombarded with heavy weapons, killing scores of civilians and destroying many houses. According to Druze accounts, Shishakli encouraged neighboring bedouin tribes to plunder the defenseless population and allowed his own troops to run amok.<ref name=landis /> |
||
Shishakli launched a brutal campaign to defame the Druzes for their religion and politics. He accused the entire community of treason, at times claiming they were agents of the British and [[Hashemite|Hashimites]], at others that they were fighting for Israel against the Arabs. He even produced a cache of Israeli weapons allegedly discovered in the Jabal. Even more painful for the Druze community was his publication of "falsified Druze religious texts" and false testimonials ascribed to leading Druze sheikhs designed to stir up sectarian hatred. This propaganda also was broadcast in the Arab world, mainly Egypt. Shishakli was assassinated in Brazil on September 27, 1964 by a Druze seeking revenge for Shishakli's bombardment of the Jebel al-Druze.<ref name=landis /> |
Shishakli launched a brutal campaign to defame the Druzes for their religion and politics. He accused the entire community of treason, at times claiming they were agents of the British and [[Hashemite|Hashimites]], at others that they were fighting for Israel against the Arabs. He even produced a cache of Israeli weapons allegedly discovered in the Jabal. Even more painful for the Druze community was his publication of "falsified Druze religious texts" and false testimonials ascribed to leading Druze sheikhs designed to stir up sectarian hatred. This propaganda also was broadcast in the Arab world, mainly Egypt. Shishakli was assassinated in Brazil on September 27, 1964 by a Druze seeking revenge for Shishakli's bombardment of the Jebel al-Druze.<ref name=landis /> |
||
He forcibly integrated minorities into the national [[Syrian]] social structure, his "Syrianization" of [[Alawite]] and Druze territories had to be accomplished in part using violence, he declared: "My enemies are like serpent. The head is the [[Jabal Druze]], if I crush the head the serpent will die" (Seale 1963:132).<ref name=landis /> To this end, al-Shishakli encouraged the stigmatization of minorities. He saw minority demands as tantamount to treason. His increasingly chauvinistic notions of Arab nationalism were predicated on the denial that "minorities" existed in Syria.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ecTTlytIjswC&pg=PA41 | title = Books | publisher = Google}}.</ref>{{Rp | needed = yes}} |
He forcibly integrated minorities into the national [[Syrian]] social structure, his "Syrianization" of [[Alawite]] and Druze territories had to be accomplished in part using violence, he declared: "My enemies are like serpent. The head is the [[Jabal Druze]], if I crush the head the serpent will die" (Seale 1963:132).<ref name=landis /> To this end, al-Shishakli encouraged the stigmatization of minorities. He saw minority demands as tantamount to treason. His increasingly chauvinistic notions of Arab nationalism were predicated on the denial that "minorities" existed in Syria.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ecTTlytIjswC&pg=PA41 | title = Books | publisher = Google}}.</ref>{{Rp | needed = yes}} |
||
After the Shishakli's military campaign, the Druze community lost a lot of its political influence, but many Druze military officers played an important role when it comes to the [[Baath Party|Baathist]] regime currently ruling Syria.<ref name=landis /> |
After the Shishakli's military campaign, the Druze community lost a lot of its political influence, but many Druze military officers played an important role when it comes to the [[Baath Party|Baathist]] regime currently ruling Syria.<ref name=landis /> |
||
===In Lebanon=== |
===In Lebanon=== |
||
Line 194: | Line 198: | ||
==Beliefs of the Druze== |
==Beliefs of the Druze== |
||
The Druze are considered to be a social group as well as a religious sect, but not a distinct ethnic group. Also complicating their identity is the custom of [[Taqiya]]—concealing or disguising their beliefs when necessary—that they adopted from Shia Islam and the esoteric nature of the faith, in which many teachings are kept secretive. |
The Druze are considered to be a social group as well as a religious sect, but not a distinct ethnic group. Also complicating their identity is the custom of [[Taqiya]]—concealing or disguising their beliefs when necessary—that they adopted from Shia Islam and the esoteric nature of the faith, in which many teachings are kept secretive. Druze in different states can have radically different lifestyles. Some claim to be Muslim, some do not. The Druze faith is said to abide by Islamic principles, but they tend to be separatist in their treatment of Druze-hood, and their religion differs from mainstream Islam on a number of fundamental points.<ref name = book>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=2nCWIsyZJxUC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA99&dq=druze+population+lebanon&source=web&ots=XpkTcA-TUj&sig=0K6Vh-8YA-A6_CUCH619FPd5EJw#PPA18,M1 | title = The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status | last = Dana | first = Nissim}}</ref>{{Rp | needed = yes}} |
||
===God in the Druze faith=== |
===God in the Druze faith=== |
||
The Druze conception of the deity is declared by them to be one of strict and uncompromising unity. The main Druze doctrine states that God is both [[Transcendence (religion) |
The Druze conception of the deity is declared by them to be one of strict and uncompromising unity. The main Druze doctrine states that God is both [[Transcendence (religion)| transcendent]] and [[Immanence|immanent]], in which he is above all attributes but at the same time he is present.<ref>{{Citation | title = The Druze Faith | first = Sami Nasib | last = Makarem}}.</ref> |
||
In their desire to maintain a rigid confession of unity, they stripped from God all attributes (''[[Tanzih |tanzīh]]'') which may lead to [[polytheism]] (''[[Shirk (Islam) |shirk]]''). In [[God]], there are no attributes distinct from his essence. He is wise, mighty, and just, not by wisdom, might and justice, but by his own essence. God is "the whole of existence", rather than "above existence" or on his throne, which would make him "limited." There is neither "how", "when", nor "where" about him; he is incomprehensible.<ref name= |
In their desire to maintain a rigid confession of unity, they stripped from God all attributes (''[[Tanzih |tanzīh]]'') which may lead to [[polytheism]] (''[[Shirk (Islam) |shirk]]''). In [[God]], there are no attributes distinct from his essence. He is wise, mighty, and just, not by wisdom, might and justice, but by his own essence. God is "the whole of existence", rather than "above existence" or on his throne, which would make him "limited." There is neither "how", "when", nor "where" about him; he is incomprehensible.<ref name=swayd>{{Citation | url = http://www.eial.org/mesp/Swayd.rtf.rtf | title = Druze Spirituality and Asceticism | first = Dr. Samy | last = Swayd, SDSU | type = an abridged rough draft | publisher = Eial | format = [[RTF]]}}.</ref>{{Rp | needed = yes}} |
||
In this dogma, they are similar to the semi-philosophical, semi-religious body which flourished under [[Al-Ma'mun]] and was known by the name of [[Mu'tazila]] and the fraternal order of the [[Brethren of Purity]] ''(Ikhwan al-Ṣafa)''. |
In this dogma, they are similar to the semi-philosophical, semi-religious body which flourished under [[Al-Ma'mun]] and was known by the name of [[Mu'tazila]] and the fraternal order of the [[Brethren of Purity]] ''(Ikhwan al-Ṣafa)''.<ref name=Hitti/> |
||
Unlike the ''Mu'tazilla'', however, and similar to some branches of [[Sufism]], the Druze believe in the concept of ''[[Tajalli]]'' (meaning "[[theophany]]").<ref name=swayd/>{{Rp | needed = yes}} ''Tajalli'', which is more often misunderstood by scholars and writers and is usually confused with the concept of [[incarnation]], |
Unlike the ''Mu'tazilla'', however, and similar to some branches of [[Sufism]], the Druze believe in the concept of ''[[Tajalli]]'' (meaning "[[theophany]]").<ref name=swayd/>{{Rp | needed = yes}} ''Tajalli'', which is more often misunderstood by scholars and writers and is usually confused with the concept of [[incarnation]], |
||
Line 232: | Line 236: | ||
#Confession of God's unity. |
#Confession of God's unity. |
||
#Acquiescence in God's acts no matter what they be. |
#Acquiescence in God's acts no matter what they be. |
||
#Absolute submission and resignation to God's divine will in both secret and public.{{ |
#Absolute submission and resignation to God's divine will in both secret and public.<ref>{{Citation | title = Origins of the Druze People and Religion | first = Philip K | last = Hitti | year = 1924 | page = 51}}.</ref> |
||
==Folk Beliefs== |
==Folk Beliefs== |
||
Line 238: | Line 242: | ||
One belief alleged to be held by the Druze, whether as a part of Druze doctrine or something that is not part of the Druze religion but nevertheless something many ignorant Druze may believe in, is the reincarnation of Druze souls in China. This has been reported by old and recent sources. |
One belief alleged to be held by the Druze, whether as a part of Druze doctrine or something that is not part of the Druze religion but nevertheless something many ignorant Druze may believe in, is the reincarnation of Druze souls in China. This has been reported by old and recent sources. |
||
Professor Robert Brenton Betts wrote about the phenemenom of Druze believing that they would be reborn in China and that China was a sort of Druze heaven. He said that Druze in Shufi villages were receptive to Chinese communist propaganda, and that this belief was a " |
Professor Robert Brenton Betts, who has a degree in Middle Est Studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in International Relations and Middle East Studies and served as a professor at Universities in the Middle East wrote a book titled "The Druze" in which he wrote about the phenemenom of Druze believing that they would be reborn in China and that China was a sort of Druze heaven. He said that Druze in Shufi villages were receptive to Chinese communist propaganda, and that this belief was a "folf belief". It was said by Major C R Conder that Druze believe that "El Hakem would re-appear, leadeing an army from their Holy Land in China, to which the good Druze was carried by angels when he died." After an article in [[The Economist]] appeared mentioning this belief they received a response saying that "the Druze do not believe in any paradise in China. This is a myth and a joke" from Secretary 'Afif Khidr of the "Permanent Bureau of Druze Institutions in Beirut"{{Citation needed|date=April 2012}}. Although officially the Druze say it is a joke, many Druze nevertheless believe in it according to Betts. Syria also appointed Jabir al-Atrash, a Druze, as ambassador to China in the 70s. Some Druze farmers even told Betts that Russia, Greece, Iran, and Turkey also contained multitudes of Druze, which isn't true in real life.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Druze| first =Robert Brenton | last = Betts| edition=reprint, illustrated| year=1990| isbn=0-300-04810-6|accessdate=April 4 2012| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Z9nnPg1EDOEC&pg=PA41&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false |publisher=Yale University Press|location=|quote=Many Druze believe that large numbers of their community are to be found elsewhere, especially in China. Indeed, reincarnation in China is considered the greatest blessing that God can bestow on the departed |page=41}}</ref> Professor [[Mordechai Nisan]] wrote that the Druze believed "millions" of hidden Druze lived in China. <ref>{{cite book |title=Minorities in the Middle East: a history of struggle and self-expression| first =Mordechai | last = Nisan| edition= 2nd, illustrated | year=2002 | isbn=0-7864-1375-1|accessdate=April 4 2012 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=keD9z1XWuNwC&pg=PA96&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false | publisher =McFarland| quote=Thus a universal far-flung Druze community existed, though its exact location and numbers were concealed. China was allegedly the home of many millions of secret Druze adherents |page=96}}</ref> This belief in reincarnation in China which has persisted from old to modern times has made China and Chinese of interest to the Druze.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Druzes in Israel: a political study: political innovation and integration in a Middle Eastern minority| first2 = Gabriel | last2 = Ben-Dor | first3 = Makhon le-meḥḳar ʻal shem Heri S | last3 = Ṭruman | year =1979| isbn=965-223-333-1|accessdate=April 4 2012| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lqRtAAAAMAAJ&q=druze+china&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBQ|publisher=Magnes Press| quote=Mysterious power in space is manifest in the belief, noted by observers in the past4 and still in existence,5 that there live Druzes in China (and to a lesser extent, in Japan). The Druzes believe The Druzes believe that a pious Druze after his death is reborn in China, and thus they are very curious about, and sympathetic to China and the Chinese |page=91}}</ref> |
||
The Druze belief of reincarnation in China also answered the question of what happened to the souls of those who died in time of starvation or warfare when new births were too few to bring the souls back, since the souls would be reborn in China. Then "ample embryos in the Near East make it feasible for them to return to their homelands again." Those Druze who were reborn in China could be known by other names.<ref>{{cite book |title=Imagining karma: ethical transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and Greek rebirth| first =Gananath | last = Obeyesekere | edition =illustrated| year=2002| isbn=0-520-23243-7|accessdate=April 4 2012| url= |
The Druze belief of reincarnation in China also answered the question of what happened to the souls of those who died in time of starvation or warfare when new births were too few to bring the souls back, since the souls would be reborn in China. Then "ample embryos in the Near East make it feasible for them to return to their homelands again." Those Druze who were reborn in China could be known by other names.<ref>{{cite book |title=Imagining karma: ethical transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and Greek rebirth| first =Gananath | last = Obeyesekere | edition =illustrated| year=2002| isbn=0-520-23243-7|accessdate=April 4 2012| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yllblMkRgMMC&pg=PA312&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CDUQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher= University of California Press | quote=Another puzzlement with instantaneous rebirth occurs during war and famine, where many die, and there are not enough babies being born to meet the reincarnation demand. It is then believed that the Druze soul gets incarnated in other countries, such as China, where Druze live, although they would not ncessarily be called Druze. This happens until "ample embryos in the Near East make it feasible for them to return to their homelands again." |page=312 |pages= |}}</ref> |
||
" |
"Palestine, Volume 8" published in 1920 by the British Palestine Committee said tha "older religious leaders" of the Druze though that China was majority Druze and up to one third of the world were also Druze. They also believe the "Druze paradise" to be in China and Druze reincarnted there would have "saintly bodies".<ref>{{cite book |title=Palestine, Volume 8|author=British Palestine Committee|editor=|edition=|series= |volume= |date= |year=1920|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&id=u1xFAAAAYAAJ&dq=druze+china&q=greater+part+china+peopled|publisher=Published for the British Palestine Committee by the Garden City Press|location=|quote=Some of the older religious leaders firmly believed that the Druzes form one- third of the whole population of the globe. They think that the greater part of China is peopled by their co-religionists ; the more ignorant believe that the souls of the religious go there after death to be reborn in saintly bodies, since China is regarded by many as the Druze paradise.|page=31 |pages= |}}Original from Princeton University Digitized Jul 22, 2009</ref> |
||
[[Philip Khuri Hitti]] said that he heard '(Niyyāl ahl al-Ṣīn sa'at waṣltak) "Happy are the people of China at the hour of your arrival!"' being recited at funerals od the Druze.{{ |
A Lebanese scholar on Islam, [[Philip Khuri Hitti]] in his book "Origins of the Druze People and Religion" said that he heard '(Niyyāl ahl al-Ṣīn sa'at waṣltak) "Happy are the people of China at the hour of your arrival!"' being recited at funerals od the Druze.<ref>{{cite book |title=Origins of the Druze People and Religion|author=Philip Khūri Hitti|editor=|edition=|series= |volume= |date= |year=|language=| isbn=1605060682|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=B_YJAvND0RwC&pg=PA47&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=Forgotten Books|location=|quote= In the case of the Druzes, to whom China seems to be a sort of a heaven, the eastern source has evidently impressed itself strongly upon the popular imagination. When a good Druze is dead in the Lebanon, he is supposed to be reborn in China. The writer remembers hearing more than once at Druze funerals the chorus of a song which ran as this: "Happy are the people of China at the hour of your arrival!" ( Niyyāl ahl al-Ṣīn sa'at waṣltak). The Druzes have always been conscious of the fact that people in the Far East hold the same views regarding the transmigration of souls.|page=47 |pages= |}}</ref> Ronald De Mclaurin in his book "The Political role of minority groups in the Middle East" published by [[Praeger]], also mentioned at Druze funerals in Lebanon that the Druze would mention the rebirth of the dead in China.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Political role of minority groups in the Middle East|author=Ronald De McLaurin|editor=Ronald De McLaurin|edition=|series= |volume= |date= |year=1979|language=| isbn=0030525969|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&id=-lZtAAAAMAAJ&dq=druze+china&q=reappear+china+chinese|publisher=Praeger|location=|quote=The Druze contend that there is a set number of souls; in Lebanon, they declare at funerals that if an individual has been good, his soul will reappear in China as a Chinese. |page=114 |pages= |}}Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Aug 22, 2008</ref> |
||
[[Sherifa Zuhur]] wrote |
[[Sherifa Zuhur]], who has degrees in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies and Arabic, wrote in her book "Asmahan's Secrets: Woman, War, and Song" said that Druze who spoke to her said that China was inhabited by Druze who would eventually join together with other Druze in the future. These Druze she talked to lived in[[Jabal al-Druze|Jabal]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Asmahan's Secrets: Woman, War, and Song| first =Sherifa | last = Zuhur| edition=illustrated| year=2000| isbn=0-292-79807-5|accessdate=April 4 2012| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Eca2pXOX-F8C&pg=PA27&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false |publisher=University of Texas Press| quote=The modern Druze interest in religions and peoples of the East — of China and India — stems from their awareness that tanasukh/taqammus is philosophically related to some degree to the Hindu samsara. The Druze of the Jabal told me that some believe that there are Druze in China, and that one day the separated peoples will be united |page=27}}</ref> |
||
The journalist [[Patrick Brown (journalist)|Patrick Brown]] also mentioned in his book "Butterfly Mind" that Druze believe that there in China there a community of hidden Druze and they would come out when the Christians and Muslims fight at the end of the world to become a part of the "Druze army"<ref>{{Citation |title=Butterfly Mind| first =Patrick | last = Brown| year=2011| isbn=0-88784-848-6|accessdate=April 4 2012| url= |
The journalist [[Patrick Brown (journalist)|Patrick Brown]] also mentioned in his book "Butterfly Mind" that Druze believe that there in China there a community of hidden Druze and they would come out when the Christians and Muslims fight at the end of the world to become a part of the "Druze army"<ref>{{Citation |title=Butterfly Mind| first =Patrick | last = Brown| year=2011| isbn=0-88784-848-6|accessdate=April 4 2012| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=e-N-uZr87aQC&pg=PT64&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false |publisher= House of Anansi| quote=Among the many peculiarities of the Druze faith are a belief in reincarnation and the conviction that there are millions of adherents living secretly in China, who will form a huge Druze army when Christian and Muslim forces meet in a final Armageddon in Mecca. The Druze believe that both Christianity and Islam will be defeated with the help of their Chinese brothers | page =54}}, 254 pp.</ref> On the Druze [[Islamic view of the Last Judgment|Yom ed-Din]] (Judgement Day), all the Druze in China And Tibet who were reincarnated there would form an "Eastern Army" and take over the world according to Druze belief.<ref>{{cite book |title=Commentary | volume = 21 |year=1956| accessdate=April 4 2012| url= http://books.google.com/books?ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&id=qZYSAAAAIAAJ&dq=druze+china&q=reborn+china+tibet+reserve|publisher=American Jewish Committee| quote= To cite a not untypical instance: the Druzes believe their dead to be reborn in China and Tibet, where a vast reserve of Druze souls, already numbering many millions, is being built up. The irresistible army whose advent they await as a sign of the approach of Yom ed-Din is to come from these two countries. Druze poets have written epics describing the conquest of the world by this "Eastern Army"|page= 75}}</ref> |
||
According to Professor Samy S. Swayd [[Fatimid]] missionaries made their [[Dawah]] in China during the reign of [[Abu Mansur Nizar al-Aziz Billah|al-'Aziz bi-Allah]].{{ |
According to Professor Samy S. Swayd [[Fatimid]] missionaries made their [[Dawah]] in China during the reign of [[Abu Mansur Nizar al-Aziz Billah|al-'Aziz bi-Allah]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Historical dictionary of the Druzes| first = Samy S | last = Swayd| edition = illustrated |volume= 3 |year=2006| isbn=0-8108-5332-9|accessdate= April 4 2012 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=TlCHg5EblxEC&pg=PR41&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CGUQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher= Scarecrow Press| quote = The fifth caliph, al-'Aziz bi-Allah (r.975–996)... In his time, the Fatimi "Call" or "Mission" (Da'wa) reached as far east as India and northern China. |page=xli |pages= |}}</ref> |
||
===Old Accounts=== |
===Old Accounts=== |
||
"Putnam's monthly magazine of American literature, science, and art, Volume 6" (1855): 'The Druzes make no attempts to proselyte, as they say that the number of the enlightened is fixed, and that God will never permit it to be less or greater while earth continues. There are Druzes, according to their belief, in China, and Druzes among the Protestants, particularly the English. An incident connected with this credence occurred during a visit of one of their religious sheikhs to one of our American missionaries. Looking the missionary steadily in the eye, the sheikh said: "Do you know such a seed (giving its name) in your country?"'<ref>{{cite book |title=Putnam's monthly magazine of American literature, science, and art | volume= VI | year = 1855 | accessdate= April 4 2012|month= July to December |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=i_FIAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA613&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwATgU#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false| page=613 | location = New York, 10 Park Place; London | publisher = Dix & Edwards; Sampson Low, Son & Co | year = MDCCCLV}} Original from the Bavarian State Library Digitized Apr 27, 2011.</ref> |
"Putnam's monthly magazine of American literature, science, and art, Volume 6" (1855): 'The Druzes make no attempts to proselyte, as they say that the number of the enlightened is fixed, and that God will never permit it to be less or greater while earth continues. There are Druzes, according to their belief, in China, and Druzes among the Protestants, particularly the English. An incident connected with this credence occurred during a visit of one of their religious sheikhs to one of our American missionaries. Looking the missionary steadily in the eye, the sheikh said: "Do you know such a seed (giving its name) in your country?"'<ref>{{cite book |title=Putnam's monthly magazine of American literature, science, and art | volume= VI | year = 1855 | accessdate= April 4 2012|month= July to December |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=i_FIAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA613&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwATgU#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false| page=613 | location = New York, 10 Park Place; London | publisher = Dix & Edwards; Sampson Low, Son & Co | year = MDCCCLV}}. Original from the Bavarian State Library Digitized Apr 27, 2011.</ref> |
||
"When a Druze dies, relatives and acquaintances come from distant villages to the 'A'za,' to 'comfort' the family by wailing over the dead; and if it be a person of note, crowds will come from all the surrounding villages, and keep up the wailing for days in succession. So with a marriage, the noisy rejoicings are continued for days. Their children, for whom they have great affection, are visually brought up to be polite, obedient and respectful to their superiors, and many of them are being now instructed in the Bible in Protestant Mission Schools. The Druze have been accustomed to centre their hopes for the future in China. They believe the Chinese, or the mass of them, to be Druze—no doubt from the belief in the transmigration of souls being common to both—and they hold that ultimately there will be a great final war among the nations, with Jerusalem and Mecca as its centres; and after the powers that be, have been exhausted in fighting against each other, the Chinese hordes will come westwards like a flood to make, in union with the Druze, the whole world their possession. They have fancied that inner China has been sacred and sealed against all foreign intruders, and that no alien could possibly penetrate there. But the knowledge of geography, received through their children at school, is gradually modifying their ideas on this and similar points."<ref>{{cite book |title=Damascus and its people: sketches of modern life in Syria|author=Mrs. Mackintosh |year=1883| accessdate=April 4 2012 |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=YWRBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA268&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false |publisher=Seeley, Jackson & Halliday; Billing & Sons | place = Fleet Street, London; Guildford |page=268}} 296 pp. Original from Princeton University Digitized Mar 26, 2009.</ref> |
"When a Druze dies, relatives and acquaintances come from distant villages to the 'A'za,' to 'comfort' the family by wailing over the dead; and if it be a person of note, crowds will come from all the surrounding villages, and keep up the wailing for days in succession. So with a marriage, the noisy rejoicings are continued for days. Their children, for whom they have great affection, are visually brought up to be polite, obedient and respectful to their superiors, and many of them are being now instructed in the Bible in Protestant Mission Schools. The Druze have been accustomed to centre their hopes for the future in China. They believe the Chinese, or the mass of them, to be Druze—no doubt from the belief in the transmigration of souls being common to both—and they hold that ultimately there will be a great final war among the nations, with Jerusalem and Mecca as its centres; and after the powers that be, have been exhausted in fighting against each other, the Chinese hordes will come westwards like a flood to make, in union with the Druze, the whole world their possession. They have fancied that inner China has been sacred and sealed against all foreign intruders, and that no alien could possibly penetrate there. But the knowledge of geography, received through their children at school, is gradually modifying their ideas on this and similar points."<ref>{{cite book |title=Damascus and its people: sketches of modern life in Syria|author=Mrs. Mackintosh |year=1883| accessdate=April 4 2012 |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=YWRBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA268&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false |publisher=Seeley, Jackson & Halliday; Billing & Sons | place = Fleet Street, London; Guildford |page=268}} 296 pp. Original from Princeton University Digitized Mar 26, 2009.</ref> |
||
"Thus the modern Druzes still expect Hakem to return from their sacred land in China, and their belief in transmigration may have the same source. All these mystic sects, Batanin, Druzes, Manicheans, etc., appear to have really taught a scepticism which may, perhaps, be traced to the Buddhist disbelief in accepted creeds. Scepticism lies at the root of all the earliest Buddhist philosophy, and we have already seen that Buddhism had spread into - Persia, and probably farther west, in the times when the Manichean system was first formulated. The idea of the Imamat, on attaining to which the soul no longer requires reincarnation (which is a Druze dogma), is exactly the Buddhist idea of Nirvana. The dead are believed to pass to China, suggesting a connection with Thibetan Buddhism. We have already seen that Manes, from whose teaching the Druzes seem to have borrowed much, was well acquainted with Buddhist philosophy."<ref>{{cite book |title=Syrian stone-lore: or, The monumental history of Palestine| first =Claude Reignier | last = Conder |year=1886| accessdate=April 4 2012 |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=Cx4cAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA347&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&ved=0CFoQ6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false |
"Thus the modern Druzes still expect Hakem to return from their sacred land in China, and their belief in transmigration may have the same source. All these mystic sects, Batanin, Druzes, Manicheans, etc., appear to have really taught a scepticism which may, perhaps, be traced to the Buddhist disbelief in accepted creeds. Scepticism lies at the root of all the earliest Buddhist philosophy, and we have already seen that Buddhism had spread into - Persia, and probably farther west, in the times when the Manichean system was first formulated. The idea of the Imamat, on attaining to which the soul no longer requires reincarnation (which is a Druze dogma), is exactly the Buddhist idea of Nirvana. The dead are believed to pass to China, suggesting a connection with Thibetan Buddhism. We have already seen that Manes, from whose teaching the Druzes seem to have borrowed much, was well acquainted with Buddhist philosophy."<ref>{{cite book |title=Syrian stone-lore: or, The monumental history of Palestine| first =Claude Reignier | last = Conder |year=1886| accessdate=April 4 2012 |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=Cx4cAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA347&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&ved=0CFoQ6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=Richard Bentley & son, for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund |location= Guildford & London |page = 347}} 472 pp. Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Oct 23, 2006.</ref> |
||
"Writers who describe the Druzes seem sometimes to forget that the mysteries of their creed were revealed in i860 by the discovery of their sacred books on Hermon; and Druze catechisms have lately been published as novelties, which are by themselves quite unintelligible, yet the key to which is in the hands of those who have examined the Druze system in the works of De Sacy and others. The Druzes were an offshoot of the ancient Moslem heresy of the Ismailiyeh, who were persecuted as early as 704 AD. They seem to have been chiefly indebted to the surviving Manicheans of Persia for their more heretical beliefs, and Manichean Gnosticism was one of the most obstinate of heresies, reappearing even in France in the Albigenses of the twelfth century. Manes claimed, as already noted, to be a Buddha, and in this we have possibly the origin of the Druze belief in a Holy Land in China, for it was by the Buddhism of Bactria that the Persian Gnostics were influenced. The Druze beliefs in transmigrations, in numerous successive incarnations of the Deity, in the future universal monarch from China, with their Docetic doctrines concerning Christ, are all most easily explained by the influence of the Manicheans, and thus of the Buddhism of Bactria. |
"Writers who describe the Druzes seem sometimes to forget that the mysteries of their creed were revealed in i860 by the discovery of their sacred books on Hermon; and Druze catechisms have lately been published as novelties, which are by themselves quite unintelligible, yet the key to which is in the hands of those who have examined the Druze system in the works of De Sacy and others. The Druzes were an offshoot of the ancient Moslem heresy of the Ismailiyeh, who were persecuted as early as 704 AD. They seem to have been chiefly indebted to the surviving Manicheans of Persia for their more heretical beliefs, and Manichean Gnosticism was one of the most obstinate of heresies, reappearing even in France in the Albigenses of the twelfth century. Manes claimed, as already noted, to be a Buddha, and in this we have possibly the origin of the Druze belief in a Holy Land in China, for it was by the Buddhism of Bactria that the Persian Gnostics were influenced. The Druze beliefs in transmigrations, in numerous successive incarnations of the Deity, in the future universal monarch from China, with their Docetic doctrines concerning Christ, are all most easily explained by the influence of the Manicheans, and thus of the Buddhism of Bactria. The Fatemite Khalifs took with them to Egypt the beliefs, of the Ismailiyeh, including a final initiation into complete atheism; and when, on the death of the mad Khalif Hakem, Hamza and Derazi were obliged to fly to Syria, they probably found a fitting soil in which to implant their mystic teaching in the Anseirlyeh and Manicheans of the Lebanon. Their near neighbours in Galilee are the Metawileh, who are Shiah or Persian Moslems, separated by a wide gulf from the orthodox Sunnis of the country, and tracing back to that form of Moslem doctrine which was established when the Tartar Timur overcame the weak Khalifs of Baghdad. In every century since the birth of Islam we find innumerable new sects arising, all owing their peculiarities to non-Semitic teaching, and penetrating from Bactria or Persia to Egypt, Asia Minor, and Syria. It would be tedious to enumerate even the principal of these sects which continue in our own times to appear and vanish; and it must not be forgotten that even the original Sunni orthodoxy, and the creed of Muhammad himself, owed quite as much to the Aryans as to any existing Semitic religion. The Templars in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries seem to have been intimately connected with the Moslem secret sects, and probably shared with them a scepticism, concealed from the general public, which was common enough in Europe in the fifteenth century."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Asiatic quarterly review | editor-first =Demetrius | editor-last = Boulger | volume= II| month =July–October | year=1886| accessdate=April 4 2012 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=01oaAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA62&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=Swan Sonnenshein & Co| page=62 | publisher = T Fisher Unwin | location = 26, Paternoster sq., London}} Original from the University of California Digitized Sep 16, 2009</ref> |
||
"Mr. Jabrail reports that he has been inside the Khalwehs or Chapels of the Druzes when living as a teacher among those on Mount Carmel. The Druzes are intelligent, and allow strangers to eat and drink with them; they desire education for their children, and allow them to learn parts of the Bible by heart. They believe that there are many Druzes in China, and that the religion of Queen Victoria is the Druze religion though its votaries are not known by that name in England."<ref>{{cite book | |
The "Quarterly statement" of the Palestine Exploration Fund, published in 1889 said: "Mr. Jabrail reports that he has been inside the Khalwehs or Chapels of the Druzes when living as a teacher among those on Mount Carmel. The Druzes are intelligent, and allow strangers to eat and drink with them; they desire education for their children, and allow them to learn parts of the Bible by heart. They believe that there are many Druzes in China, and that the religion of Queen Victoria is the Druze religion though its votaries are not known by that name in England."<ref>{{cite book |title=Quarterly statement|author=Palestine Exploration Fund|editor=|edition=|series= |volume= |date= |year=1889|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LZFAAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA120&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=Published at the Fund's Office.|location=HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY, ST. MARTIN'S LANE|quote=REPORT ON ANSWERS TO THE "QUESTIONS."1 |
||
One of the earliest sets of answers received from Palestine to the questions as to the inhabitants of the country, drawn up for the P. E. F. Committee, has been sent by Mr. Joseph Jibrail, who has personal knowledge of the Druzes, the Metawileh, and other elements of population. Some of the answers are meagre, and, as regards the nomadic Arabs, he appears to know less than the English explorers, who have spent years among them. An abstract of the more interesting points of information thus obtained may, however, serve to show what may be expected from this method of research. Answers to questions as to the Samaritans have already appeared in the Quarterly Statement. |
|||
‘All good Druzes are supposed to go to China when they die, where they have new bodies at once; but unperfected Druzes pass into the body of a slave or a beast and undergo a purgatory of possible advance or of further retrogression. China is thus the Celestial Flowery Kingdom to the Druze, more than to the Chinese themselves. At the "good" Druze's funeral the women chant and all repeat the words: "Happy are the people of China who welcome thy coming!" Theoretically, a bad Druze at death has none so poor to do him reverence. But there are no "bad" Druzes, if one may judge from funeral panegyrics. Apparently all Druzes at death go to China. They have retained a certain belief in a grand judgment day. This is to be at the coming of Hamzeh—the personification of the divine principle in the great All. Hamzeh, they declare, has been incarnate at several ages of the world; in Adam, Abraham, Moses, several prophets, and in Christ. He was Hamzeh in all these different persons and offices. We have often been told by them, "We are one in faith. You expect Christ a second time; so do we, only we call him Hamzeh." They also hold that Hamzeh will come forth from China with all the good Druzes who have been accumulating there during the ages; also all the secret Druzes will then flock to his standard and swell the host as it advances. All shall have spears and banners, and ride upon horses whose neighing shall be heard many leagues away on every side, and they shall strike terror to the hearts of their helpless enemies. All the world shall thus be reduced and shall be slaves to the Druzes, and Hamzeh shall reign for indefinite ages. Accordingly, when a good Druze dies very little mourning is allowed. It would simply be "unreasonable." The Druze thus teaches a much-needed lesson to the so-called Christians around him, whose loud and often heathenish demonstrations of sorrow seem to belie their nobler faith in "Jesus and the Resurrection."'<ref>{{cite book |title=Woman's work for woman and our mission field | volume = IV | year = 1889| accessdate=April 4 2012 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=GhDPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA316&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false |publisher= Women's Foreign Missionary Societies of the Presbyterian Church | pages = 316–7 | location = 53 Fifth ave., New York}} Original from the University of Wisconsin — Madison digitized Jan 14, 2009.</ref> |
|||
The Druzes. |
|||
"The cardinal doctrines of the Druzes are, (a) The incarnation of the indefinable, incomprehensible, ineffable, passionless Deity ten times, last in the person of El-Hakim-Biamrillah. The door of mercy stood open twenty-six years, and was then finally and forever closed. The number of Druzes is unalterable. The souls of the dying go into the bodies of new-born infants, and so keep the number of the Druzes ever the same. They believe that there are multitudes of Druzes in China. Mohammedans at death become donkeys, and Christians slaves, to serve Druze toasters. They make no effort to convert; on the contrary they keep their doctrines secret. Such as have been made known have been surreptitiously proclaimed. Few even of their own people are initiated, these being known as the 'Oqqals. A Druze is allowed to make outward profession of any religion which he may fancy to be for his advantage. God knows the heart, and what is in it, and judges by what a man really believes, and not by what he seems. Obedience is required to the seven great commandments of Hamze which are, 1st, truth in words (but only to Druzes); 2d, loyalty to Druze interests; 3d, renunciation of every other faith; 4th, separation from all others, they never intermarry with Mohammedans or Christians; 5th, the recognition of the unity of God; 6th, complete resignation to His will; 7th, complete obedience to His orders. Prayer is an impertinence. The freedom of the will is maintained."<ref>{{cite book |title=Transactions | publisher =New York Academy of Sciences|editor-first = Herman LeRoy | last = Fairchild |volume= VII |date= October, 1887, to June, 1888 | accessdate =April 4 2012| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=iRIwAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA185&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CGIQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false |page=185}} Original from the University of California Digitized Apr 18, 2007</ref> |
|||
Mr. Jabrail reports that he has been inside the Khalwehs or Chapels of the Druzes when living as a teacher among those on Mount Carmel. The Druzes are intelligent, and allow strangers to eat and drink with them; they desire education for their children, and allow them to learn parts of the Bible by heart. They believe that there are many Druzes in China, and that the religion of Queen Victoria is the Druze religion though its votaries are not known by that name in England. |
|||
"They believe that the inhabitants of China are all Druzes, or, as they say, "Unitarians," and that in a great future conflict between Mohammedans and Christians, a great Druze leader, with a vast army, will come from the far East, and conquer both. El Hakem will then reappear in visible manifestation, and will reign for ever from his throne in Egypt, attended by five ministers! What can be done with such a people? It is well to know their real character. Their bitterness and ferocity was shown in the massacre which attempted the extermination of the Maronites of Lebanon in 1860. Their system seems a master-piece of Satan. Only the power of the Divine Spirit can transform them. The work of missions must be a work of faith and prayer."<ref>{{cite book | title = The Missionary review of the world | first1 = Royal Gould | last1 = Wilder | first2 = Delavan Leonard | last2 = Pierson | deditor1-first = James Manning | editor2-last = Sherwood | editor2-first = Arthur Tappan | editor2-last = Pierson | volume= III new series | month = January to December | year= 1890 | accessdate = April 4 2012 |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=s2ghAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA790&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher= Funk & Wagnalls |page=790 | location = New York}} Original from the University of Michigan digitized May 9, 2011</ref> |
|||
Note.—This I have before heard stated. The connection of the Druzes with the Buddhists of Central Asia and China is noted in " Syrian Stone .Lore," p. 347. |
|||
The missionary Rev. William Ewing, who spent five years at [[Tiberias]] in [[Palestine]], wrote that "The Druzes number in all perhaps something over a hundred thousand. They do not, however, for a moment believe that all real Druzes are confined to Syria. China, for example, is a land of which they have some dim knowledge; it figures vague and vast in their untutored minds. They have heard that there are beliefs common to them and the Chinese; this is sufficient to create the conviction that the Chinese are really Druzes too, whatever name they may be called, and that, when the proper time comes, that mighty empire will pour forth its millions to do battle in the cause of el-Hakim. The British share, in this regard, their affection and confidence, an impression prevailing widely that they too are a nation of Druzes. If this impression did not come from the kindly treatment of the Druzes by the British, when, after the massacre, they were in imminent danger, it was certainly strengthened thereby. If one of them asks how many Druzes there are in England, and receives the reply that there are none, he is far from being convinced, and most likely he leaves you with the suspicion that you are a Druze yourself. He will think nothing the less of you for your stout denial; for it is permitted to them to assume the outward form and profession of any religion whatever, if their welfare for the time may thereby be promoted, the only condition being that they remain true in heart to the faith of their fathers. In a country where the people excel in clever deceptions, it is often extremely hard for the missionary to distinguish between the true and the spurious convert. There is a well authenticated case in which a Druze professed conversion to Christianity, was baptized, received into the Church, and, having given proof of his fitness, was at length ordained to the ministry. He continued to exercise his calling with acceptance for several years; then, throwing off the mask by which he had deceived everybody, he openly declared that he was a Druze at heart, and had never been anything else."<ref>{{cite book | title= Arab and Druze at home | first = William | last = Ewing| year=1907| accessdate= April 4 2012| url= http://books.google.com/books?id=QAgPAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA91#v=onepage&q&f=false| publisher= TC & EC Jack |pages= 90–1 | place = London, 16 Henrietta st.; Edinburgh}} Original from Oxford University digitized Jan 10, 2008.</ref> |
|||
On attempting to enter a Khalweh on Thursday (the usual day of meeting for the Druzes) Mr. Jabrail was attacked by two Druze women standing by^the door, and the congregation came out and cursed and atoned him, not recognising him as a former friend. |
|||
"Asia is scarcely so coherent as at one point the author would have us believe. It was not because the Japanese were Asiatics that the Moslems and Druzes of Syria sided with them during [[Russo-Japanese War| the late war]], but because Russia is the ancient enemy of the Moslem, and China is the place where good Druzes go when they die. When the [[First Sino-Japanese War | Japanese beat the Chinese]] the Druzes were aghast—heaven had been stormed (we are quoting Druze talk at the time); and it appears from Miss Lowthian Bell’s account that they wisely transferred their heaven to Japan."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Athenæum: A Journal of Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music, and the Drama | volume = 1| month =January to June |year=1907|accessdate=April 4 2012 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=L14vAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA160&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&ved=0CC8Q6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false | location= London |page=160 | place = The Office Bream’s Buildings, Chancery Lane, EC | publisher = John C & John Edward Francis}}</ref> |
|||
Note.—The Druze meetings are secret. The women evidently were sentinels such as writers on the Druzes have described as posted outside the Khalwehs during meetings. |
|||
The Sheikh objected to the Druze children being taught that the world -was made in six days, asserting that God created it all at once. Mr. Jabrail mentions the well-known fact that the Druzes conform outwardly to any creed which suits their purposes for the time. |
|||
Note.—Both these observations connect Druze teaching and customs .with those of some of the early Gnostic sects of Syria. |
|||
Nothing is found in the Khalwehs of Lebanon except a stove. Texts from the Koran are written on the walls. It is generally reported that the " calf" is an image found in the Khalwehs. When asked about it the Druzes cursed it. |
|||
Note.—This agrees with the reports of previous writers, who say that the Druses called Derazeh "the calf" (J<ss) instead of "the wise" |
|||
1 See Quarterly Statement, 1885, p. 216.|page=120 |pages= |}}(LONDON : SOCIETY'S OFFICE, 1, ADAM STREET, ADELPHI, AND BY ALEXANDER P. WATT, 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, E.C.) (LONDON : THE SOCIETY'S OFFICE, 1, ADAM ST., ADELPHI, W.C.; R. BENTLEY & SON, 8, NEW BURLINGTON STREET) Original from the University of California Digitized Jan 24, 2011</ref> |
|||
The "Women's work for woman and our mission field, Volume 4", by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church, published in 1889 said: 'All good Druzes are supposed to go to China when they die, where they have new bodies at once; but unperfected Druzes pass into the body of a slave or a beast and undergo a purgatory of possible advance or of further retrogression. China is thus the Celestial Flowery Kingdom to the Druze, more than to the Chinese themselves. At the "good" Druze's funeral the women chant and all repeat the words: "Happy are the people of China who welcome thy coming!" Theoretically, a bad Druze at death has none so poor to do him reverence. But there are no "bad " Druzes, if one may judge from funeral panegyrics. Apparently all Druzes at death go to China. |
|||
They have retained a certain belief in a grand judgment day. This is to be at the coming of Hamzeh—the personification of the divine principle in the great All. Hamzeh, they declare, has been incarnate at several ages of the world ; in Adam, Abraham, Moses, several prophets, and in Christ. He was Hamzeh in all these different persons and offices. We have often been told by them, " We are one in faith. You expect Christ a second time; so do we, only we call him Hamzeh." They also hold that Hamzeh will come forth from China with all the good Druzes who have been accumulating there during the ages; also all the secret Druzes will then flock to his standard and swell the host as it advances. All shall have spears and banners, and ride upon<ref>{{cite book |title=Woman's work for woman and our mission field, Volume 4|author=Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.).|editor=|edition=|series= |volume=VOLUME IV |date= |year=1889|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GhDPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA316&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=Women's Foreign Missionary Societies of the Presbyterian Church|location=|quote=/. Who are they 1—They are not a race. There is no unmixed race in Syria save the Bedouin of the desert. The Syrians of to-day are a composite of races. The Druzes, accordingly, are not a race, but a sect. They have no lighter and no darker skin than the Caucasian Christians and Muslims about them. They have no remains of language or customs which may not be found among their neighbors. Their almost universal life in the open air as tillers of the soil, women and men, makes them, as a rule, robust. |
|||
Their Number.—They are not numerous. The Druzes claim their real number is immense, from the fact that their religion (!) teaches them to " assume, as a cloak, that religion which has the ascendancy for the time, but keep Druzeism in your hearts." Hence, "there are vast numbers of Druzes throughout the world living in secret until the day of triumph comes." |
|||
Their Home.—In truth there are not more than 100,000 souls, and they are found only in Central Syria. About 50,000 are in Mount Lebanon among their Christian neighbors. The rest live in obscure districts of Anti-Lebanon, at the foot of Hermon, and in mountains and plains of the Hauran (Auranitis) east of the Jordan. |
|||
//. Their Origin as a Sect.—This is a matter of obscurity, albeit it is known that one " Durz" by name led a party of persecuted schismatic Muslims out of Egypt hundreds of years ago, and these settled in or spread to the regions before mentioned. This was the outcome of discontent with the yoke of Islam. Accordingly, we find among Druzes none of the frequent daily ablutions, no call to repeated daily prayer, no fasts, no pilgrimage, no circumcision, no public meeting, no sacred day— all of which are precepts of Islam. They celebrate their New Year's by a sacrifice |
|||
of sheep which they share with the poor—a close imitation of the Muslim sacrifice on "Arafat," near Mecca, during the sojourn of pilgrims there. |
|||
///. Their Religion.—Opposition to Islam motived the Druze schism; but no man nor sect can be content with mere negation. Accordingly, Hindu theology was drawn upon to furnish the doctrine of transmigration of souls. |
|||
All good Druzes are supposed to go to China when they die, where they have new bodies at once; but unperfected Druzes pass into the body of a slave or a beast and undergo a purgatory of possible advance or of further retrogression. China is thus the Celestial Flowery Kingdom to the Druze, more than to the Chinese themselves. At the "good" Druze's funeral the women chant and all repeat the words: "Happy are the people of China who welcome thy coming!" Theoretically, a bad Druze at death has none so poor to do him reverence. But there are no "bad " Druzes, if one may judge from funeral panegyrics. Apparently all Druzes at death go to China. |
|||
They have retained a certain belief in a grand judgment day. This is to be at the coming of Hamzeh—the personification of the divine principle in the great All. Hamzeh, they declare, has been incarnate at several ages of the world ; in Adam, Abraham, Moses, several prophets, and in Christ. He was Hamzeh in all these different persons and offices. We have often been told by them, " We are one in faith. You expect Christ a second time; so do we, only we call him Hamzeh." They also hold that Hamzeh will come forth from China with all the good Druzes who have been accumulating there during the ages; also all the secret Druzes will then flock to his standard and swell the host as it advances. All shall have spears and banners, and ride upon |page=316 |pages= |}}No. 53 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison Digitized Jan 14, 2009</ref>horses whose neighing shall be heard many leagues away on every side, and they shall strike terror to the hearts of their helpless enemies. All the world shall thus be reduced and shall be slaves to the Druzes, and Hamzeh shall reign for indefinite ages. Accordingly, when a good Druze dies very little mourning is allowed. It would simply be "unreasonable." The Druze thus teaches a much-needed lesson to the so-called Christians around him, whose loud and often heathenish demonstrations of sorrow seem to belie their nobler faith in " Jesus and the Resurrection."'<ref>{{cite book |title=Woman's work for woman and our mission field, Volume 4|author=Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.).|editor=|edition=|series= |volume=VOLUME IV |date= |year=1889|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GhDPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA317#v=onepage&q&f=false|publisher=Women's Foreign Missionary Societies of the Presbyterian Church|location=|quote=horses whose neighing shall be heard many leagues away on every side, and they shall strike terror to the hearts of their helpless enemies. All the world shall thus be reduced and shall be slaves to the Druzes, and Hamzeh shall reign for indefinite |
|||
THE DRUZES OF MOUNT LEBANON. |
|||
DRUZE PLOUGHMAN AND TEAM NEAR MOUNT HERMON |
|||
ages. Accordingly, when a good Druze dies very little mourning is allowed. It would simply be "unreasonable." The Druze thus teaches a much-needed lesson to the so-called Christians around him, whose loud and often heathenish demonstrations of sorrow seem to belie their nobler faith in " Jesus and the Resurrection." |
|||
Druzes also seem to favor prayers for the dead. But it is only seeming, and would be in utter inconsistency with their Rationalism and Pantheism. They know only natural law, eternity of matter, unvarying progress of natural cycles. They do pray a Muslim prayer at the grave in public that they may seem to follow Islam. But there is no evidence that they pray at all, whether in meetings or in private. |
|||
Religious books they have, but they are held-with utmost secrecy. During the massacre of 1860 copies were found and taken to France and translated. They are said to be partly cabalistic cipher, but mostly are of no literary or scientific worth, being neither Pantheism, nor Theism, nor Deism, nor Islamism, nor Christianity; but a composite of all these, a collection of dogmatic half-truths and errors designed to deceive the poor Druze into thinking that |
|||
he can, by these points of common creed with all men, lead a hidden life with greater ease, and neither give nor take evil nor good from any man. In a word, Druzeism is a secret society, a political junta, more closely secret and more firmly united than anything in all Asia, unless |
|||
^it be Lamaism itself; and it is of no influence whatever save within j the obscure districts where it is found. |
|||
There is not a little heathenism, among Druze women, especially. All are anxious to prevent the "evil eye." They make a vow under any large green tree, and as a memento thereof tie rags torn from their clothing to the twigs. They burn lamps at the graves of their relatives for days and weeks and perform mysterious, dance-like motions beneath sacred trees, but with what design is unknown. |
|||
Lastly, the Druzes are divided by themselves into two classes— the "Wise" and "Foolish ;" or, "The Rational and Initiated " and "The Uninitiated." |
|||
The Wise have been instructed in Druze secrets and taken prescribed oaths. They must refrain from all undignified behavior and language, and use no stimulants, not even tobacco, this latter being considered most irrational. A few of the Wise conform to the letter of this prohibition, but use snuff, contrary to its spirit. Probably no person ever saw an Initiated Druze drunken, or one whose bearing and language and the neatness of whose dress did not usually indicate the quiet self-control of a gentleman. Specially heightening this effect are the full beard and the turban of spotless white, which only the Wise are allowed to wear, it being the distinguishing badge of initiation. The Wise Druzes compose the "session " of the village or district where they live. They meet regularly every Thursday evening in entire secrecy. Certain formulas, sacred and cabalistic, may be repeated at the beginning to make sure of the presence of the Wise alone. Political and social questions of interest are discussed. Advice is given to those in difficulty or to those at variance. The political news of Europe, so far as it is of any influence on Syria, is better known and discussed among them than in almost any village of Europe. The Unwise are eligible to initiation on |page=317 |pages= |}}No. 53 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison Digitized Jan 14, 2009</ref> |
|||
The "Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volumes 7-9" by the New York Academy of Sciences, published in 1888 said: "The cardinal doctrines of the Druzes are, (a) The incarnation of the indefinable, incomprehensible, ineffable, passionless Deity ten times, last in the person of El-Hakim-Biamrillah. The door of mercy stood open twenty-six years, and was then finally and forever closed. The number of Druzes is unalterable. The souls of the dying go into the bodies of new-born infants, and so keep the number of the Druzes ever the same. They believe that there are multitudes of Druzes in China. Mohammedans at death become donkeys, and Christians slaves, to serve Druze toasters. They make no effort to convert; on the contrary they keep their doctrines secret. Such as have been made known have been surreptitiously proclaimed. Few even of their own people are initiated, these being known as the 'Oqqals. A Druze is allowed to make outward profession of any religion which he may fancy to be for his advantage. God knows the heart, and what is in it, and judges by what a man really believes, and not by what he seems. Obedience is required to the seven great commandments of Hamze which are, 1st, truth in words (but only to Druzes); 2d, loyalty to Druze interests; 3d, renunciation of every other faith; 4th, separation from all others, they never intermarry with Mohammedans or Christians; 5th, the recognition of the unity of God; 6th, complete resignation to His will; 7th, complete obedience to His orders. Prayer is an impertinence. The freedom of the will is maintained."<ref>{{cite book |title=Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volumes 7-9|author=New York Academy of Sciences|editor=HERMAN LEROY FAIRCHILD|edition=|series= |volume=VOLUME VII |date=October, 1887, to June, 1888 |year=1888|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=iRIwAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA185&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CGIQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=New York Academy of Sciences|location=PRESS OF STETTINER, LAMBERT & CO., 22, 24, 26 READE ST, NEW YORK|quote=tion, and compelled to rebuild the rained towns. Their chief men were exiled, and their martial spirit curbed, although not wholly broken. The new government of Lebanon, wisely sketched out.by Lord Dufferin, is so just and equal, and so well maintained by a volunteer militia in which all sects are represented, that there has been no uprising of the Druzes of Lebanon since that date. Local disturbances in the lawless district of the Hauran are, however, of almost yearly occurrence. |
|||
The origin of the sect is attributed to Ismael Darazi of Cairo, in 1040 A. D. This leader supported the claims of El-Hakimbi-Amrillah, the sixth Fatimite caliph, who claimed to be an incarnation of the divine intelligence. Being driven from Egypt he took refuge in Lebanon, where he converted a great number of the inhabitants. Hauran was taken possession of by refugees from this sect when worsted from time to time in its numerous wars in Lebanon. |
|||
Although named from Darazi, the first authoritative expounders of this sect branded Darazi as a heretic, and the Druzes continue to regard him as such. They regard Hamzi as a reappearance of the Messiah. |
|||
The cardinal doctrines of the Druzes are, (a) The incarnation of the indefinable, incomprehensible, ineffable, passionless Deity ten times, last in the person of El-Hakim-Biamrillah. The door of mercy stood open twenty-six years, and was then finally and forever closed. The number of Druzes is unalterable. The souls of the dying go into the bodies of new-born infants, and so keep the number of the Druzes ever the same. They believe that there are multitudes of Druzes in China. Mohammedans at death become donkeys, and Christians slaves, to serve Druze toasters. They make no effort to convert; on the contrary they keep their doctrines secret. Such as have been made known have been surreptitiously proclaimed. Few even of their own people are initiated, these being known as the 'Oqqals. A Druze is allowed to make outward profession of any religion which he may fancy to be for his advantage. God knows the heart, and what is in it, and judges by what a man really believes, and not by what he seems. Obedience is required to the seven great commandments of Hamze which are, 1st, truth in words (but only to Druzes); 2d, loyalty to Druze interests; 3d, renunciation of every other faith; 4th, separation from all others, they never intermarry with Mohammedans or Christians; 5th, the recognition of the unity of God; 6th, complete resignation to His will; 7th, complete obedience to His orders. Prayer is an impertinence. The freedom of the will is maintained. |
|||
The initiated, who may be of either sex, meet in houses called khalwes, apart from the villages, often in "high places." The |page=185 |pages= |}}NEW YORK : PUBLISHED BY THE ACADEMY. 1887-1888 Original from the University of California Digitized Apr 18, 2007</ref> |
|||
"Missionary review of the world, Volume 13", published in 1890 said: "They believe that the inhabitants of China are all Druzes, or, as they say, "Unitarians," and that in a great future conflict between Mohammedans and Christians, a great Druze leader, with a vast army, will come from the far East, and conquer both. El Hakem will then reappear in visible manifestation, and will reign for ever from his throne in Egypt, attended by five ministers! What can be done with such a people? It is well to know their real character. Their bitterness and ferocity was shown in the massacre which attempted the extermination of the Maronites of Lebanon in 1860. Their system seems a master-piece of Satan. Only the power of the Divine Spirit can transform them. The work of missions must be a work of faith and prayer."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Missionary review of the world, Volume 13|coauthors=Royal Gould Wilder, Delavan Leonard Pierson, James Manning Sherwood, Arthur Tappan Pierson|editor=J. M. SHERWOOD, ARTHUR T. PIERSON|edition=|series= |volume=VOL. III. NEW SERIES. VOL. XIII. OLD SERIES.|date=JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1890 |year=1890|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=s2ghAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA790&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=C.S. Robinson & co., printers|location=|quote=These people are the most completely isolated of all men; their organization is a secret society. Their doctrines are carefully withheld from the rest of mankind. Every Druze is sworn to secrecy, and it was only through the wars of Ibrahim Pasha, between 1837 and 1842, that their sacred books first became known to the world. |
|||
The Druzes have many mythical doctrines in regard to the successive manifestations of God among men, in which Adam, Enoch, Noah and Shem play a part. The Deluge is treated allegorically; honor is shown to Isaiah, David and Daniel, who "allegorized the Law of Moses;" also to Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle. Jesus is said to have been only a representative of the true Christ, who remained concealed in the person of Lazarus. |
|||
Druzes reject the doctrine of the Resurrection, but admit that the true Clirist promulgated the story that the son of Mary had risen, as a means of establishing the Christian religion. This was done in order that, under the foil of Christianity, the esoteric Druze religion might be concealed. It was the real Christ, and not Jesus, that appeared to the Disciples after the Resurrection. |
|||
God is represented as having purposely misled one portion of the human race and to have enlightened and saved another. And this arbitrary and fatalistic doctrine has given a vitiating tendency to all Druze ethics. For example: the sacred books enjoin strict veracity in dealing with fellow Druzes, but justify falsehood toward all others. No confidence, therefore, can be placed in the word of a Druze beyond the dictates of his own interest. He is commanded to love the brethren of his sect, but no others. An implacable hatred exists toward Mohammedans, and yet, as a matter of policy, the Druzes conform to many outward requirements of Islam. They are not greatly trusted as soldiers, though they are enrolled. |
|||
When Ibrahim Pasha, taking them at their own professions of faith in Islam, compelled them to bear arms, multitudes became Christians, only to throw off the mask at the close of the war. Except in their many acts of kindness toward each other, Dr. Wortabet, of Beyrout, from whom I have received many facts, regards them as " the most fraudulent and deceptive of all peoples." |
|||
They believe that the inhabitants of China are all Druzes, or, as they say, "Unitarians," and that in a great future conflict between Mohammedans and Christians, a great Druze leader, with a vast army, will come from the far East, and conquer both. El Hakem will then reappear in visible manifestation, and will reign for ever from his throne in Egypt, attended by five ministers! What can be done with such a people? It is well to know their real character. Their bitterness and ferocity was shown in the massacre which attempted the extermination of the Maronites of Lebanon in 1860. Their system seems a master-piece of Satan. Only the power of the Divine Spirit can transform them. The work of missions must be a work of faith and prayer. |
|||
Discouraging as missionary labor among the Druzes is, the Presbyterian Mission in Syria has rejoiced in many apparent conversions. It even numbers two or three Druze preachers. The native Protestant Christians, however, look with great distrust upon members of this sect who profess their faith. But all things are possible with God. His means may be various. Education will effect changes. The absurdities of the old system will be seen. Prevailing Christian sentiment will make itself felt. |
|||
THE RELIGION OF THE NUSAIRIYEH. |
|||
These strange people, found in the extreme north of Syria, are even less understood than the Druzes. Their mystical and mysterious faith has been kept a secret by the force of the death penalty which awaits any |page=790 |pages= |}}(THE Missionary Review of the World. VOL. III NEW SERIES. VOL. XIII. OLD SERIES. JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1890. EDITORS : J. M. SHERWOOD, NEW YORK, ARTHUR T. PIERSON, PHILADELPHIA. PUBLISHERS : FUNK & WAGNALLS, NEW YORK :18 AND 29 ASTOR PLACE. LONDON : 41 FLEET STREET. TORONTO, CANADA : WILLIAM BRIGGS, 78 AND 80 KING STREET, EAST.) (Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1899, by FUNK & WAGNALLS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.) Original from the University of Michigan Digitized May 9, 2011</ref> |
|||
The missionary Rev. William Ewing, who spent five years at [[Tiberias]] in [[Palestine]], wrote in his book "Arab and Druze at home", published in 1907 that "The Druzes number in all perhaps something over a hundred thousand. They do not, however, for a moment believe that all real Druzes are confined to Syria. China, for example, is a land of which they have some dim knowledge; it figures vague and vast in their untutored minds. They have heard that there are beliefs common to them and the Chinese; this is sufficient to create the conviction that the Chinese are really Druzes too, whatever name they may be called, and that, when the proper time comes, that mighty empire will pour forth its millions to do battle in the cause of el-Hakim. The British share, in this regard, their affection and confidence, an impression prevailing widely that they too are a nation of Druzes. If this impression did not come from the kindly treatment of the Druzes by the British, when, after the massacre, they were in imminent danger, it was certainly strengthened thereby. If one of them asks how many Druzes there are in England, and receives the reply that<ref>{{cite book |title=Arab and Druze at home|author=William Ewing|editor=|edition=|series= |volume= |date= |year=1907|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QAgPAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA90&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=T. C. & E. C. Jack|location=|quote=They live sober and temperate lives, abstaining from all aleoholic liquors, from tobacco, and even from coffee, the universal beverage of the Arab. |
|||
Hamzeh, who systematised their doctrines and gave something like coherency to their beliefs, they continue to honour as el-H&di ("the guide"). Durazy, strangely, they have forgotten, or remember only to repudiate. El-Hadi is from the same root, and has the same meaning, as el-Mahdi, the expected "guide" of the Moslems, who is to "lead " them to the universal triumph for which they yearn. |
|||
The Druzes number in all perhaps something over a hundred thousand. They do not, however, for a moment believe that all real Druzes are confined to Syria. China, for example, is a land of which they have some dim knowledge; it figures vague and vast in their untutored minds. They have heard that there are beliefs common to them and the Chinese; this is sufficient to create the conviction that the Chinese are really Druzes too, whatever name they may be called, and that, when the proper time comes, that mighty empire will pour forth its millions to do battle in the cause of el-Hakim. The British share, in this regard, their affection and confidence, an impression prevailing widely that they too are a nation of Druzes. If this impression did not come from the kindly treatment of the Druzes by the British, when, after the massacre, they were in imminent danger, it was certainly strengthened thereby. If one of them asks how many Druzes there are in England, and receives the reply that |page=90 |pages= |}}LONDON : T. C. & E. C. JACK 16 HENRIETTA STREET W.C. AND EDINBURGH Original from Oxford University Digitized Jan 10, 2008</ref>there are none, he is far from being convinced, and most likely he leaves you with the suspicion that you are a Druze yourself. He will think nothing the less of you for your stout denial; for it is permitted to them to assume the outward form and profession of any religion whatever, if their welfare for the time may thereby be promoted, the only condition being that they remain true in heart to the faith of their fathers. In a country where the people excel in clever deceptions, it is often extremely hard for the missionary to distinguish between the true and the spurious convert. There is a wellauthenticated case in which a Druze professed conversion to Christianity, was baptized, received into the Church, and, having given proof of his fitness, was at length ordained to the ministry. He continued to exercise his calling with acceptance for several years ; then, throwing off the mask by which he had deceived everybody, he openly declared that he was a Druze at heart, and had never been anything else."<ref>{{cite book |title=Arab and Druze at home|author=William Ewing|editor=|edition=|series= |volume= |date= |year=1907|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QAgPAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA91#v=onepage&q&f=false|publisher=T. C. & E. C. Jack|location=|quote=DRUZE FIDELITY |
|||
there are none, he is far from being convinced, and most likely he leaves you with the suspicion that you are a Druze yourself. He will think nothing the less of you for your stout denial; for it is permitted to them to assume the outward form and profession of any religion whatever, if their welfare for the time may thereby be promoted, the only condition being that they remain true in heart to the faith of their fathers. In a country where the people excel in clever deceptions, it is often extremely hard for the missionary to distinguish between the true and the spurious convert. There is a wellauthenticated case in which a Druze professed conversion to Christianity, was baptized, received into the Church, and, having given proof of his fitness, was at length ordained to the ministry. He continued to exercise his calling with acceptance for several years ; then, throwing off the mask by which he had deceived everybody, he openly declared that he was a Druze at heart, and had never been anything else. |
|||
The Lebanon for long was the home of the Druzes, but now they are found as far north as Antioch and as far south as Carmel; while since 1860 they have gone eastward, and settled in such numbers on the mountain, that the name Jebel Hauran, by which it was formerly known, is fast giving place to that of Jebel ed-Druze. Wherever the Druze goes, he maintains his well-earned reputation for hospitality and kindly treatment of strangers. This practice is mixed up with the religious ideas that from hoary antiquity have prevailed from the eastern |page=91 |pages= |}}LONDON : T. C. & E. C. JACK 16 HENRIETTA STREET W.C. AND EDINBURGH Original from Oxford University Digitized Jan 10, 2008</ref> |
|||
"The Athenæum: A Journal of Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music, and the Drama, Volume 1", published by J. Francis in 1907 said "Asia is scarcely so coherent as at one point the author would have us believe. It was not because the Japanese were Asiatics that the Moslems and Druzes of Syria sided with them during [[Russo-Japanese War|the late war]], but because Russia is the ancient enemy of the Moslem, and China is the place where good Druzes go when they die. When the [[First Sino-Japanese War|Japanese beat the Chinese]] the Druzes were aghast—heaven had been stormed (we are quoting Druze talk at the time); and it appears from Miss Lowthian Bell’s account that they wisely transferred their heaven to Japan."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Athenæum: A Journal of Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music, and the Drama, Volume 1|author=|editor=|edition=|series= |volume= |date=JANUARY TO JUNE, 1907 |year=1907|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=L14vAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA160&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&ved=0CC8Q6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=J. Francis|location=LONDON : PRINTED BY JOHN EDWARD FRANCIS, ATHENEUM PRESS, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE.|quote=we dissent. The Druzes are not more cruel than their neighbours in habits of warfare. They are less inhuman, for example, than her favourite Kurds. It is-—or was until very lately—their custom to spare all females, and males under seven years of age. Eyewitnesses of the slaughter of 1860 mention this forbearance with praise; and we have been assured by various Druzes that it is a condition of their warfare. The Circassians do not deserve such sweeping condemnation. |
|||
Their stiff-necked pride and great dis |
|||
trust of foreigners make them hard to |
|||
approach ; and they have never forgiven |
|||
the French and English for betraying |
|||
(as they believe) their country to the |
|||
Muscovite ; but though ruthless as enemies they make staunch friends, as the Sultan |
|||
knows. |
|||
Asia is scarcely so coherent as at one point the author would have us believe. It was not because the Japanese were Asiatics that the Moslems and Druzes of Syria sided with them during the late war, but because Russia is the ancient enemy of the Moslem, and China is the place where good Druzes go when they die. When the Japanese beat the Chinese the Druzes were aghast—heaven had been stormed (we are quoting Druze talk at the time); and it appears from Miss Lowthian Bell’s account that they wisely transferred their heaven to Japan. |
|||
The Metawileh, we agree, are repulsive ; but their manners are well worth studying. The story, told by Mahmud, of the talking jug (p. 234), and another illustrating the transmigration of souls, are both of them Druze stories, though here referred to the Nusairis. A good variant of the latter is given in Skene’s Syrian ‘Rambles.’ The admiring crowds which annoyed the author in Homs were but pursuing an ancient and, in intention, honorific custom, with a name of its own. |
|||
The author evidently knows Arabic ' |
|||
well, but we wish she had adopted some other system of transliteration. To the average reader, Ic or .9 with a dot underneath is k or s demented; he must say Jerusalem and pass on ; while the reader conversant with Arabic has his attention called to the spelling, which is not immaculate. For example, in the proverb, “ Hayyeh rubda wala daif mudha,” following the author’s system, there should be four dotted letters; she gives but one. A like objection applies to her perpetual use of the word “God ” instead of “Allah.” Every one knows that Allah signifies the Supreme Being, but “God” in English has too solemn an efiect, and the best authorities write “Allah ” when rendering common expletives, &c. |
|||
But after a searching criticism this book remains one of the best of its kind that we have ever read. A valuable map is appended, but, alas ! there is no index. |
|||
statement in this life that the writer had talked with men who remembered Columba may easily be received. A manuscript of the life, now at Schadhausen, is in the hand of a scribe named Dorbhene, and belongs to the early years of the eighth century. It is written in Latin which has some of the forms of expression and a few of the peculiar words used by Irish writers of Latin in the period which the pride of later times has chosen to call the Dark Ages. Thus the work which Mr. Huyshe has translated, and Messrs. Routledge have published in a cheap, but well-printed edition, is one of the earliest complete literary compositions written in the British Islands. |
|||
The author was a contemporary of Caedmon and of Bede, and his book had probably been copied more than once before the ‘ Ecclesiastical History ’ of Bede had become known outside the monastery in which it was written. The dwellings, the journeys by land, the voyages in skin-covered boats across the seas, the social conditions, the agriculture, and the domestic life of its time are displayed in it, not as the result of antiquarian research, but as part of the daily experiences of the writer. The narrative is simple, and obviously veracious. “ What the miracles were I cannot tell,” said Carlyle, in a conversation in which he praised the life, “ but you can see that the man wrote things exactly as they appeared to him, and that he was a man who would not tell a lie.” |
|||
The sunlight shining on a particular spot, such as a distant hill-side in some well-known and beloved region, or upon a grave, often produces a great effect upon a mind already filled with thoughts of the place thus illuminated; and when this is remembered truth as well as poetry |
|||
is apparent in such a description as that in the life |
|||
The numerous pictures of nature—of the rocks, of the distant views across the sea, of the great waves, of the harvest field—add to the charm and the reality of the biography. We are made to see the heron rising from the sea-level into the sky and slowly flying out of sight, and the whale appearing on the surface of the sea and then disappearing in its depths. Nor are illustrations of human nature omitted, such as the touching account of the saint watching, with recollections of his youth, the bird flying towards Ireland, and of the traveller in Ireland asked soon after C‘olumba’s death. not yet known there, whether all was well |
|||
with the saint, and bursting into tears with the reply, “ All is indeed well.” |
|||
Mr. Huyshe has written an introductory summary of the principal events in the life, and at the end of each chapter has added brief but useful notes. A map showing the parts of Scotland and Ireland most often mentioned in the book is given, and in the note on this the error is made of regarding as identical the Irish kingdoms called Dalriada and Dal-Araidhe. These kingdoms formed the region of Ulidia, or Lesser Ulster, after the sack of Emania. They are now represented by the counties of Antrim and Down. Dalriada occupied the northern half of Antrim and part of its eastern coast, and the territory inland for some distance. Dal-Araidhe consisted of the county of Down and the southwestern part of Antrim. Mr. VVhitwell Elwin once wrote part of a translation of Adamnan’s ‘ Life of Columba’ in which he represented with extraordinary skill the simplicity of the style of the original. It is to be regretted that he never completed the projected work. Prof. J. T. Fowler’s useful translation in the endeavour to be faithful has obscured the literary character and merit of the original. Mr. Huyshe has done more justice to the style of Adamnan, and his translation may be recommended as the beet which has appeared, and as a suitable presentation in English of this venerable biography. |
|||
NEW NOVELS. |
|||
By the Light of the Soul. By Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. (Harper & Brothers.) |
|||
Mas. DIARY Wrnxms Fssmmrz has a delicate appreciation of the young girl in her attitude towards life, and her sympathetic manner of writing and the extreme sincerity of her treatment lend themselves well to her subject. ‘ By the Light of the Soul’ is the story of a girl’s development from childhood to womanhood through difiicult though not remarkable circumstances. It opens with the death of Maria Edgham’s mother, speedily followed by her father’s marriage with a school teacher, whose fixed smile and incapacity for natural affect-ion. allied with a keen sense of outward decorum, are ably drawn. The characters, indeed, all have that individuality and distinction which mark the author’s work, and not the least notable is that of Maria’s sweet-natured, but irresponsible father, who sorely misses the stern but unselfish discipline of his first wife. The peculiarly fresh simplicity of Maria’s girlhood is too soon blurred by the foolish and improbable ceremony of boy-and-girl marriage into which she is hurried, and the childish reserve which she maintains with regard to it after childhood has past, with such disastrous consequences, is certainly overstrained. The depths of her nature have been first sounded by her love for her little half-sister, and it is through this love that later she has to make the great renunciation. Viewed from an artistic as well as a human point of view, Maria.’s story is sadder than |page=160 |pages= |}}PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, E.C., BY JOHN C. FRANCIS AND J. EDWARD FRANCIS. Original from the University of California Digitized Dec 6, 2011</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Athenæum: a journal of literature, science, the fine arts, music, and the drama|coauthors=James Silk Buckingham, John Sterling, Frederick Denison Maurice, Henry Stebbing, Charles Wentworth Dilke, Thomas Kibble Hervey, William Hepworth Dixon, Norman Maccoll, Vernon Horace Rendall, John Middleton Murry|editor=|edition=|series= |volume= |date=JANUARY TO JUNE, 1907|year=1907|language=| isbn=|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NrE5AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA160&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhd-T-D0OKjW0QGA84D7DQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAjgU#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=J. Francis|location=LONDON ; PRINTED BY JOHN EDWARD FRANCIS, ATHENEUM PRESS, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE.|quote=we dissent. The Druzes are not more cruel than their neighbours in habits of warfare. They are less inhuman, for example, than her favourite Kurds. It is—or was until very lately—their custom to spare all females, and males under seven years of age. Eyewitnesses of the slaughter of 1860 mention this forbearance with praise; and we have been assured by various Druzes that it is a condition of their warfare. The Circassians do not deserve such sweeping condemnation. Their stiff-necked pride and great distrust of foreigners make them hard to approach; and they have never forgiven the French and English for betraying (as they believe) their country to the Muscovite; but though ruthless as enemies they make staunch friends, as the Sultan knows. |
|||
Asia is scarcely so coherent as at one point the author would have us believe. It was not because the Japanese were Asiatics that the Moslems and Druzes of Syria sided with them during the late war, but because Russia is the ancient enemy of the Moslem, and China is the place where good Druzes go when they die. When the Japanese beat the Chinese the Druzes were aghast—heaven had been stormed (we are quoting Druze talk at the time); and it appears from Miss Lowthian Bell's account that they wisely transferred their heaven to Japan. |
|||
The Metawileh, we agree, are repulsive; but their manners are well worth studying. The story, told by Mahmud, of the talking jug (p. 234), and another illustrating the transmigration of souls, are both of them Druze stories, though here referred to the Nusairis. A good variant of the latter is given in Skene's Syrian 'Rambles.' The admiring crowds which annoyed the author in Horns were but pursuing an ancient and, in intention, honorific custom, with a name of its own. |
|||
The author evidently knows Arabic well, but we wish she had adopted some other system of transliteration. To the average reader, k or s with a dot underneath is k or 8 demented; he must say Jerusalem and pass on; while the reader conversant with Arabic has his attention called to the spelling, which is not immaculate. For example, in the proverb, "Hayyeh rubda wala daif mudha," following the author's system, there should be four dotted letters; she gives but one. A like objection applies to her perpetual use of the word "God" instead of "Allah." Every one knows that Allah signifies the Supreme Being, but "God" in English has too solemn an effect, and the best authorities write "Allah" when rendering common expletives, &c. |
|||
But after a searching criticism this book remains one of the best of its kind that we have ever read. A valuable map is appended, but, alas! there is no index. |
|||
The Life of St. Columba by St. Adamnan. |
|||
Translated by Wentworth Huyshe. |
|||
(Routledge & Sons.) Coltjmba died in 597, and Adamnan was elected Abbot of Iona in 679, so that the |
|||
statement in this life that the writer had talked with men who remembered Columba may easily be received. A manuscript of the life, now at Schaffhausen, is in the hand of a scribe named Dorbhene, and belongs to the early years of the eighth century. It is written in Latin which has some of the forms of expression and a few of the peculiar words used by Irish writers of Latin in the period which the pride of later times has chosen to call the Dark Ages. Thus the work which Mr. Huyshe has translated, and Messrs. Routledge have published in a cheap, but well-printed edition, is one of the earliest complete literary compositions written in the British Islands. |
|||
The author was a contemporary of Csedmon and of Bede. and his book had probably been copied more than once before the 'Ecclesiastical History' of Bede had become known outside the monastery in which it was written. The dwellings, the journeys by land, the voyages in skin-covered boats across the seas, the social conditions, the agriculture, and the domestic life of its time are displayed in it, not as the result of antiquarian research, but as part of the daily experiences of the writer. The narrative is simple, and obviously veracious. "What the miracles were I cannot tell," said Carlyle, in a conversation in which he praised the life, " but you can see that the man wrote things exactly as they appeared to him, and that he was a man who would not tell a lie." |
|||
The sunlight shining on a particular spot, such as a distant hill-side in some well-known and beloved region, or upon a grave, often produces a great effect upon a mind already filled with thoughts of the place thus illuminated; and when this is remembered truth as well as poetry is apparent in such a description as that in the life |
|||
OF A LUMINOUS RAY SEEN ON THE FACE OF THE BOY HIMSELF AS HE SLEPT. |
|||
On another night Cruithnechan, the priest, a man of admirable life, the foster-father of the same blessed boy, returning after Mass from the church of his little dwelling, found his entire house irradiated by bright light: for he saw, indeed, a globe of fire stationary over the face of the little sleeping boy. And seeing it, he immediately trembled with fear, and, falling with face on the ground in great wonder, he understood that the grace of the Holy Spirit was poured out from heaven upon his foster-child. |
|||
The numerous pictures of nature—of the rocks, of the distant views across the sea, of the great waves, of the harvest field—add to the charm and the reality of the biography. We are made to see the heron rising from the sea-level into the sky and slowly flying out of sight, and the whale appearing on the surface of the sea and then disappearing in its depths. Nor are illustrations of human nature omitted, such as the touching account of the saint watching, with recollections of bis youth, the bird flying towards Ireland, and of the traveller in Ireland asked soon after Columba's death, not yet known there, whether all was well with the saint, and bursting into tears with the reply, "All is indeed well." |
|||
Mr. Huyshe has written an introductory summary of the principal events in the life, and at the end of each chapter has added brief but useful notes. A map showing the parts of Scotland and Ireland most often mentioned in the book is given, and in the note on this the error is made of regarding as identical the Irish kingdoms called Dalriada and Dal-Araidhe. These kingdoms formed the region of Ulidia, or Lesser Ulster, after the sack of Emania. They are now represented by the counties of Antrim and Down. Dalriada occupied the northern half of Antrim and part of its eastern coast, and the territory inland for some distance. Dal-Araidhe consisted of the county of Down and the southwestern part of Antrim. Mr. Whitwell Elwin once wrote part of a translation of Adamnan's 'Life of Columba' in which he represented with extraordinary skill the simplicity of the style of the original. It is to be regretted that he never completed the projected work. Prof. JT Fowler's useful translation in the endeavour to be faithful has obscured the literary character and merit of the original. Mr. Huyshe has done more justice to the style of Adamnan, and his translation may be recommended as the best which has appeared, and as a suitable presentation in English of this venerable biography. |
|||
NEW NOVELS. |
|||
By the Light of the Soul. By Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. (Harper & Brothers.) |
|||
Mrs. Mary Wilkins Freeman has a delicate appreciation of the young girl in her attitude towards life, and her sympathetic manner of writing and the extreme sincerity of her treatment lend themselves well to her subject. 'By the Light of the Soul' is the story of a girl's development from childhood to womanhood through difficult though not remarkable circumstances. It opens with the death of Maria Edgham's mother, speedily followed by her father's marriage with a school teacher, whose fixed smile and incapacity for natural affection, allied with a keen sense of outward decorum, are ably drawn. The characters, indeed, all have that individuality and distinction which mark the author's work, and not the least notable is that of Maria's sweet-natured, but irresponsible father, who sorely misses the stern but unselfish discipline of his first wife. The peculiarly fresh simplicity of Maria's girlhood is too soon blurred by the foolish and improbable ceremony of boy-and-girl marriage into which she is hurried, and the childish reserve which she maintains with regard to it after childhood has past, with such disastrous consequences, is certainly overstrained. The depths of her nature have been first sounded by her love for her little half-sister, and it is through this love that later she has to make the great renunciation. Viewed from an artistic as well as a human point of view, Maria's story is sadder than |page=160 | place = The Office Bream’s Buildings, Chancery Lane, EC | publisher = John C Francis & J Edward Francis}}</ref> |
|||
===In Fiction=== |
===In Fiction=== |
||
The Druze author [[Rabih Alameddine]] in his novel "The Hakawati" made a reference to the belief that Druze would be reincarnated in China.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Hakawati| |
The Druze author [[Rabih Alameddine]] in his novel "The Hakawati" made a reference to the belief that Druze would be reincarnated in China.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Hakawati|author=Rabih Alameddine|editor=|edition=|series= |volume= |date= |year=2008|language=| isbn=0307266796|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=niygLqh_TUEC&pg=PA200&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CFoQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|location=|quote= |page=200 |pages= |}}</ref> The Jewish novelist [[Avram Davidson]] also made a reference to this Druze beliefe in "The Tomb of Jethro", published in "Everybody has somebody in heaven: essential Jewish tales of the spirit"<ref>{{cite book |title=Everybody has somebody in heaven: essential Jewish tales of the spirit|coauthors=Avram Davidson, Jack Dann, Grania Davis|editor=Jack Dann, Grania Davis|edition=|series= |volume= |date= |year=2000|language=| isbn=1930143109|accessdate=April 4 2012|month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=tMMXcbOPPeEC&pg=PA122&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false|publisher=Devora Publishing|location=|quote= |page=122 |pages= |}}</ref> |
||
==Religious symbol== |
==Religious symbol== |
||
Line 297: | Line 469: | ||
==Origins of the Druze people== |
==Origins of the Druze people== |
||
===Ethnic origins=== |
===Ethnic origins=== |
||
The Druze faith extended to many areas in the Middle East, but most of the surviving modern Druze can trace their origin to the ''Wadi al-Taymour '' in [[South Lebanon]], which is named after an Arab tribe ''Taymour-Allah (formerly Taymour-Allat) '' which, according to Islamic historian, [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari|al-Tabari]], first came from Arabia into the valley of the [[Euphrates]] where they were Christianized prior to their migration into the Lebanon. Many of the Druze feudal families whose genealogies have been preserved by the two modern Syrian chroniclers [[Haydar al-Shihabi]] and [[Ahmad Faris Shidyaq|al-Shidyaq]] seem also to point in the direction of this origin. Arabian tribes emigrated via the [[Persian Gulf]] and stopped in Iraq on the route that was later to lead them to Syria. The first feudal Druze family, the [[Tanukh]] family, which made for itself a name in fighting the Crusaders, was, according to Haydar al-Shihabi, an Arab tribe from [[Mesopotamia]] where it occupied the position of a ruling family and apparently was Christianized. |
The Druze faith extended to many areas in the Middle East, but most of the surviving modern Druze can trace their origin to the ''Wadi al-Taymour '' in [[South Lebanon]], which is named after an Arab tribe ''Taymour-Allah (formerly Taymour-Allat) '' which, according to Islamic historian, [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari|al-Tabari]], first came from Arabia into the valley of the [[Euphrates]] where they were Christianized prior to their migration into the Lebanon. Many of the Druze feudal families whose genealogies have been preserved by the two modern Syrian chroniclers [[Haydar al-Shihabi]] and [[Ahmad Faris Shidyaq|al-Shidyaq]] seem also to point in the direction of this origin. Arabian tribes emigrated via the [[Persian Gulf]] and stopped in Iraq on the route that was later to lead them to Syria. The first feudal Druze family, the [[Tanukh]] family, which made for itself a name in fighting the Crusaders, was, according to Haydar al-Shihabi, an Arab tribe from [[Mesopotamia]] where it occupied the position of a ruling family and apparently was Christianized.<ref name=Hitti>''Origins of the Druze People and Religion, by Philip K. Hitti'', 1924</ref> |
||
The Tanukhs must have left [[Arabia]] as early as the second or third century A.D. The [[Ma'an]] tribe, which superseded the Tanukhs and produced the greatest Druze hero in history, [[Fakhreddin II|Fakhr-al-Din]], had the same traditional origin. The ''Talhuq'' family and '' 'Abd-al-Malik'', who supplied the later Druze leadership, have the same record as the Tanukhs. The [[Imad]] |
The Tanukhs must have left [[Arabia]] as early as the second or third century A.D. The [[Ma'an]] tribe, which superseded the Tanukhs and produced the greatest Druze hero in history, [[Fakhreddin II|Fakhr-al-Din]], had the same traditional origin. The ''Talhuq'' family and '' 'Abd-al-Malik'', who supplied the later Druze leadership, have the same record as the Tanukhs. The [[Imad|Imad family]] is named for ''al-Imadiyyah''--the Kurdish town of [[Amadiya]], northeast of [[Mosul]] inside [[Kurdistan]], and, like the [[Jumblatt]]s, is thought to be of [[Kurds|Kurdish]] origin. The [[Arsalan]] family claims descent from the [[Hirah]] Arab kings, but the name ''Arsalan'' (Persian and Turkish for lion) suggests Persian influence, if not origin.<ref name=Hitti/> |
||
The 1911 edition of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] states that the Druzes are "a mixture of refugee stocks, in which the Arab largely predominates, grafted on to an original mountain population of Aramaic blood."<ref>{{cite web |
The 1911 edition of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] states that the Druzes are "a mixture of refugee stocks, in which the Arab largely predominates, grafted on to an original mountain population of Aramaic blood."<ref>{{cite web |
||
|url=http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/DRO_ECG/DRUSES_or_DRUZES_Arab_Druz_.html |
|url=http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/DRO_ECG/DRUSES_or_DRUZES_Arab_Druz_.html |
||
|title= Encyclopædia Britannica |
|title=1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', DRUSES, or DRUZES (Arab. Druz) |
||
|quote=There is good reason to regard the Druses as, racially, a mixture of refugee stocks, in which the Arab largely predominates, grafted on to an original mountain population of Aramaic blood.}}</ref> |
|quote=There is good reason to regard the Druses as, racially, a mixture of refugee stocks, in which the Arab largely predominates, grafted on to an original mountain population of Aramaic blood. |
||
}}</ref> |
|||
According to Jewish contemporary literature, the Druze, who were visited by Benjamin of Tudela, were described as descendants of the [[Itureans]] |
According to Jewish contemporary literature, the Druze, who were visited by Benjamin of Tudela, were described as descendants of the [[Itureans]] - an Ismaelite Arab tribe, which used to reside in the northern parts of the [[Golan Heights|Golan plateau]] through Hellenistic and Roman periods. |
||
Nevertheless, many scholars formed their own hypotheses: for example, [[Lamartine]] (1835) discovered in the modern Druzes the remnants of the [[Samaritans]];<ref> |
Nevertheless, many scholars formed their own hypotheses: for example, [[Lamartine]] (1835) discovered in the modern Druzes the remnants of the [[Samaritans]];<ref>''Voyage'', by Lamartine, II, page 109.</ref> [[Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon|Earl of Carnarvon]] (1860), those of the [[Cuthites]] whom [[Esarhaddon]] transplanted into [[Palestine]];<ref>''Recollections of the Druses of Lebanon'' (London, 1860), pp. 42-43.</ref> Professor [[Felix von Luschan]] (1911), according to his conclusions from [[anthropometric]] measurements, makes the Druze, [[Maronites]], and [[Alawites]] of Syria, together with the [[Bektashis]], '[[Ahl-e Haqq|Ali-Ilahis]], and [[Yezidis]] of [[Asia Minor]] and Persia, the modern representatives of the ancient [[Hittites]].<ref>''Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute'' (London, 1911), page 241.</ref> |
||
During the 18th century, there were two branches of Druze living in Lebanon: the [[Yemeni Druze]], headed by the [[Hamdan]] and [[Al-Atrash]] families; and the [[Kaysi Druze]], headed by the [[Jumblat]] and [[Arsalan]] families. |
During the 18th century, there were two branches of Druze living in Lebanon: the [[Yemeni Druze]], headed by the [[Hamdan]] and [[Al-Atrash]] families; and the [[Kaysi Druze]], headed by the [[Jumblat]] and [[Arsalan]] families. |
||
The [[Al-Hamdan |
The [[Al-Hamdan|Hamdan]] family was banished from [[Mount Lebanon]] following the [[battle of Ain Dara]] in 1711. This battle was fought between two Druze factions: the Yemeni and the Kaysi. Following their dramatic defeat, the Yemeni faction migrated to Syria in the [[Jebel-Druze]] region and its capital, [[Soueida]]. However, it has been argued that these two factions were of political nature rather than ethnic, and had both Christian and Druze supporters. |
||
===Genetics=== |
===Genetics=== |
||
In a 2005 study of [[ASPM (gene)|ASPM gene variants]], Mekel-Bobrov et al. found that the [[Israelis|Israeli]] Druze people of the [[Mount Carmel|Carmel region]] have among the highest rate of the newly evolved ASPM [[haplogroup D]], at 52.2% occurrence of the approximately 6,000-year-old allele.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5741/1720 | title = Ongoing Adaptive Evolution of ASPM, a Brain Size Determinant in Homo sapiens | journal = [[Science (journal)|Science]] | date = 9 September 2005 | volume = 309 | number = 5741 | pages = 1720–22}}.</ref> While it is not yet known exactly what selective advantage is provided by this gene variant, the haplogroup D allele is thought to be positively selected in populations and to confer some substantial advantage that has caused its frequency to rapidly increase. |
|||
In a 2005 study of [[ASPM (gene)|ASPM gene variants]], Mekel-Bobrov et al. found that the [[Israelis|Israeli]] Druze people of the [[Mount Carmel|Carmel region]] have among the highest rate of the newly evolved ASPM [[haplogroup D]], at 52.2% occurrence of the approximately 6,000-year-old allele.<ref>[http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5741/1720 "Ongoing Adaptive Evolution of ASPM, a Brain Size Determinant in Homo sapiens"], ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'', 9 September 2005: Vol. 309. no. 5741, pp. 1720-1722.</ref> While it is not yet known exactly what selective advantage is provided by this gene variant, the haplogroup D allele is thought to be positively selected in populations and to confer some substantial advantage that has caused its frequency to rapidly increase. |
|||
According to [[DNA]] testing, Druze are remarkable for the high frequency (35%) of males who carry the [[Y-chromosome|Y-chromosomal]] [[Haplogroup L (Y-DNA)|haplogroup L]], which is otherwise uncommon in the Mideast (Shen et al. 2004).<ref>{{Citation | year = 2004 | format = [[PDF]] | last = Shen | url = http://evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Shen2004.pdf | title = Evolutsioon | publisher = UT | place = EE}}.</ref> This haplogroup originates from prehistoric [[South Asia]] and has spread from [[Pakistan]] into southern [[Iran]]. |
|||
According to [[DNA]] testing, Druze are remarkable for the high frequency (35%) of males who carry the [[Y-chromosome|Y-chromosomal]] [[Haplogroup L (Y-DNA)|haplogroup L]], which is otherwise uncommon in the Mideast (Shen et al. 2004).<ref>[http://evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Shen2004.pdf evolutsioon.ut.ee]</ref> This haplogroup originates from prehistoric [[South Asia]] and has spread from [[Pakistan]] into southern [[Iran]]. |
|||
Cruciani in 2007 found E1b1b1a2 (E-V13) [one from Sub Clades of E1b1b1a1 (E-V12)] in high levels (>10% of the male population) in Turkish Cypriot and Druze Arab lineages. Recent genetic clustering analyses of ethnic groups are consistent with the close ancestral relationship between the Druze and Cypriots, and also identified similarity to the general Syrian and Lebanese populations, as well as a variety of Jewish lineages (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Iraqi, and Moroccan) (Behar et al 2010).<ref>{{Citation | journal = Nature | url = http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/nature09103.pdf | title = The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people | format = [[PDF]]}}.</ref> |
|||
Cruciani in 2007 found E1b1b1a2 (E-V13) [one from Sub Clades of E1b1b1a1 (E-V12)] in high levels (>10% of the male population) in Turkish Cypriot and Druze Arab lineages. Recent genetic clustering analyses of ethnic groups are consistent with the close ancestral relationship between the Druze and Cypriots, and also identified similarity to the general Syrian and Lebanese populations, as well as a variety of Jewish lineages (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Iraqi, and Moroccan) (Behar et al 2010).<ref>[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/nature09103.pdf "The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people".]</ref> |
|||
Also, a new study concluded that the Druze harbor a remarkable diversity of [[human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup|mitochondrial DNA]] lineages that appear to have separated from each other thousands of years ago. But instead of dispersing throughout the world after their separation, the full range of lineages can still be found within the Druze population.<ref name=dna>{{Citation | url = http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508182219.htm | publisher = American Technion Society | date = 2008, May 12 | title = Genetics Confirm Oral Traditions of Druze In Israel | journal = ScienceDaily}}.</ref> |
|||
Also, a new study concluded that the Druze harbor a remarkable diversity of [[human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup|mitochondrial DNA]] lineages that appear to have separated from each other thousands of years ago. But instead of dispersing throughout the world after their separation, the full range of lineages can still be found within the Druze population.<ref name=dna>[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508182219.htm American Technion Society (2008, May 12). Genetics Confirm Oral Traditions Of Druze In Israel, ''ScienceDaily''.]</ref> |
|||
The researchers noted that the Druze villages contained a striking range of high frequency and high diversity of the [[Haplogroup X (mtDNA)|X haplogroup]], suggesting that this population provides a glimpse into the past genetic landscape of the [[Near East]] at a time when the X haplogroup was more prevalent.<ref name=dna/> |
The researchers noted that the Druze villages contained a striking range of high frequency and high diversity of the [[Haplogroup X (mtDNA)|X haplogroup]], suggesting that this population provides a glimpse into the past genetic landscape of the [[Near East]] at a time when the X haplogroup was more prevalent.<ref name=dna/> |
||
Line 327: | Line 501: | ||
These findings are consistent with the Druze [[oral tradition]], that claims that the adherents of the faith came from diverse ancestral lineages stretching back tens of thousands of years.<ref name=dna /> |
These findings are consistent with the Druze [[oral tradition]], that claims that the adherents of the faith came from diverse ancestral lineages stretching back tens of thousands of years.<ref name=dna /> |
||
Israeli [[Knesset]] member [[Ayoob Kara]], a Druze himself, speculated that the Druze are descended from one of the [[Lost Tribes of Israel]], probably [[Tribe of Zebulun|Zebulun]]. Kara stated that the Druze share many of the same beliefs as Jews, and that he has genetic evidence to prove that the Druze were descended from Jews.<ref name=kara>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140251 |title=MK Kara: Druze are Descended from Jews | |
Israeli [[Knesset]] member [[Ayoob Kara]], a Druze himself, speculated that the Druze are descended from one of the [[Lost Tribes of Israel]], probably [[Tribe of Zebulun|Zebulun]]. Kara stated that the Druze share many of the same beliefs as Jews, and that he has genetic evidence to prove that the Druze were descended from Jews.<ref name=kara>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140251 |title=MK Kara: Druze are Descended from Jews |author=Lev, David |date=25 October 2010 |work=Israel National News |publisher=Arutz Sheva |accessdate=27 October 2010}}</ref> |
||
That was after the Israeli author [[Tsvi Misinai]] claimed that the cultural and genetic background of [[Arab]]s living west of the Jordan River, proved that the majority of them descended from the Jewish nation,and that the genetic cluster of Druze coincides closely with those of the [[Samaritans]], and is very close to the genetic clusters of Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Jews from the Caucasus, but he asserted that such findings do not prove Kara's conclusion since several Jewish villages in Palestine converted to Druze faith which means the samples can be linked to those lineages and not a broad Druze linkage.<ref name=kara/> |
That was after the Israeli author [[Tsvi Misinai]] claimed that the cultural and genetic background of [[Arab]]s living west of the Jordan River, proved that the majority of them descended from the Jewish nation,and that the genetic cluster of Druze coincides closely with those of the [[Samaritans]], and is very close to the genetic clusters of Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Jews from the Caucasus, but he asserted that such findings do not prove Kara's conclusion since several Jewish villages in Palestine converted to Druze faith which means the samples can be linked to those lineages and not a broad Druze linkage.<ref name=kara/> |
||
Line 342: | Line 516: | ||
----------------------------------------------------------- --> |
----------------------------------------------------------- --> |
||
{{reflist|2}} |
{{reflist|2}} |
||
==Bibliography== |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=2nCWIsyZJxUC&dq=druze+Nissim+Dana&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=XqdY8x2TYr&sig=yMfzBjScKqQX7oxYfAkLMx9qyc0&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA3,M1 | title = The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status | first = Nissim | last = Dana |publisher=Sussex University Press |year=2003 |isbn=1-903900-36-0}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | title = Origins of the Druze People and Religion| first = Philip Khūri | last = Hitti| year = 1924 | isbn= 1-60506-068-2| accessdate= April 4 2012 | url= http://books.google.com/books?id=B_YJAvND0RwC&pg=PA47&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false| publisher= Forgotten Books}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | title = Minorities in the Middle East: a history of struggle and self-expression | first =Mordechai | last = Nisan | edition= 2nd, illustrated | year=2002 | isbn=0-7864-1375-1|accessdate=April 4 2012 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=keD9z1XWuNwC&pg=PA96&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bw5-T5W4LIy10QHk8ZC8Dg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false | publisher = McFarland}} |
|||
* {{Citation | title = Historical dictionary of the Druzes| first = Samy S | last = Swayd| edition = illustrated |volume= 3 |year= 2006| isbn= 0-8108-5332-9| accessdate= April 4 2012 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=TlCHg5EblxEC&pg=PR41&dq=druze+china&hl=en&sa=X&ei=39R9T4znFIuG8QT28cn5DA&ved=0CGUQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=druze%20china&f=false | publisher= Scarecrow Press}} |
|||
==Further reading== |
==Further reading== |
||
*Sakr Abu Fakhr: "Voices from the Golan"; ''Journal of Palestine Studies,'' Vol. 29, No. 4 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 5–36. |
*Sakr Abu Fakhr: "Voices from the Golan"; ''Journal of Palestine Studies,'' Vol. 29, No. 4 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 5–36. |
||
* |
*[[Jean-Marc Aractingi]] et Christian Lochon , Secrets initiatiques en Islam et rituels maçonniques-Ismaéliens, Druzes, Alaouites,Confréries soufies; éd. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2008 (ISBN 978-2-296-06536-9 ). |
||
*Rabih Alameddine: ''I, the Divine: A Novel in First Chapters'', Norton (2002). ISBN 0-393-32356-0. |
*Rabih Alameddine: ''I, the Divine: A Novel in First Chapters'', Norton (2002). ISBN 0-393-32356-0. |
||
*B. Destani, ed.: ''Minorities in the Middle East: Druze Communities 1840–1974'', 4 volumes, Slough: Archive Editions (2006). ISBN |
*B. Destani, ed.: ''Minorities in the Middle East: Druze Communities 1840–1974'', 4 volumes, Slough: Archive Editions (2006). ISBN 1840971657. |
||
*R. Scott Kennedy: "The Druze of the Golan: A Case of Non-Violent Resistance"; ''Journal of Palestine Studies,'' Vol. 13, No. 2 (Winter, 1984), pp. 48–6. |
*R. Scott Kennedy: "The Druze of the Golan: A Case of Non-Violent Resistance"; ''Journal of Palestine Studies,'' Vol. 13, No. 2 (Winter, 1984), pp. 48–6. |
||
*Dr. Anis Obeid: ''The Druze & Their Faith in Tawhid'', Syracuse University Press (July 2006). ISBN |
*Dr. Anis Obeid: ''The Druze & Their Faith in Tawhid'', Syracuse University Press (July 2006). ISBN 0815630972. |
||
*Shmuel Shamai: "Critical Sociology of Education Theory in Practice: The Druze Education in the Golan"; ''British Journal of Sociology of Education,'' Vol. 11, No. 4 (1990), pp. 449–463. |
*Shmuel Shamai: "Critical Sociology of Education Theory in Practice: The Druze Education in the Golan"; ''British Journal of Sociology of Education,'' Vol. 11, No. 4 (1990), pp. 449–463. |
||
*Samy Swayd: ''The Druzes: An Annotated Bibliography'', Kirkland, Washington: ISES Publications (1998). ISBN |
*Samy Swayd: ''The Druzes: An Annotated Bibliography'', Kirkland, Washington: ISES Publications (1998). ISBN 0966293207. |
||
*Bashar Tarabieh: "Education, Control and Resistance in the Golan Heights"; ''Middle East Report,'' No. 194/195, Odds against Peace (May–Aug., 1995), pp. 43–47. |
*Bashar Tarabieh: "Education, Control and Resistance in the Golan Heights"; ''Middle East Report,'' No. 194/195, Odds against Peace (May–Aug., 1995), pp. 43–47. |
||
Line 363: | Line 531: | ||
{{External links|date=November 2010}} |
{{External links|date=November 2010}} |
||
{{Wiktionary}} |
{{Wiktionary}} |
||
'''Sources''' |
|||
*[http://www.druzehistoryandculture.com/ History and sites of the Druze] |
|||
*[http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/Joshua_Landis_Druze_and_Shishakli.htm Rise and fall of the Syrian Druze] |
|||
*[http://www.druzestudies.org/ Institute of Druze Studies], San Diego, California |
|||
*[http://www.druzenet.org/ Druzenet], English publications |
|||
*[http://www.religioustolerance.org/druse.htm Druse, Druze, Mowahhidoon] described at the OCRT site |
|||
*[http://www.ismaili.net/Source/1325.html Druze Catechism] |
|||
*[http://59.1911encyclopedia.org/D/DR/DRUSES.htm 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article] |
|||
*[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9363131/Druze Article about Druze] ''Encyclopædia Britannica Concise'' |
|||
*[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9031268/Druze Longer article about Druze] ''Encyclopædia Britannica Concise'' |
|||
*[http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Druze.html Druze] by Pam Rohland |
|||
*[http://www.semp.us/biots/biot_176.html SEMP - Who are the Druze?] |
|||
*[http://www.mmouka.com/ Druze articles] |
|||
*[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/contestant-no-2/slideshow-who-are-the-druze/5255/ Who are the Druze? Photo essay] on PBS Wide Angle website |
|||
*[http://americandruze.com/Druze%20Population.html] |
|||
'''Communities''' |
|||
===Sources=== |
|||
*[http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Druze-Professional-Network-3789577?mostPopular=&gid=3789577/ Druze Professional Network (DPN)] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druzehistoryandculture.com/ | title = Druze History and culture}}. |
|||
*[http://www.druzechat.com/ Druze Chat] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/Joshua_Landis_Druze_and_Shishakli.htm | title = Rise and fall of the Syrian Druze | last = Landis | first = Joshua | publisher = OU}}. |
|||
*[http://www.druzefaces.com/ Druze Faces] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druzestudies.org/ | title = Institute of Druze Studies | place = San Diego, CA, USA}}. |
|||
*[http://www.druzenews.com/ Druze News] Druze News from Lebanon, Israel and the Druze world. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druzenet.org/ title = Druzenet}}. |
|||
*[http://www.lebdruze.com/ Lebanese Druze Online Community] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.religioustolerance.org/druse.htm | contribution = Druse, Druze, Mowahhidoon | titlke = Religious tolerance | publisher = OCRT}} |
|||
* |
*[http://www.druze.com/ American Druze Society - National] |
||
*[http://www.druze.org/ American Druze Society - Michigan] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://59.1911encyclopedia.org/D/DR/DRUSES.htm | year = 1911 | title = Encyclopædia Britannica | contribution = Druses}}. |
|||
*[http://www.edmontondruze.com/ The Druze Association of Edmonton] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9363131/Druze | contribution = Druze | title = Encyclopædia Britannica | edition = concise}}. |
|||
*[http://www.druze.net/ Canadian Druze Society] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9031268/Druze | contribution = Druze | title = Encyclopædia Britannica Concise | edition = concise}} (longer article). |
|||
*[http://www.druze.org.au/ Australian Druze Community] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Druze.html | title = Druze | first = Pam | last = Rohland | publisher = Every culture}}. |
|||
*[http://sa.druze.org.au/ South Australian Druze Community] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.semp.us/biots/biot_176.html | publihser = SEMP | title = Who are the Druze?}}. |
|||
* |
*[http://www.druze.org.il/ Israeli Druze Online - in Hebrew] |
||
*[http://www.europeandruzesociety.com/ European Druze Society] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/contestant-no-2/slideshow-who-are-the-druze/5255/ | contribution = Who are the Druze? | type = photo essay | publisher = PBS | title = Wide Angle}}. |
|||
*[http://www.druzecafe.com/ Meeting Druze from all over the world] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://americandruze.com/Druze%20Population.html | title = Population | publisher = American Druze}}. |
|||
===Communities=== |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Druze-Professional-Network-3789577?mostPopular=&gid=3789577/ | title = Druze Professional Network | publisher = Linked In}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druzechat.com/ | title = Druze Chat}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druzefaces.com/ | title = Druze Faces}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druzenews.com/ | title = Druze News}} from Lebanon, Israel and the Druze world. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.lebdruze.com/ | place = Lebanon | title = Druze Online Community}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druze.com/ | title = American Druze Society | place = USA}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druze.org/ | title = American Druze Society | place = MI, USA}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.edmontondruze.com/ | title = The Druze Association | place = Edmonton}} |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druze.net/ | place = Canada | title = Druze Society}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druze.org.au/ | place = Australia | title = Druze Community}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://sa.druze.org.au/ | place = South Australian | title = Druze Community}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druze.org.il/ | place = Israel | title = Druze | language = Hebrew}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.europeandruzesociety.com/ | place = Europe | title = Druze Society}}. |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.druzecafe.com/ | title = Druze Café}}: Meeting Druze from all over the world. |
|||
'''Other links''' |
|||
* |
*[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/contestant-no-2/staying-druze-in-america/5322/ Staying Druze in America video] on PBS Wide Angle website |
||
* |
*[http://www.hackwriters.com/Druze.htm Druze: A small peace of Israel] from hackwriters.com |
||
* |
*[http://dlxs2.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=cdl;idno=cdl324 ''The Druzes and the Maronites under the Turkish Rule from 1840 to 1860'']. Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection. ISBN 1-429-73982-7. |
||
* |
*[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/contestant-no-2/introduction/5002/ Contestant No. 2] PBS Wide Angle documentary about a Druze teen who challenges her conservative community |
||
<!-- should be in both because it is both a Lebanon based religion and a key community in Lebanon--> |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.rbenninghaus.de/druzes.htm | title = Druze in Israel and Syria | publisher = R Benninghaus | place = DE}}. |
|||
*[http://www.rbenninghaus.de/druzes.htm Druze in Israel and Syria] |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/druze.html | title = The Druze | first = Dr. Naim | last = Aridi | publisher = Jewish virtual library}}. |
|||
*[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/druze.html The Druze] by Dr. Naim Aridi |
|||
* {{Citation | url = http://www.abbasabusaleh.com/ | title = Historical Changes in the Political Role of the Druze in Lebanon | first = Dr. Abbas | last = Abu Saleh}}. |
|||
*[http://www.abbasabusaleh.com Historical Changes in the Political Role of the Druze in Lebanon] by Dr. Abbas Abu Saleh |
|||
* {{Citation | archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7854/transfer29.html&date=2009-10-25+06:53:56 | archivedate = 2009-10-25 6h 53min 56s | url = http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7854/transfer29.html | title = The Druze}}. |
|||
*[http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7854/transfer29.html&date=2009-10-25+06:53:56 The Druze] |
|||
{{Islam topics|state=collapsed}} |
{{Islam topics|state=collapsed}} |
Revision as of 21:20, 7 April 2012
![]() |
![]() | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (November 2011) |
![]() | |
Total population | |
---|---|
1,000,000 to 2,500,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 700,000[1] |
![]() | 400,000[1] |
![]() | 100,000[1] |
![]() | 20,000[2] |
Outside the Middle East | 100,000 |
![]() | 20,000[3] |
![]() | 10,000 |
![]() | 5,000 |
![]() | 3,000[4] |
![]() | 3,000 |
![]() | <1,000 |
Religions | |
Unitarian Druze | |
Scriptures | |
Qur'an, Rasa'il al-hikmah (Epistles of Wisdom) | |
Languages | |
Arabic English Hebrew (in Israel) French (in Lebanon and Syria) Spanish (in Colombia and Venezuela) |
Part of a series on Islam Isma'ilism |
---|
![]() |
![]() |
The Druze ([درزي, derzī or durzī] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), plural دروز, durūz, Hebrew: דרוזים druzim) are a monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. Druze beliefs incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and other philosophies. The Druze call themselves Ahl al-Tawhid the People of Monotheism or al-Muwaḥḥidūn "the Unitarians".
Location
The Druze people reside primarily in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.[5] The Israeli Druze are mostly in Galilee (81%), around Haifa (19%), and in the Golan Heights,[6] which is home to about 20,000 Druze.[7] The Institute of Druze Studies estimates that 40%–50% of Druze live in Syria, 30%–40% in Lebanon, 6%–7% in Israel, and 1%–2% in Jordan.[8][9]
Large communities of expatriate Druze also live outside the Middle East in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the United States, and West Africa. They use the Arabic language and follow a social pattern very similar to those of the other peoples of the eastern Mediterranean region.[10]
The number of Druze people worldwide exceeds one million, with the vast majority residing in the Levant or East Mediterranean.[11]
History
Origin of the name
The name Druze is derived from the name of Anushtakīn ad-Darazī (from Persian, darzi, "seamster") who was an early preacher. Although the Druze consider ad-Darazī a heretic[12] the name had been used to identify them.
Before becoming public, the movement was secretive and held closed meetings in what was known as Sessions of Wisdom. During this stage a dispute occurred between ad-Darazi and Hamza bin Ali mainly concerning ad-Darazi's ghuluww (Arabic, "exaggeration"), which refers to the belief that God was incarnated in human beings, especially 'Ali and his descendants, including Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah who was the current Caliph, and ad-Darazi naming himself "The Sword of the Faith" which led Hamza to write an epistle refuting the need for the sword to spread the faith and several epistles refuting the beliefs of the ghulat.
In 1016 ad-Darazi and his followers openly proclaimed their beliefs and called people to join them, causing riots in Cairo against the Unitarian movement including Hamza bin Ali and his followers which led to the suspension of the movement for one year and the expulsion of ad-Darazi and his supporters.[13]
Although the Druze religious books describe ad-Darazi as the "insolent one" and as the "Calf" who is narrow minded and hasty, the name "Druze" is still used for identification and for historical reasons. In 1018 ad-Darazi was assassinated for his teachings, some sources claim to be executed by Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.[12][14]
Some authorities see in the name "Druze" a descriptive epithet, derived from Arabic dâresah ("those who study").[15] Others have speculated that the word comes from the Arabic-Persian word Darazo (درز "bliss") or from Shaykh Hussayn ad-Darazī, who was one of the early converts to the faith.[16] In the early stages of the movement, the word "Druze" is rarely mentioned by historians, and in Druze religious texts only the word Muwaḥḥidūn ("Unitarian") appears. The only early Arab historian who mentions the Druze is the 11th century Christian scholar Yahya of Antioch, who clearly refers to the heretical group created by ad-Darazī rather than the followers of Hamza ibn 'Alī.[16] As for Western sources, Benjamin of Tudela, the Jewish traveler who passed through Lebanon in or about 1165, was one of the first European writers to refer to the Druzes by name. The word Dogziyin ("Druzes") occurs in an early Hebrew edition of his travels, but it is clear that this is a scribal error. Be that as it may, he described the Druze as "mountain dwellers, monotheists, who believe in 'soul eternity' and reincarnation."[17]
Early history
The Druze faith began as a movement in Ismailism, that was mainly influenced by Greek philosophy and gnosticism and opposed certain religious and philosophical ideologies that were present during that epoch.
The faith was preached by Hamza ibn 'Alī ibn Ahmad, a Persian Ismaili mystic and scholar. He came to Egypt in 1014 and assembled a group of scholars and leaders from across the world to establish the Unitarian movement. The order's meetings were held in the Raydan Mosque, near the Al-Hakim Mosque.[18]
In 1017, Hamza officially revealed the Druze faith and began to preach the Unitarian doctrine. Hamza gained the support of the Fātimid Caliph al-Hakim, who issued a decree promoting religious freedom prior to the declaration of the divine call.
Remove ye the causes of fear and estrangement from yourselves. Do away with the corruption of delusion and conformity. Be ye certain that the Prince of Believers hath given unto you free will, and hath spared you the trouble of disguising and concealing your true beliefs, so that when ye work ye may keep your deeds pure for God. He hath done thus so that when you relinquish your previous beliefs and doctrines ye shall not indeed lean on such causes of impediments and pretensions. By conveying to you the reality of his intention, the Prince of Believers hath spared you any excuse for doing so. He hath urged you to declare your belief openly. Ye are now safe from any hand which may bring harm unto you. Ye now may find rest in his assurance ye shall not be wronged. Let those who are present convey this message unto the absent so that it may be known by both the distinguished and the common people. It shall thus become a rule to mankind; and Divine Wisdom shall prevail for all the days to come.[19]
Al-Hakim became a central figure in the Druze faith even though his own religious position was disputed among scholars. John Esposito states that al-Hakim believed that "he was not only the divinely appointed religio-political leader but also the cosmic intellect linking God with creation.",[20] while others like Nissim Dana and Mordechai Nisan state that he is perceived as the manifestation and the reincarnation of God or presumably the image of God.[21][22][page needed]
Some Druze and non-Druze scholars like Samy Swayd and Sami Makarem state that this confusion is due to confusion about the role of the early preacher ad-Darazi, whose teachings the Druze rejected as heretical.[23] These sources assert that al-Hakim rejected ad-Darazi's claims of divinity,[14][24][25] and ordered the elimination of his movement while supporting that of Hamza ibn Ali.[26]
Al-Hakim disappeared one night while out on his evening ride — presumably assassinated, perhaps at the behest of his formidable elder sister Sitt al-Mulk. The Druze believe he went into Occultation with Hamza ibn Ali and three other prominent preachers, leaving the care of the "Unitarian missionary movement" to a new leader, Bahā'u d-Dīn.
Closing of the faith
Al-Hakim was replaced by his underage son, 'Alī az-Zahir. The Unitarian Druze movement, which existed in the Fatimid Caliphate, acknowledged az-Zahir as the Caliph, but followed Hamzah as its Imam.[14] The young Caliph's regent, Sitt al-Mulk, ordered the army to destroy the movement in 1021.[12] At the same time, Bahā'a ad-Dīn as-Samuki was assigned the leadership of the Unitarian Movement by Hamza Bin Ali.[14]
For the next seven years, the Druze faced extreme persecution by the new caliph, al-Zahir, who wanted to eradicate the faith.[27] This was the result of a power struggle inside of the Fatimid empire in which the Druze were viewed with suspicion because of their refusal to recognize the new Caliph, Ali az-Zahir, as their Imam. Many spies, mainly the followers of Ad-Darazi, joined the Unitarian movement in order to infiltrate the Druze community. The spies set about agitating trouble and soiling the reputation of the Druze. This resulted in friction with the new caliph who clashed militarily with the Druze community. The clashes ranged from Antioch to Alexandria, where tens of thousands of Druze were slaughtered by the Fatimid army.[12] The largest massacre was at Antioch, where 5000 Druze religious leaders were killed, followed by that of Aleppo.[12] As a result, the faith went underground in hope of survival, as those captured were either forced to renounce their faith or killed. Druze survivors "were found principally in southern Lebanon and Syria." In 1038, two years after the death of al-Zahir, the Druze movement was able to resume because the new leadership that replaced him had friendly political ties with at least one prominent Druze leader.[27]
In 1043 Bahā'a ad-Dīn declared that the sect would no longer accept new pledges, and since that time proselytization has been prohibited.[14][27]
During the Crusades
It was during the period of Crusader rule in Syria (1099–1291) that the Druze first emerged into the full light of history in the Gharb region of the Chouf Mountains. As powerful warriors serving the Muslim rulers of Damascus against the Crusades, the Druze were given the task of keeping watch over the crusaders in the seaport of Beirut, with the aim of preventing them from making any encroachments inland. Subsequently, the Druze chiefs of the Gharb placed their considerable military experience at the disposal of the Mamluk rulers of Egypt (1250–1516); first, to assist them in putting an end to what remained of Crusader rule in coastal Syria, and later to help them safeguard the Syrian coast against Crusader retaliation by sea.[28]
In the early period of the Crusader era, the Druze feudal power was in the hands of two families, the Tanukhs and the Arslans. From their fortresses in the Gharb district (modern Aley Province) of southern Mount Lebanon, the Tanukhs led their incursions into the Phoenician coast and finally succeeded in holding Beirut and the marine plain against the Franks. Because of their fierce battles with the crusaders, the Druzes earned the respect of the Sunni Muslim Caliphs and thus gained important political powers. After the middle of the twelfth century, the Ma'an family superseded the Tanukhs in Druze leadership. The origin of the family goes back to a Prince Ma'an who made his appearance in the Lebanon in the days of the 'Abbasid Caliph al-Mustarshid (1118 AD-1135 AD). The Ma'ans chose for their abode the Chouf district in the southern part of Western Lebanon, overlooking the maritime plain between Beirut and Sidon, and made their headquarters in Baaqlin, which is still a leading Druze village. They were invested with feudal authority by Sultan Nur-al-Dīn and furnished respectable contingents to the Muslim ranks in their struggle against the Crusaders.[29]
Persecution during the Mamluk and Ottoman period
Having cleared Syria of the Franks, the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt turned their attention to the schismatic Muslims of Syria. In 1305, after the issuing of a fatwa by the scholar Ibn Taymiyyah calling for jihad against all non-Sunni Muslims like the Druze, Alawites, Ismaili, and twelver Shiites. al-Malik al-Nasir inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Druze at Keserwan and forced outward compliance on their part to orthodox Sunni Islam. Later, under the Ottoman Turks, they were severely attacked at Ayn-Ṣawfar in 1585 after the Ottomans claimed that they assaulted their caravans near Tripoli.[29]
Consequently, the 16th and 17th centuries were to witness a succession of armed Druze rebellions against the Ottomans, countered by repeated Ottoman punitive expeditions against the Chouf, in which the Druze population of the area was severely depleted and many villages destroyed. These military measures, severe as they were, did not succeed in reducing the local Druze to the required degree of subordination. This led the Ottoman government to agree to an arrangement whereby the different nahiyes (districts) of the Chouf would be granted in iltizam ("fiscal concession") to one of the region's amirs, or leading chiefs, leaving the maintenance of law and order and the collection of its taxes in the area in the hands of the appointed amir. This arrangement was to provide the cornerstone for the privileged status which ultimately came to be enjoyed by the whole of Mount Lebanon in Ottoman Syria, Druze and Christian areas alike.[30]
Ma'an dynasty
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Fakhreddincastle.jpg)
With the advent of the Ottoman Turks and the conquest of Syria by Sultan Selim I in 1516, the Ma'ans were acknowledged by the new rulers as the feudal lords of southern Lebanon. Druze villages spread and prospered in that region, which under Ma'an leadership so flourished that it acquired the generic term of Jabal Bayt-Ma'an (the mountain of the Ma'an family) or Jabal al-Druze. The latter title has since been usurped by the Hawran region, which since the middle of the 19th century has proven a haven of refuge to Druze emigrants from Lebanon and has become the headquarters of Druze power.[29]
Under Fakhr-al-Dīn II (Fakhreddin II), the Druze dominion increased until it included almost all Syria, extending from the edge of the Antioch plain in the north to Safad in the south, with a part of the Syrian desert dominated by Fakhr-al-Din's castle at Tadmur (Palmyra), the ancient capital of Zenobia. The ruins of this castle still stand on a steep hill overlooking the town. Fakhr-al-Din became too strong for his Turkish sovereign in Constantinople. He went so far in 1608 as to sign a commercial treaty with Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany containing secret military clauses. The Sultan then sent a force against him, and he was compelled to flee the land and seek refuge in the courts of Tuscany and Naples in 1614.
In 1618 political changes in the Ottoman sultanate had resulted in the removal of many enemies of Fakhr-al-Din from power, signaling the prince's triumphant return to Lebanon soon afterwards.
In 1632 Ahmad Koujak was named Lord of Damascus. Koujak was a rival of Fakhr-al-Din and a friend of the sultan Murad IV, who ordered Koujak and the sultanat navy to attack Lebanon and depose Fakhr-al-Din.
This time the prince decided to remain in Lebanon and resist the offensive, but the death of his son Ali in Wadi el-Taym was the beginning of his defeat. He later took refuge in Jezzine's grotto, closely followed by Koujak who eventually caught up with him and his family.
Fakhr-al-Din finally traveled to Turkey, appearing before the sultan, defending himself so skillfully that the sultan gave him permission to return to Lebanon.
Later, however, the sultan changed his orders and had Fakhr-al-Din and his family killed on 13 April 1635 in Istanbul, the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, bringing an end to an era in the history of Lebanon, a country which would not regain its current boundaries, which Fakhr-al-Din once ruled, until Lebanon was proclaimed a republic in 1920.
Fakhr-al-Din was the first ruler in modern Lebanon to open the doors of his country to foreign Western influences. Under his auspices the French established a khān (hostel) in Sidon, the Florentines a consulate, and Christian missionaries were admitted into the country. Beirut and Sidon, which Fakhr-al-Din beautified, still bear traces of his benign rule.
Shihab Dynasty
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Druzewomantantur.jpg/220px-Druzewomantantur.jpg)
As early as the days of Saladin, and while the Ma'ans were still in complete control over southern Lebanon, the Shihab tribe, originally Hijaz Arabs but later settled in Ḥawran, advanced from Ḥawran, in 1172, and settled in Wadi-al-Taym at the foot of Mt. Hermon. They soon made an alliance with the Ma'ans and were acknowledged as the Druze chiefs in Wadi-al-Taym. At the end of the 17th century (1697) the Shihabs succeeded the Ma'ans in the feudal leadership of Druze southern Lebanon, although they reportedly professed Sunni Islam, they showed sympathy with Druzism, the religion of the majority of their subjects.
The Shihab leadership continued until the middle of the 19th century and culminated in the illustrious governorship of Amir Bashir Shihab II (1788–1840) who, after Fakhr-al-Din, was the most powerful feudal lord Lebanon produced. Though governor of the Druze Mountain, Bashir was a crypto-Christian, and it was he whose aid Napoleon solicited in 1799 during his campaign against Syria.
Having consolidated his conquests in Syria (1831–1838), Ibrahim Pasha, son of the viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, made the fatal mistake of trying to disarm the Christians and Druzes of the Lebanon and to draft the latter into his army. This was contrary to the principles of the life of independence which these mountaineers had always lived, and resulted in a general uprising against Egyptian rule. The uprising was encouraged, for political reasons, by the British. The Druzes of Wadi-al-Taym and Ḥawran, under the leadership of Shibli al-Aryan, distinguished themselves in their stubborn resistance at their inaccessible headquarters, al-Laja, lying southeast of Damascus.[29]
Qaysites and the Yemenites
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/DruzeOttomanHakim.jpg/220px-DruzeOttomanHakim.jpg)
The conquest of Syria by the Muslim Arabs in the middle of the seventh century introduced into the land two political factions later called the Qaysites and the Yemenites. The Qaysite party represented the Ḥijaz and Bedouin Arabs who were regarded as inferior by the Yemenites who were earlier and more cultured emigrants into Syria from southern Arabia. Druzes and Christians grouped in political rather than religious parties so the party lines in Lebanon obliterated racial and religious lines and the people grouped themselves regardless of their religious affiliations, into one or the other of these two parties. The sanguinary feuds between these two factions depleted, in course of time, the manhood of the Lebanon and ended in the decisive battle of Ain Dara in 1711, which resulted in the utter defeat of the Yemenite party. Many Yemenite Druzes thereupon immigrated to the Hawran region and thus laid the foundation of Druze power there.[29]
Civil War of 1860
The Druzes and their Christian Maronite neighbors, who had thus far lived as religious communities on friendly terms, entered a period of social disturbance in the year 1840, which culminated in the civil war of 1860.[29]
After the Shehab dynasty converted to Christianity, the Druze community and feudal leaders came under attack from the regime with the collaboration of the Catholic Church, and the Druze lost most of their political and feudal powers. Also, the Druze formed an alliance with Britain and allowed Protestant missionaries to enter Mount Lebanon, creating tension between them and the Catholic Maronites, who were supported by the French.
The Maronite-Druze conflict in 1840–60 was an outgrowth of the Maronite Christian independence movement, directed against the Druze, Druze feudalism, and the Ottoman-Turks. The civil war was not therefore a religious war, except in Damascus, where it spread and where the vastly non-Druze population was anti-Christian. The movement culminated with the 1859–60 massacre and defeat of the Christians by the Druzes. The civil war of 1860 cost the Christians some ten thousand lives in Damascus, Zahlé, Deir al-Qamar, Hasbaya, and other towns of Lebanon.
The European powers then determined to intervene, and authorized the landing in Beirut of a body of French troops under General Beaufort d'Hautpoul, whose inscription can still be seen on the historic rock at the mouth of Nahr al-Kalb. French intervention on behalf of the Maronites did not help the Maronite national movement, since France was restricted in 1860 by Britain, which did not want the Ottoman Empire dismembered. But European intervention pressured the Turks to treat the Maronites more justly.[31] Following the recommendations of the powers, the Ottoman Porte granted Lebanon local autonomy, guaranteed by the powers, under a Christian governor. This autonomy was maintained until World War I.[29][32][page needed]
Rebellion in Hauran
The Hauran rebellion was a violent Druze uprising against Ottoman authority in the Syrian province, which erupted in 1909. The rebellion was led by al-Atrash family in an aim to gain independence, but ended in brutal suppression of the Druze, significant depopulation of the Hauran region and execution of the Druze leaders in 1910.
Modern history
In Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, the Druze have official recognition as a separate religious community with its own religious court system. Druze are known for their loyalty to the countries they reside in,[33] though they have a strong community feeling, in which they identify themselves as related even across borders of countries.[34]
Despite their practice of blending with dominant groups in order to avoid persecution and because the Druze religion doesn't endorse separatist sentiments, urging the Druze to blend with the communities they reside in, nevertheless the Druze have had a history of brave resistance to occupying powers, and they have at times enjoyed more freedom than most other groups living in the Levant.[34]
In Syria
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Druze_warriors.jpg/220px-Druze_warriors.jpg)
In Syria, most Druze live in the Jebel al-Druze, a rugged and mountainous region in the southwest of the country, which is more than 90 percent Druze inhabited; some 120 villages are exclusively so.[35]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Flag_of_Druze.svg/220px-Flag_of_Druze.svg.png)
The Druze always played a far more important role in Syrian politics than its comparatively small population would suggest. With a community of little more than 100,000 in 1949, or roughly three percent of the Syrian population, the Druze of Syria's southeastern mountains constituted a potent force in Syrian politics and played a leading role in the nationalist struggle against the French. Under the military leadership of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, the Druze provided much of the military force behind the Syrian Revolution of 1925–27. In 1945, Amir Hasan al-Atrash, the paramount political leader of the Jebel al-Druze, led the Druze military units in a successful revolt against the French, making the Jebel al-Druze the first and only region in Syria to liberate itself from French rule without British assistance. At independence the Druze, made confident by their successes, expected that Damascus would reward them for their many sacrifices on the battlefield. They demanded to keep their autonomous administration and many political privileges accorded them by the French and sought generous economic assistance from the newly independent government.[35]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/SyrianDouroze.jpg/220px-SyrianDouroze.jpg)
Well-led by the Atrash household and jealous of their reputation as Arab nationalists and proud warriors, the Druze leaders refused to be beaten into submission by Damascus or cowed by threats. When a local paper in 1945 reported that President Shukri al-Quwatli (1943–49) had called the Druzes a "dangerous minority", Sultan Pasha al-Atrash flew into a rage and demanded a public retraction. If it were not forthcoming, he announced, the Druzes would indeed become "dangerous" and a force of 4,000 Druze warriors would "occupy the city of Damascus." Quwwatli could not dismiss Sultan Pasha's threat. The military balance of power in Syria was tilted in favor of the Druzes, at least until the military build up during the 1948 War in Palestine. One advisor to the Syrian Defense Department warned in 1946 that the Syrian army was "useless", and that the Druzes could "take Damascus and capture the present leaders in a breeze."[35]
During the four years of Adib Shishakli's rule in Syria (December 1949 to February 1954) (on August 25, 1952: Adib al-Shishakli created the Arab Liberation Movement (ALM), a progressive party with pan-Arabist and socialist views),[36] the Druze community was subjected to a heavy attack by the Syrian regime. Shishakli believed that among his many opponents in Syria, the Druzes were the most potentially dangerous, and he was determined to crush them. He frequently proclaimed: "My enemies are like a serpent: the head is the Jebel al-Druze, the stomach Homs, and the tail Aleppo. If I crush the head the serpent will die." Shishakli dispatched 10,000 regular troops to occupy the Jebel al-Druze. Several towns were bombarded with heavy weapons, killing scores of civilians and destroying many houses. According to Druze accounts, Shishakli encouraged neighboring bedouin tribes to plunder the defenseless population and allowed his own troops to run amok.[35]
Shishakli launched a brutal campaign to defame the Druzes for their religion and politics. He accused the entire community of treason, at times claiming they were agents of the British and Hashimites, at others that they were fighting for Israel against the Arabs. He even produced a cache of Israeli weapons allegedly discovered in the Jabal. Even more painful for the Druze community was his publication of "falsified Druze religious texts" and false testimonials ascribed to leading Druze sheikhs designed to stir up sectarian hatred. This propaganda also was broadcast in the Arab world, mainly Egypt. Shishakli was assassinated in Brazil on September 27, 1964 by a Druze seeking revenge for Shishakli's bombardment of the Jebel al-Druze.[35]
He forcibly integrated minorities into the national Syrian social structure, his "Syrianization" of Alawite and Druze territories had to be accomplished in part using violence, he declared: "My enemies are like serpent. The head is the Jabal Druze, if I crush the head the serpent will die" (Seale 1963:132).[35] To this end, al-Shishakli encouraged the stigmatization of minorities. He saw minority demands as tantamount to treason. His increasingly chauvinistic notions of Arab nationalism were predicated on the denial that "minorities" existed in Syria.[37][page needed]
After the Shishakli's military campaign, the Druze community lost a lot of its political influence, but many Druze military officers played an important role when it comes to the Baathist regime currently ruling Syria.[35]
In Lebanon
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Prophet_Job_Shrine.jpg/220px-Prophet_Job_Shrine.jpg)
The Druze community played an important role in the formation of the modern state of Lebanon, and even though they are a minority they played an important role in the Lebanese political scene. Before and during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–90), the Druze were in favor of Pan-Arabism and Palestinian resistance represented by the PLO. Most of the community supported the Progressive Socialist Party formed by the Lebanese leader Kamal Jumblatt and they fought alongside other leftist and Palestinian parties against the Lebanese Front that was mainly constituted of Christians. After the assassination of Kamal Jumblatt on March 16, 1977, his son Walid Jumblatt took the leadership of the party and played an important role in preserving his father's legacy and sustained the existence of the Druze community during the sectarian bloodshed that lasted until 1990.
In August 2001, Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir toured the predominantly Druze Chouf region of Mount Lebanon and visited Mukhtara, the ancestral stronghold of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. The tumultuous reception that Sfeir received not only signified a historic reconciliation between Maronites and Druze, who fought a bloody war in 1983–84, but underscored the fact that the banner of Lebanese sovereignty had broad multi-confessional appeal[38] and was a cornerstone for the Cedar Revolution. The second largest political party supported by Druze is the Lebanese Democratic Party led by Prince Talal Arslan the son of Lebanese independence hero Prince Magid Arslan. Many Druze also support the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
In Israel
The Israeli Druze are a religious minority in Israel. In 2004, there were 102,000 Druze living in the country.[39] In 1957, the Israeli government designated the Druze a distinct ethnic community at the request of its communal leaders. The Druze are Arabic-speaking citizens of Israel who serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Members of the community have attained top positions in Israeli politics and public service.[40] They live mainly in the north of the country.[41]
Beliefs of the Druze
The Druze are considered to be a social group as well as a religious sect, but not a distinct ethnic group. Also complicating their identity is the custom of Taqiya—concealing or disguising their beliefs when necessary—that they adopted from Shia Islam and the esoteric nature of the faith, in which many teachings are kept secretive. Druze in different states can have radically different lifestyles. Some claim to be Muslim, some do not. The Druze faith is said to abide by Islamic principles, but they tend to be separatist in their treatment of Druze-hood, and their religion differs from mainstream Islam on a number of fundamental points.[42][page needed]
God in the Druze faith
The Druze conception of the deity is declared by them to be one of strict and uncompromising unity. The main Druze doctrine states that God is both transcendent and immanent, in which he is above all attributes but at the same time he is present.[43]
In their desire to maintain a rigid confession of unity, they stripped from God all attributes (tanzīh) which may lead to polytheism (shirk). In God, there are no attributes distinct from his essence. He is wise, mighty, and just, not by wisdom, might and justice, but by his own essence. God is "the whole of existence", rather than "above existence" or on his throne, which would make him "limited." There is neither "how", "when", nor "where" about him; he is incomprehensible.[44][page needed]
In this dogma, they are similar to the semi-philosophical, semi-religious body which flourished under Al-Ma'mun and was known by the name of Mu'tazila and the fraternal order of the Brethren of Purity (Ikhwan al-Ṣafa).[29]
Unlike the Mu'tazilla, however, and similar to some branches of Sufism, the Druze believe in the concept of Tajalli (meaning "theophany").[44][page needed] Tajalli, which is more often misunderstood by scholars and writers and is usually confused with the concept of incarnation,
...is the core spiritual beliefs [sic] in the Druze and some other intellectual and spiritual traditions.... In a mystical sense, it refers to the light of God experienced by certain mystics who have reached a high level of purity in their spiritual journey. Thus, God is perceived as the Lahut [the divine] who manifests His Light in the Station (Maqaam) of the Nasut [material realm] without the Nasut becoming Lahut. This is like one's image in the mirror: one is in the mirror but does not become the mirror. The Druze manuscripts are emphatic and warn against the belief that the Nasut is God.... Neglecting this warning, individual seekers, scholars, and other spectators have considered al-Hakim and other figures divine.
...In the Druze scriptural view, Tajalli 'takes a central stage.' One author comments that Tajalli occurs when the seeker's humanity is annihilated so that divine attributes and light are experienced by the person."[44]
The concept of God incarnating either as or in a human seems "to contradict with what the Druze scriptural view has to teach about the Oneness of God, while tajalli [sic] is at the center of the Druze and some other, often mystical, traditions."[44][page needed]
Scriptures
Druze Sacred texts include the Kitab Al Hikma (Epistles of Wisdom).[45]
Esotericism
The Druze believe that many teachings given by prophets, religious leaders and holy books have esoteric meanings preserved for those of intellect, in which some teachings are symbolic and allegorical in nature, and divide the understanding of holy books and teachings into three layers. These layers, according to the Druze, are:
- The obvious or exoteric (zahir), accessible to anyone who can read or hear;
- The hidden or esoteric (batin), accessible to those who are willing to search and learn through the concept of exegesis; and
- The hidden of the hidden, a concept known as anagoge, inaccessible to all but a few really enlightened individuals who truly understand the nature of the universe.[46]
Unlike some Islamic esoteric movements, known as the batinids at that time, the Druzes don't believe that the esoteric meaning abrogates or necessarily abolishes the exoteric one. Hamza bin Ali refutes such claims by stating that if the esoteric interpretation of taharah (purity) is purity of the heart and soul, it doesn't mean that a person can discard his physical purity, as salah (prayer) is useless if a person is untruthful in his speech and that the esoteric and exoteric meanings complement each other.[47]
Precepts of the Druze faith
The Druze follow seven precepts that are considered the core of the faith, and are perceived by them as the essence of the pillars of Islam. The Seven Druze precepts are:
- Veracity in speech and the truthfulness of the tongue.
- Protection and mutual aid to the brethren in faith.
- Renunciation of all forms of former worship (specifically, invalid creeds) and false belief.
- Repudiation of the devil (Iblis), and all forces of evil (translated from Arabic Toghyan meaning "despotism").
- Confession of God's unity.
- Acquiescence in God's acts no matter what they be.
- Absolute submission and resignation to God's divine will in both secret and public.[48]
Folk Beliefs
Reincarnation in China
One belief alleged to be held by the Druze, whether as a part of Druze doctrine or something that is not part of the Druze religion but nevertheless something many ignorant Druze may believe in, is the reincarnation of Druze souls in China. This has been reported by old and recent sources.
Professor Robert Brenton Betts, who has a degree in Middle Est Studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in International Relations and Middle East Studies and served as a professor at Universities in the Middle East wrote a book titled "The Druze" in which he wrote about the phenemenom of Druze believing that they would be reborn in China and that China was a sort of Druze heaven. He said that Druze in Shufi villages were receptive to Chinese communist propaganda, and that this belief was a "folf belief". It was said by Major C R Conder that Druze believe that "El Hakem would re-appear, leadeing an army from their Holy Land in China, to which the good Druze was carried by angels when he died." After an article in The Economist appeared mentioning this belief they received a response saying that "the Druze do not believe in any paradise in China. This is a myth and a joke" from Secretary 'Afif Khidr of the "Permanent Bureau of Druze Institutions in Beirut"[citation needed]. Although officially the Druze say it is a joke, many Druze nevertheless believe in it according to Betts. Syria also appointed Jabir al-Atrash, a Druze, as ambassador to China in the 70s. Some Druze farmers even told Betts that Russia, Greece, Iran, and Turkey also contained multitudes of Druze, which isn't true in real life.[49] Professor Mordechai Nisan wrote that the Druze believed "millions" of hidden Druze lived in China. [50] This belief in reincarnation in China which has persisted from old to modern times has made China and Chinese of interest to the Druze.[51]
The Druze belief of reincarnation in China also answered the question of what happened to the souls of those who died in time of starvation or warfare when new births were too few to bring the souls back, since the souls would be reborn in China. Then "ample embryos in the Near East make it feasible for them to return to their homelands again." Those Druze who were reborn in China could be known by other names.[52]
"Palestine, Volume 8" published in 1920 by the British Palestine Committee said tha "older religious leaders" of the Druze though that China was majority Druze and up to one third of the world were also Druze. They also believe the "Druze paradise" to be in China and Druze reincarnted there would have "saintly bodies".[53]
A Lebanese scholar on Islam, Philip Khuri Hitti in his book "Origins of the Druze People and Religion" said that he heard '(Niyyāl ahl al-Ṣīn sa'at waṣltak) "Happy are the people of China at the hour of your arrival!"' being recited at funerals od the Druze.[54] Ronald De Mclaurin in his book "The Political role of minority groups in the Middle East" published by Praeger, also mentioned at Druze funerals in Lebanon that the Druze would mention the rebirth of the dead in China.[55]
Sherifa Zuhur, who has degrees in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies and Arabic, wrote in her book "Asmahan's Secrets: Woman, War, and Song" said that Druze who spoke to her said that China was inhabited by Druze who would eventually join together with other Druze in the future. These Druze she talked to lived inJabal.[56]
The journalist Patrick Brown also mentioned in his book "Butterfly Mind" that Druze believe that there in China there a community of hidden Druze and they would come out when the Christians and Muslims fight at the end of the world to become a part of the "Druze army"[57] On the Druze Yom ed-Din (Judgement Day), all the Druze in China And Tibet who were reincarnated there would form an "Eastern Army" and take over the world according to Druze belief.[58]
According to Professor Samy S. Swayd Fatimid missionaries made their Dawah in China during the reign of al-'Aziz bi-Allah.[59]
Old Accounts
"Putnam's monthly magazine of American literature, science, and art, Volume 6" (1855): 'The Druzes make no attempts to proselyte, as they say that the number of the enlightened is fixed, and that God will never permit it to be less or greater while earth continues. There are Druzes, according to their belief, in China, and Druzes among the Protestants, particularly the English. An incident connected with this credence occurred during a visit of one of their religious sheikhs to one of our American missionaries. Looking the missionary steadily in the eye, the sheikh said: "Do you know such a seed (giving its name) in your country?"'[60]
"When a Druze dies, relatives and acquaintances come from distant villages to the 'A'za,' to 'comfort' the family by wailing over the dead; and if it be a person of note, crowds will come from all the surrounding villages, and keep up the wailing for days in succession. So with a marriage, the noisy rejoicings are continued for days. Their children, for whom they have great affection, are visually brought up to be polite, obedient and respectful to their superiors, and many of them are being now instructed in the Bible in Protestant Mission Schools. The Druze have been accustomed to centre their hopes for the future in China. They believe the Chinese, or the mass of them, to be Druze—no doubt from the belief in the transmigration of souls being common to both—and they hold that ultimately there will be a great final war among the nations, with Jerusalem and Mecca as its centres; and after the powers that be, have been exhausted in fighting against each other, the Chinese hordes will come westwards like a flood to make, in union with the Druze, the whole world their possession. They have fancied that inner China has been sacred and sealed against all foreign intruders, and that no alien could possibly penetrate there. But the knowledge of geography, received through their children at school, is gradually modifying their ideas on this and similar points."[61]
"Thus the modern Druzes still expect Hakem to return from their sacred land in China, and their belief in transmigration may have the same source. All these mystic sects, Batanin, Druzes, Manicheans, etc., appear to have really taught a scepticism which may, perhaps, be traced to the Buddhist disbelief in accepted creeds. Scepticism lies at the root of all the earliest Buddhist philosophy, and we have already seen that Buddhism had spread into - Persia, and probably farther west, in the times when the Manichean system was first formulated. The idea of the Imamat, on attaining to which the soul no longer requires reincarnation (which is a Druze dogma), is exactly the Buddhist idea of Nirvana. The dead are believed to pass to China, suggesting a connection with Thibetan Buddhism. We have already seen that Manes, from whose teaching the Druzes seem to have borrowed much, was well acquainted with Buddhist philosophy."[62]
"Writers who describe the Druzes seem sometimes to forget that the mysteries of their creed were revealed in i860 by the discovery of their sacred books on Hermon; and Druze catechisms have lately been published as novelties, which are by themselves quite unintelligible, yet the key to which is in the hands of those who have examined the Druze system in the works of De Sacy and others. The Druzes were an offshoot of the ancient Moslem heresy of the Ismailiyeh, who were persecuted as early as 704 AD. They seem to have been chiefly indebted to the surviving Manicheans of Persia for their more heretical beliefs, and Manichean Gnosticism was one of the most obstinate of heresies, reappearing even in France in the Albigenses of the twelfth century. Manes claimed, as already noted, to be a Buddha, and in this we have possibly the origin of the Druze belief in a Holy Land in China, for it was by the Buddhism of Bactria that the Persian Gnostics were influenced. The Druze beliefs in transmigrations, in numerous successive incarnations of the Deity, in the future universal monarch from China, with their Docetic doctrines concerning Christ, are all most easily explained by the influence of the Manicheans, and thus of the Buddhism of Bactria. The Fatemite Khalifs took with them to Egypt the beliefs, of the Ismailiyeh, including a final initiation into complete atheism; and when, on the death of the mad Khalif Hakem, Hamza and Derazi were obliged to fly to Syria, they probably found a fitting soil in which to implant their mystic teaching in the Anseirlyeh and Manicheans of the Lebanon. Their near neighbours in Galilee are the Metawileh, who are Shiah or Persian Moslems, separated by a wide gulf from the orthodox Sunnis of the country, and tracing back to that form of Moslem doctrine which was established when the Tartar Timur overcame the weak Khalifs of Baghdad. In every century since the birth of Islam we find innumerable new sects arising, all owing their peculiarities to non-Semitic teaching, and penetrating from Bactria or Persia to Egypt, Asia Minor, and Syria. It would be tedious to enumerate even the principal of these sects which continue in our own times to appear and vanish; and it must not be forgotten that even the original Sunni orthodoxy, and the creed of Muhammad himself, owed quite as much to the Aryans as to any existing Semitic religion. The Templars in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries seem to have been intimately connected with the Moslem secret sects, and probably shared with them a scepticism, concealed from the general public, which was common enough in Europe in the fifteenth century."[63]
The "Quarterly statement" of the Palestine Exploration Fund, published in 1889 said: "Mr. Jabrail reports that he has been inside the Khalwehs or Chapels of the Druzes when living as a teacher among those on Mount Carmel. The Druzes are intelligent, and allow strangers to eat and drink with them; they desire education for their children, and allow them to learn parts of the Bible by heart. They believe that there are many Druzes in China, and that the religion of Queen Victoria is the Druze religion though its votaries are not known by that name in England."[64]
The "Women's work for woman and our mission field, Volume 4", by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church, published in 1889 said: 'All good Druzes are supposed to go to China when they die, where they have new bodies at once; but unperfected Druzes pass into the body of a slave or a beast and undergo a purgatory of possible advance or of further retrogression. China is thus the Celestial Flowery Kingdom to the Druze, more than to the Chinese themselves. At the "good" Druze's funeral the women chant and all repeat the words: "Happy are the people of China who welcome thy coming!" Theoretically, a bad Druze at death has none so poor to do him reverence. But there are no "bad " Druzes, if one may judge from funeral panegyrics. Apparently all Druzes at death go to China.
They have retained a certain belief in a grand judgment day. This is to be at the coming of Hamzeh—the personification of the divine principle in the great All. Hamzeh, they declare, has been incarnate at several ages of the world ; in Adam, Abraham, Moses, several prophets, and in Christ. He was Hamzeh in all these different persons and offices. We have often been told by them, " We are one in faith. You expect Christ a second time; so do we, only we call him Hamzeh." They also hold that Hamzeh will come forth from China with all the good Druzes who have been accumulating there during the ages; also all the secret Druzes will then flock to his standard and swell the host as it advances. All shall have spears and banners, and ride upon[65]horses whose neighing shall be heard many leagues away on every side, and they shall strike terror to the hearts of their helpless enemies. All the world shall thus be reduced and shall be slaves to the Druzes, and Hamzeh shall reign for indefinite ages. Accordingly, when a good Druze dies very little mourning is allowed. It would simply be "unreasonable." The Druze thus teaches a much-needed lesson to the so-called Christians around him, whose loud and often heathenish demonstrations of sorrow seem to belie their nobler faith in " Jesus and the Resurrection."'[66]
The "Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volumes 7-9" by the New York Academy of Sciences, published in 1888 said: "The cardinal doctrines of the Druzes are, (a) The incarnation of the indefinable, incomprehensible, ineffable, passionless Deity ten times, last in the person of El-Hakim-Biamrillah. The door of mercy stood open twenty-six years, and was then finally and forever closed. The number of Druzes is unalterable. The souls of the dying go into the bodies of new-born infants, and so keep the number of the Druzes ever the same. They believe that there are multitudes of Druzes in China. Mohammedans at death become donkeys, and Christians slaves, to serve Druze toasters. They make no effort to convert; on the contrary they keep their doctrines secret. Such as have been made known have been surreptitiously proclaimed. Few even of their own people are initiated, these being known as the 'Oqqals. A Druze is allowed to make outward profession of any religion which he may fancy to be for his advantage. God knows the heart, and what is in it, and judges by what a man really believes, and not by what he seems. Obedience is required to the seven great commandments of Hamze which are, 1st, truth in words (but only to Druzes); 2d, loyalty to Druze interests; 3d, renunciation of every other faith; 4th, separation from all others, they never intermarry with Mohammedans or Christians; 5th, the recognition of the unity of God; 6th, complete resignation to His will; 7th, complete obedience to His orders. Prayer is an impertinence. The freedom of the will is maintained."[67]
"Missionary review of the world, Volume 13", published in 1890 said: "They believe that the inhabitants of China are all Druzes, or, as they say, "Unitarians," and that in a great future conflict between Mohammedans and Christians, a great Druze leader, with a vast army, will come from the far East, and conquer both. El Hakem will then reappear in visible manifestation, and will reign for ever from his throne in Egypt, attended by five ministers! What can be done with such a people? It is well to know their real character. Their bitterness and ferocity was shown in the massacre which attempted the extermination of the Maronites of Lebanon in 1860. Their system seems a master-piece of Satan. Only the power of the Divine Spirit can transform them. The work of missions must be a work of faith and prayer."[68]
The missionary Rev. William Ewing, who spent five years at Tiberias in Palestine, wrote in his book "Arab and Druze at home", published in 1907 that "The Druzes number in all perhaps something over a hundred thousand. They do not, however, for a moment believe that all real Druzes are confined to Syria. China, for example, is a land of which they have some dim knowledge; it figures vague and vast in their untutored minds. They have heard that there are beliefs common to them and the Chinese; this is sufficient to create the conviction that the Chinese are really Druzes too, whatever name they may be called, and that, when the proper time comes, that mighty empire will pour forth its millions to do battle in the cause of el-Hakim. The British share, in this regard, their affection and confidence, an impression prevailing widely that they too are a nation of Druzes. If this impression did not come from the kindly treatment of the Druzes by the British, when, after the massacre, they were in imminent danger, it was certainly strengthened thereby. If one of them asks how many Druzes there are in England, and receives the reply that[69]there are none, he is far from being convinced, and most likely he leaves you with the suspicion that you are a Druze yourself. He will think nothing the less of you for your stout denial; for it is permitted to them to assume the outward form and profession of any religion whatever, if their welfare for the time may thereby be promoted, the only condition being that they remain true in heart to the faith of their fathers. In a country where the people excel in clever deceptions, it is often extremely hard for the missionary to distinguish between the true and the spurious convert. There is a wellauthenticated case in which a Druze professed conversion to Christianity, was baptized, received into the Church, and, having given proof of his fitness, was at length ordained to the ministry. He continued to exercise his calling with acceptance for several years ; then, throwing off the mask by which he had deceived everybody, he openly declared that he was a Druze at heart, and had never been anything else."[70]
"The Athenæum: A Journal of Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music, and the Drama, Volume 1", published by J. Francis in 1907 said "Asia is scarcely so coherent as at one point the author would have us believe. It was not because the Japanese were Asiatics that the Moslems and Druzes of Syria sided with them during the late war, but because Russia is the ancient enemy of the Moslem, and China is the place where good Druzes go when they die. When the Japanese beat the Chinese the Druzes were aghast—heaven had been stormed (we are quoting Druze talk at the time); and it appears from Miss Lowthian Bell’s account that they wisely transferred their heaven to Japan."[71][72]
In Fiction
The Druze author Rabih Alameddine in his novel "The Hakawati" made a reference to the belief that Druze would be reincarnated in China.[73] The Jewish novelist Avram Davidson also made a reference to this Druze beliefe in "The Tomb of Jethro", published in "Everybody has somebody in heaven: essential Jewish tales of the spirit"[74]
Religious symbol
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Druze_star.svg/70px-Druze_star.svg.png)
The Druze strictly avoid iconography but use five colors as a religious symbol: green, red, yellow, blue, and white. Each color pertains to a metaphysical power called Haad, literally meaning a limit, as in the limits that separate humans from animals, or the powers that makes the animal body human. Each Haad is color coded in the following manner: green for Aql "the Universal Mind/Nous", red for Nafs "the Universal Soul/Anima mundi", yellow for Kalima "the Word/Logos", blue for Sabiq "the Potentiality/Cause/Precedent", and white for Lahiq "the Future/Effect/Immanence". The mind generates qualia and gives consciousness. The soul embodies the mind and is responsible for transmigration and the character of oneself. The word which is the atom of language communicates qualia between humans and represent the platonic forms in the sensible world. The Sabq and Lahq is the ability to perceive and learn from the past and plan for the future and predict it.
The colors can be arranged in a vertically descending stripes or a five-pointed star. The stripes is a diagrammatic cut of the spheres in neoplatonic philosophy while the five pointed star embodies the golden ratio, phi, as a symbol of temperance and a life of moderation.
ʻUqqāl and Juhhāl
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Druze_man.jpg/220px-Druze_man.jpg)
The Druze are divided into two groups. The largely secular majority, called al-Juhhāl (جهال) ("the Ignorant") are not granted access to the Druze holy literature or allowed to attend the initiated Uqqal's religious meetings. They are around 80% of the Druze population and are not obliged to follow the ascetic traditions of the Uqqal.
The initiated religious group, which includes both men and women (about 20% of the population), is called al-ʻUqqāl (عقال), ("the Knowledgeable Initiates"). They have a special mode of dress designed to comply with Quranic traditions. Women can opt to wear al-mandīl, a loose white veil, especially in the presence of other people. They wear al-mandīl on their heads to cover their hair and wrap it around their mouths and sometimes over their noses as well. They wear black shirts and long skirts covering their legs to their ankles. Male ʻuqqāl grow mustaches, and wear dark Levantine/Turkish traditional dresses, called the shirwal, with white turbans that vary according to the Uqqal's hierarchy.
Al-ʻuqqāl have equal rights to al-Juhhāl, but establish a hierarchy of respect based on religious service.The most influential 5% of Al-ʻuqqāl become Ajawīd, recognized religious leaders, and from this group the spiritual leaders of the Druze are assigned. While the Shaykh al-ʻAql, which is an official position in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, is elected by the local community and serves as the head of the Druze religious council, judges from the Druze religious courts are usually elected for this position. Unlike the spiritual leaders, the Shaykh al-ʻAql's authority is local to the country he is elected in, though in some instances spiritual leaders are elected to this position.
The Druze believe in the unity of God, and are often known as the "People of Monotheism" or simply "Monotheists". Their theology has a Neo-Platonic view about how God interacts with the world through emanations and is similar to some gnostic and other esoteric sects. Druze philosophy also shows Sufi influences.
Druze principles focus on honesty, loyalty, filial piety, altruism, patriotic sacrifice, and monotheism. They reject tobacco smoking, alcohol, and consumption of pork. Also, in contrast to most Islamic sects, the Druze reject polygamy, believe in reincarnation, and are not obliged to observe most of the religious rituals. The Druze believe that rituals are symbolic and have an individualistic effect on the person, for which reason Druze are free to perform them, or not. The community does celebrate Eid al-Adha, however, considered their most significant holiday.
Origins of the Druze people
Ethnic origins
The Druze faith extended to many areas in the Middle East, but most of the surviving modern Druze can trace their origin to the Wadi al-Taymour in South Lebanon, which is named after an Arab tribe Taymour-Allah (formerly Taymour-Allat) which, according to Islamic historian, al-Tabari, first came from Arabia into the valley of the Euphrates where they were Christianized prior to their migration into the Lebanon. Many of the Druze feudal families whose genealogies have been preserved by the two modern Syrian chroniclers Haydar al-Shihabi and al-Shidyaq seem also to point in the direction of this origin. Arabian tribes emigrated via the Persian Gulf and stopped in Iraq on the route that was later to lead them to Syria. The first feudal Druze family, the Tanukh family, which made for itself a name in fighting the Crusaders, was, according to Haydar al-Shihabi, an Arab tribe from Mesopotamia where it occupied the position of a ruling family and apparently was Christianized.[29]
The Tanukhs must have left Arabia as early as the second or third century A.D. The Ma'an tribe, which superseded the Tanukhs and produced the greatest Druze hero in history, Fakhr-al-Din, had the same traditional origin. The Talhuq family and 'Abd-al-Malik, who supplied the later Druze leadership, have the same record as the Tanukhs. The Imad family is named for al-Imadiyyah--the Kurdish town of Amadiya, northeast of Mosul inside Kurdistan, and, like the Jumblatts, is thought to be of Kurdish origin. The Arsalan family claims descent from the Hirah Arab kings, but the name Arsalan (Persian and Turkish for lion) suggests Persian influence, if not origin.[29]
The 1911 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica states that the Druzes are "a mixture of refugee stocks, in which the Arab largely predominates, grafted on to an original mountain population of Aramaic blood."[75]
According to Jewish contemporary literature, the Druze, who were visited by Benjamin of Tudela, were described as descendants of the Itureans - an Ismaelite Arab tribe, which used to reside in the northern parts of the Golan plateau through Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Nevertheless, many scholars formed their own hypotheses: for example, Lamartine (1835) discovered in the modern Druzes the remnants of the Samaritans;[76] Earl of Carnarvon (1860), those of the Cuthites whom Esarhaddon transplanted into Palestine;[77] Professor Felix von Luschan (1911), according to his conclusions from anthropometric measurements, makes the Druze, Maronites, and Alawites of Syria, together with the Bektashis, 'Ali-Ilahis, and Yezidis of Asia Minor and Persia, the modern representatives of the ancient Hittites.[78]
During the 18th century, there were two branches of Druze living in Lebanon: the Yemeni Druze, headed by the Hamdan and Al-Atrash families; and the Kaysi Druze, headed by the Jumblat and Arsalan families.
The Hamdan family was banished from Mount Lebanon following the battle of Ain Dara in 1711. This battle was fought between two Druze factions: the Yemeni and the Kaysi. Following their dramatic defeat, the Yemeni faction migrated to Syria in the Jebel-Druze region and its capital, Soueida. However, it has been argued that these two factions were of political nature rather than ethnic, and had both Christian and Druze supporters.
Genetics
In a 2005 study of ASPM gene variants, Mekel-Bobrov et al. found that the Israeli Druze people of the Carmel region have among the highest rate of the newly evolved ASPM haplogroup D, at 52.2% occurrence of the approximately 6,000-year-old allele.[79] While it is not yet known exactly what selective advantage is provided by this gene variant, the haplogroup D allele is thought to be positively selected in populations and to confer some substantial advantage that has caused its frequency to rapidly increase.
According to DNA testing, Druze are remarkable for the high frequency (35%) of males who carry the Y-chromosomal haplogroup L, which is otherwise uncommon in the Mideast (Shen et al. 2004).[80] This haplogroup originates from prehistoric South Asia and has spread from Pakistan into southern Iran.
Cruciani in 2007 found E1b1b1a2 (E-V13) [one from Sub Clades of E1b1b1a1 (E-V12)] in high levels (>10% of the male population) in Turkish Cypriot and Druze Arab lineages. Recent genetic clustering analyses of ethnic groups are consistent with the close ancestral relationship between the Druze and Cypriots, and also identified similarity to the general Syrian and Lebanese populations, as well as a variety of Jewish lineages (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Iraqi, and Moroccan) (Behar et al 2010).[81]
Also, a new study concluded that the Druze harbor a remarkable diversity of mitochondrial DNA lineages that appear to have separated from each other thousands of years ago. But instead of dispersing throughout the world after their separation, the full range of lineages can still be found within the Druze population.[82]
The researchers noted that the Druze villages contained a striking range of high frequency and high diversity of the X haplogroup, suggesting that this population provides a glimpse into the past genetic landscape of the Near East at a time when the X haplogroup was more prevalent.[82]
These findings are consistent with the Druze oral tradition, that claims that the adherents of the faith came from diverse ancestral lineages stretching back tens of thousands of years.[82]
Israeli Knesset member Ayoob Kara, a Druze himself, speculated that the Druze are descended from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, probably Zebulun. Kara stated that the Druze share many of the same beliefs as Jews, and that he has genetic evidence to prove that the Druze were descended from Jews.[83]
That was after the Israeli author Tsvi Misinai claimed that the cultural and genetic background of Arabs living west of the Jordan River, proved that the majority of them descended from the Jewish nation,and that the genetic cluster of Druze coincides closely with those of the Samaritans, and is very close to the genetic clusters of Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Jews from the Caucasus, but he asserted that such findings do not prove Kara's conclusion since several Jewish villages in Palestine converted to Druze faith which means the samples can be linked to those lineages and not a broad Druze linkage.[83]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c "The Economist". 390 (8618–24). 2009: 49. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ International Religious Freedom Report, US State Department, 2005.
- ^ Druze Traditions, Institute of Druze Studies, archived from the original on 2009-1-14 3h29min29
{{citation}}
: Check date values in:|archivedate=
(help). - ^ "Druze Population of Australia by Place of Usual Residence (2006)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ "Druze", Lexicorient http://lexicorient.com/e.o/druze.htm
{{citation}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help). - ^ "Press Release: The Druze Population of Israel" (DOC) (in Hebrew). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2009-04-23.
- ^ Jordanian Druze can be found in Amman and Zarka; about 50% live in the town of Azraq, and a smaller number in Irbid and Aqaba. "Localities and Population, by District, Sub-District, Religion and Population Group" (PDF). Statistical Abstract of Palestine. IL: Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics. 2006.
- ^ Druzes, Institute of Druze Studies
- ^ Dana, Nissim (2003). The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status. Sussex University Press. p. 99. ISBN 1903900360.
- ^ Halabi, Rabah, Citizens of equal duties—Druze identity and the Jewish State (in Hebrew), p. 55
- ^ "Druze set to visit Syria". News Online. BBC. 2004-08-30. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
Around 80,000 Druze live in Israel, including 18,000 in the Golan Heights.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|year=
(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ a b c d e Moukarim, Moustafa F, About the Faith of The Mo’wa’he’doon Druze.
- ^ Hodgson, MGS (1962), Al-Darazî and Ḥamza in the Origin of Druze Religion.
- ^ a b c d e Swayd, Samy (1998). The Druzes: An Annotated Bibliography. Kirkland, WA, USA: ISES Publications. ISBN 0966293207.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911, p. 606.
- ^ a b Al-Najjar, 'Abdullāh (1965). Madhhab ad-Durūz wa t-Tawḥīd (The Druze Sect and Unism) (in Arabic). Egypt: Dār al-Ma'ārif.
- ^ Hitti, Philip K (2007) [1924]. Origins of the Druze People and Religion, with Extracts from their Sacred Writings. Columbia University Oriental Studies. Vol. 28 (new ed.). London: Saqi. pp. 13–14. ISBN 0-86356-690-1.
- ^ Luminaries: Al Hakim (PDF), Druze.
- ^ Ismaili, Islam Heritage Field
- ^ Potter, William, Melville's Clarel and the Intersympathy of Creeds, p. 156.
- ^ Nisan, Mordechai, Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-expression, p. 95.
- ^ Dana, Nissim, The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status
- ^ Meri, Josef W; Bacharach, Jere L (2006), Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-96690-6.
- ^ Westheimer, Dr Ruth; Sedan, Gil, The Olive and the Tree: The Secret Strength of the Druze.
- ^ Swayd, Sami (2006). Historical dictionary of the Druzes. Historical dictionaries of peoples and cultures. Vol. 3. Maryland, USA: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-5332-9.
- ^ "M. Th. Houtsma", First encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–36
{{citation}}
:|first=
missing|last=
(help). - ^ a b c Rebecca Erickson. "The Druze" (PDF). Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements.
- ^ druzeheritage.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Origins of the Druze People and Religion, by Philip K. Hitti, 1924
- ^ Druze History
- ^ Abraham, Antoine (1977). "Lebanese Communal Relations". Muslim World. 67 (2): 91–105. doi:10.1111/j.1478-1913.1977.tb03313.x.
- ^ Churchill, Charles (1862), The Druzes and the Maronites under the Turkish Rule from 1840 to 1860.
- ^ Totten, Michael J (2010-10-3). "The Tower of the Sun". Pajamas Media.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ a b Kjeilen, Tore. "Druze".
- ^ a b c d e f g Landis, Joshua (1998). Philipp, T; Schäbler, B (eds.). "Shishakli and the Druzes: Integration and intransigence". The Syrian Land: Processes of Integration and Fragmentation. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. pp. 369–96.
- ^ syrianhistory.com
- ^ Books, Google.
- ^ Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir (dossier), Meib, 2003
{{citation}}
: Unknown parameter|month=
ignored (help). - ^ Amara, Muhammad; Schnell, Izhak (2004), "Identity Repertoires among Arabs in Israel", Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 30.
- ^ Religious Freedoms: Druze, The Israel project, retrieved 2012-01-23.
- ^ "The Druze", Jewish virtual library, retrieved 2012-01-23.
- ^ Dana, Nissim, The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status
- ^ Makarem, Sami Nasib, The Druze Faith.
- ^ a b c d Swayd, SDSU, Dr. Samy, Druze Spirituality and Asceticism (RTF) (an abridged rough draft), Eial.
- ^ Religion, AU: Druze.
- ^ "The Druze", h2g2, UK: BBC.
- ^ "The Epistle Answering the People of Esotericism (batinids)", Epistles of Wisdom (a rough translation from the Arabic), vol. Second.
- ^ Hitti, Philip K (1924), Origins of the Druze People and Religion, p. 51.
- ^ Betts, Robert Brenton (1990). The Druze (reprint, illustrated ed.). Yale University Press. p. 41. ISBN 0-300-04810-6. Retrieved April 4 2012.
Many Druze believe that large numbers of their community are to be found elsewhere, especially in China. Indeed, reincarnation in China is considered the greatest blessing that God can bestow on the departed
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help) - ^ Nisan, Mordechai (2002). Minorities in the Middle East: a history of struggle and self-expression (2nd, illustrated ed.). McFarland. p. 96. ISBN 0-7864-1375-1. Retrieved April 4 2012.
Thus a universal far-flung Druze community existed, though its exact location and numbers were concealed. China was allegedly the home of many millions of secret Druze adherents
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help) - ^ Ben-Dor, Gabriel; Ṭruman, Makhon le-meḥḳar ʻal shem Heri S (1979). The Druzes in Israel: a political study: political innovation and integration in a Middle Eastern minority. Magnes Press. p. 91. ISBN 965-223-333-1. Retrieved April 4 2012.
Mysterious power in space is manifest in the belief, noted by observers in the past4 and still in existence,5 that there live Druzes in China (and to a lesser extent, in Japan). The Druzes believe The Druzes believe that a pious Druze after his death is reborn in China, and thus they are very curious about, and sympathetic to China and the Chinese
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Missing|author1=
(help) - ^ Obeyesekere, Gananath (2002). Imagining karma: ethical transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and Greek rebirth (illustrated ed.). University of California Press. p. 312. ISBN 0-520-23243-7. Retrieved April 4 2012.
Another puzzlement with instantaneous rebirth occurs during war and famine, where many die, and there are not enough babies being born to meet the reincarnation demand. It is then believed that the Druze soul gets incarnated in other countries, such as China, where Druze live, although they would not ncessarily be called Druze. This happens until "ample embryos in the Near East make it feasible for them to return to their homelands again."
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=
(help) - ^ British Palestine Committee (1920). Palestine, Volume 8. Published for the British Palestine Committee by the Garden City Press. p. 31. Retrieved April 4 2012.
Some of the older religious leaders firmly believed that the Druzes form one- third of the whole population of the globe. They think that the greater part of China is peopled by their co-religionists ; the more ignorant believe that the souls of the religious go there after death to be reborn in saintly bodies, since China is regarded by many as the Druze paradise.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help)Original from Princeton University Digitized Jul 22, 2009 - ^ Philip Khūri Hitti. Origins of the Druze People and Religion. Forgotten Books. p. 47. ISBN 1605060682. Retrieved April 4 2012.
In the case of the Druzes, to whom China seems to be a sort of a heaven, the eastern source has evidently impressed itself strongly upon the popular imagination. When a good Druze is dead in the Lebanon, he is supposed to be reborn in China. The writer remembers hearing more than once at Druze funerals the chorus of a song which ran as this: "Happy are the people of China at the hour of your arrival!" ( Niyyāl ahl al-Ṣīn sa'at waṣltak). The Druzes have always been conscious of the fact that people in the Far East hold the same views regarding the transmigration of souls.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help) - ^ Ronald De McLaurin (1979). Ronald De McLaurin (ed.). The Political role of minority groups in the Middle East. Praeger. p. 114. ISBN 0030525969. Retrieved April 4 2012.
The Druze contend that there is a set number of souls; in Lebanon, they declare at funerals that if an individual has been good, his soul will reappear in China as a Chinese.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help)Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Aug 22, 2008 - ^ Zuhur, Sherifa (2000). Asmahan's Secrets: Woman, War, and Song (illustrated ed.). University of Texas Press. p. 27. ISBN 0-292-79807-5. Retrieved April 4 2012.
The modern Druze interest in religions and peoples of the East — of China and India — stems from their awareness that tanasukh/taqammus is philosophically related to some degree to the Hindu samsara. The Druze of the Jabal told me that some believe that there are Druze in China, and that one day the separated peoples will be united
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help) - ^ Brown, Patrick (2011), Butterfly Mind, House of Anansi, p. 54, ISBN 0-88784-848-6, retrieved April 4 2012,
Among the many peculiarities of the Druze faith are a belief in reincarnation and the conviction that there are millions of adherents living secretly in China, who will form a huge Druze army when Christian and Muslim forces meet in a final Armageddon in Mecca. The Druze believe that both Christianity and Islam will be defeated with the help of their Chinese brothers
{{citation}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help), 254 pp. - ^ Commentary. Vol. 21. American Jewish Committee. 1956. p. 75. Retrieved April 4 2012.
To cite a not untypical instance: the Druzes believe their dead to be reborn in China and Tibet, where a vast reserve of Druze souls, already numbering many millions, is being built up. The irresistible army whose advent they await as a sign of the approach of Yom ed-Din is to come from these two countries. Druze poets have written epics describing the conquest of the world by this "Eastern Army"
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help) - ^ Swayd, Samy S (2006). Historical dictionary of the Druzes. Vol. 3 (illustrated ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. xli. ISBN 0-8108-5332-9. Retrieved April 4 2012.
The fifth caliph, al-'Aziz bi-Allah (r.975–996)... In his time, the Fatimi "Call" or "Mission" (Da'wa) reached as far east as India and northern China.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=
(help) - ^ Putnam's monthly magazine of American literature, science, and art. Vol. VI. New York, 10 Park Place; London: Dix & Edwards; Sampson Low, Son & Co. MDCCCLV. p. 613. Retrieved April 4 2012.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
and|year=
(help); Unknown parameter|month=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: year (link). Original from the Bavarian State Library Digitized Apr 27, 2011. - ^ Mrs. Mackintosh (1883). Damascus and its people: sketches of modern life in Syria. Fleet Street, London; Guildford: Seeley, Jackson & Halliday; Billing & Sons. p. 268. Retrieved April 4 2012.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help) 296 pp. Original from Princeton University Digitized Mar 26, 2009. - ^ Conder, Claude Reignier (1886). Syrian stone-lore: or, The monumental history of Palestine. Guildford & London: Richard Bentley & son, for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. p. 347. Retrieved April 4 2012.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help) 472 pp. Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Oct 23, 2006. - ^ Boulger, Demetrius, ed. (1886). The Asiatic quarterly review. Vol. II. 26, Paternoster sq., London: T Fisher Unwin. p. 62. Retrieved April 4 2012.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Unknown parameter|month=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: location (link) Original from the University of California Digitized Sep 16, 2009 - ^ Palestine Exploration Fund (1889). Quarterly statement. HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY, ST. MARTIN'S LANE: Published at the Fund's Office. p. 120. Retrieved April 4 2012.
REPORT ON ANSWERS TO THE "QUESTIONS."1 One of the earliest sets of answers received from Palestine to the questions as to the inhabitants of the country, drawn up for the P. E. F. Committee, has been sent by Mr. Joseph Jibrail, who has personal knowledge of the Druzes, the Metawileh, and other elements of population. Some of the answers are meagre, and, as regards the nomadic Arabs, he appears to know less than the English explorers, who have spent years among them. An abstract of the more interesting points of information thus obtained may, however, serve to show what may be expected from this method of research. Answers to questions as to the Samaritans have already appeared in the Quarterly Statement. The Druzes. Mr. Jabrail reports that he has been inside the Khalwehs or Chapels of the Druzes when living as a teacher among those on Mount Carmel. The Druzes are intelligent, and allow strangers to eat and drink with them; they desire education for their children, and allow them to learn parts of the Bible by heart. They believe that there are many Druzes in China, and that the religion of Queen Victoria is the Druze religion though its votaries are not known by that name in England. Note.—This I have before heard stated. The connection of the Druzes with the Buddhists of Central Asia and China is noted in " Syrian Stone .Lore," p. 347. On attempting to enter a Khalweh on Thursday (the usual day of meeting for the Druzes) Mr. Jabrail was attacked by two Druze women standing by^the door, and the congregation came out and cursed and atoned him, not recognising him as a former friend. Note.—The Druze meetings are secret. The women evidently were sentinels such as writers on the Druzes have described as posted outside the Khalwehs during meetings. The Sheikh objected to the Druze children being taught that the world -was made in six days, asserting that God created it all at once. Mr. Jabrail mentions the well-known fact that the Druzes conform outwardly to any creed which suits their purposes for the time. Note.—Both these observations connect Druze teaching and customs .with those of some of the early Gnostic sects of Syria. Nothing is found in the Khalwehs of Lebanon except a stove. Texts from the Koran are written on the walls. It is generally reported that the " calf" is an image found in the Khalwehs. When asked about it the Druzes cursed it. Note.—This agrees with the reports of previous writers, who say that the Druses called Derazeh "the calf" (J<ss) instead of "the wise" 1 See Quarterly Statement, 1885, p. 216.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 39 (help)(LONDON : SOCIETY'S OFFICE, 1, ADAM STREET, ADELPHI, AND BY ALEXANDER P. WATT, 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, E.C.) (LONDON : THE SOCIETY'S OFFICE, 1, ADAM ST., ADELPHI, W.C.; R. BENTLEY & SON, 8, NEW BURLINGTON STREET) Original from the University of California Digitized Jan 24, 2011 - ^ Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.). (1889). Woman's work for woman and our mission field, Volume 4. Vol. VOLUME IV. Women's Foreign Missionary Societies of the Presbyterian Church. p. 316. Retrieved April 4 2012.
/. Who are they 1—They are not a race. There is no unmixed race in Syria save the Bedouin of the desert. The Syrians of to-day are a composite of races. The Druzes, accordingly, are not a race, but a sect. They have no lighter and no darker skin than the Caucasian Christians and Muslims about them. They have no remains of language or customs which may not be found among their neighbors. Their almost universal life in the open air as tillers of the soil, women and men, makes them, as a rule, robust. Their Number.—They are not numerous. The Druzes claim their real number is immense, from the fact that their religion (!) teaches them to " assume, as a cloak, that religion which has the ascendancy for the time, but keep Druzeism in your hearts." Hence, "there are vast numbers of Druzes throughout the world living in secret until the day of triumph comes." Their Home.—In truth there are not more than 100,000 souls, and they are found only in Central Syria. About 50,000 are in Mount Lebanon among their Christian neighbors. The rest live in obscure districts of Anti-Lebanon, at the foot of Hermon, and in mountains and plains of the Hauran (Auranitis) east of the Jordan. //. Their Origin as a Sect.—This is a matter of obscurity, albeit it is known that one " Durz" by name led a party of persecuted schismatic Muslims out of Egypt hundreds of years ago, and these settled in or spread to the regions before mentioned. This was the outcome of discontent with the yoke of Islam. Accordingly, we find among Druzes none of the frequent daily ablutions, no call to repeated daily prayer, no fasts, no pilgrimage, no circumcision, no public meeting, no sacred day— all of which are precepts of Islam. They celebrate their New Year's by a sacrifice of sheep which they share with the poor—a close imitation of the Muslim sacrifice on "Arafat," near Mecca, during the sojourn of pilgrims there. ///. Their Religion.—Opposition to Islam motived the Druze schism; but no man nor sect can be content with mere negation. Accordingly, Hindu theology was drawn upon to furnish the doctrine of transmigration of souls. All good Druzes are supposed to go to China when they die, where they have new bodies at once; but unperfected Druzes pass into the body of a slave or a beast and undergo a purgatory of possible advance or of further retrogression. China is thus the Celestial Flowery Kingdom to the Druze, more than to the Chinese themselves. At the "good" Druze's funeral the women chant and all repeat the words: "Happy are the people of China who welcome thy coming!" Theoretically, a bad Druze at death has none so poor to do him reverence. But there are no "bad " Druzes, if one may judge from funeral panegyrics. Apparently all Druzes at death go to China. They have retained a certain belief in a grand judgment day. This is to be at the coming of Hamzeh—the personification of the divine principle in the great All. Hamzeh, they declare, has been incarnate at several ages of the world ; in Adam, Abraham, Moses, several prophets, and in Christ. He was Hamzeh in all these different persons and offices. We have often been told by them, " We are one in faith. You expect Christ a second time; so do we, only we call him Hamzeh." They also hold that Hamzeh will come forth from China with all the good Druzes who have been accumulating there during the ages; also all the secret Druzes will then flock to his standard and swell the host as it advances. All shall have spears and banners, and ride upon
{{cite book}}
:|volume=
has extra text (help); Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 504 (help)No. 53 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison Digitized Jan 14, 2009 - ^ Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.). (1889). Woman's work for woman and our mission field, Volume 4. Vol. VOLUME IV. Women's Foreign Missionary Societies of the Presbyterian Church. p. 317. Retrieved April 4 2012.
horses whose neighing shall be heard many leagues away on every side, and they shall strike terror to the hearts of their helpless enemies. All the world shall thus be reduced and shall be slaves to the Druzes, and Hamzeh shall reign for indefinite THE DRUZES OF MOUNT LEBANON. DRUZE PLOUGHMAN AND TEAM NEAR MOUNT HERMON ages. Accordingly, when a good Druze dies very little mourning is allowed. It would simply be "unreasonable." The Druze thus teaches a much-needed lesson to the so-called Christians around him, whose loud and often heathenish demonstrations of sorrow seem to belie their nobler faith in " Jesus and the Resurrection." Druzes also seem to favor prayers for the dead. But it is only seeming, and would be in utter inconsistency with their Rationalism and Pantheism. They know only natural law, eternity of matter, unvarying progress of natural cycles. They do pray a Muslim prayer at the grave in public that they may seem to follow Islam. But there is no evidence that they pray at all, whether in meetings or in private. Religious books they have, but they are held-with utmost secrecy. During the massacre of 1860 copies were found and taken to France and translated. They are said to be partly cabalistic cipher, but mostly are of no literary or scientific worth, being neither Pantheism, nor Theism, nor Deism, nor Islamism, nor Christianity; but a composite of all these, a collection of dogmatic half-truths and errors designed to deceive the poor Druze into thinking that he can, by these points of common creed with all men, lead a hidden life with greater ease, and neither give nor take evil nor good from any man. In a word, Druzeism is a secret society, a political junta, more closely secret and more firmly united than anything in all Asia, unless ^it be Lamaism itself; and it is of no influence whatever save within j the obscure districts where it is found. There is not a little heathenism, among Druze women, especially. All are anxious to prevent the "evil eye." They make a vow under any large green tree, and as a memento thereof tie rags torn from their clothing to the twigs. They burn lamps at the graves of their relatives for days and weeks and perform mysterious, dance-like motions beneath sacred trees, but with what design is unknown. Lastly, the Druzes are divided by themselves into two classes— the "Wise" and "Foolish ;" or, "The Rational and Initiated " and "The Uninitiated." The Wise have been instructed in Druze secrets and taken prescribed oaths. They must refrain from all undignified behavior and language, and use no stimulants, not even tobacco, this latter being considered most irrational. A few of the Wise conform to the letter of this prohibition, but use snuff, contrary to its spirit. Probably no person ever saw an Initiated Druze drunken, or one whose bearing and language and the neatness of whose dress did not usually indicate the quiet self-control of a gentleman. Specially heightening this effect are the full beard and the turban of spotless white, which only the Wise are allowed to wear, it being the distinguishing badge of initiation. The Wise Druzes compose the "session " of the village or district where they live. They meet regularly every Thursday evening in entire secrecy. Certain formulas, sacred and cabalistic, may be repeated at the beginning to make sure of the presence of the Wise alone. Political and social questions of interest are discussed. Advice is given to those in difficulty or to those at variance. The political news of Europe, so far as it is of any influence on Syria, is better known and discussed among them than in almost any village of Europe. The Unwise are eligible to initiation on
{{cite book}}
:|volume=
has extra text (help); Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 249 (help)No. 53 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison Digitized Jan 14, 2009 - ^ New York Academy of Sciences (October, 1887, to June, 1888). HERMAN LEROY FAIRCHILD (ed.). Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volumes 7-9. Vol. VOLUME VII. PRESS OF STETTINER, LAMBERT & CO., 22, 24, 26 READE ST, NEW YORK: New York Academy of Sciences. p. 185. Retrieved April 4 2012.
tion, and compelled to rebuild the rained towns. Their chief men were exiled, and their martial spirit curbed, although not wholly broken. The new government of Lebanon, wisely sketched out.by Lord Dufferin, is so just and equal, and so well maintained by a volunteer militia in which all sects are represented, that there has been no uprising of the Druzes of Lebanon since that date. Local disturbances in the lawless district of the Hauran are, however, of almost yearly occurrence. The origin of the sect is attributed to Ismael Darazi of Cairo, in 1040 A. D. This leader supported the claims of El-Hakimbi-Amrillah, the sixth Fatimite caliph, who claimed to be an incarnation of the divine intelligence. Being driven from Egypt he took refuge in Lebanon, where he converted a great number of the inhabitants. Hauran was taken possession of by refugees from this sect when worsted from time to time in its numerous wars in Lebanon. Although named from Darazi, the first authoritative expounders of this sect branded Darazi as a heretic, and the Druzes continue to regard him as such. They regard Hamzi as a reappearance of the Messiah. The cardinal doctrines of the Druzes are, (a) The incarnation of the indefinable, incomprehensible, ineffable, passionless Deity ten times, last in the person of El-Hakim-Biamrillah. The door of mercy stood open twenty-six years, and was then finally and forever closed. The number of Druzes is unalterable. The souls of the dying go into the bodies of new-born infants, and so keep the number of the Druzes ever the same. They believe that there are multitudes of Druzes in China. Mohammedans at death become donkeys, and Christians slaves, to serve Druze toasters. They make no effort to convert; on the contrary they keep their doctrines secret. Such as have been made known have been surreptitiously proclaimed. Few even of their own people are initiated, these being known as the 'Oqqals. A Druze is allowed to make outward profession of any religion which he may fancy to be for his advantage. God knows the heart, and what is in it, and judges by what a man really believes, and not by what he seems. Obedience is required to the seven great commandments of Hamze which are, 1st, truth in words (but only to Druzes); 2d, loyalty to Druze interests; 3d, renunciation of every other faith; 4th, separation from all others, they never intermarry with Mohammedans or Christians; 5th, the recognition of the unity of God; 6th, complete resignation to His will; 7th, complete obedience to His orders. Prayer is an impertinence. The freedom of the will is maintained. The initiated, who may be of either sex, meet in houses called khalwes, apart from the villages, often in "high places." The
{{cite book}}
:|volume=
has extra text (help); Check date values in:|accessdate=
and|date=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 486 (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: location (link)NEW YORK : PUBLISHED BY THE ACADEMY. 1887-1888 Original from the University of California Digitized Apr 18, 2007 - ^ J. M. SHERWOOD, ARTHUR T. PIERSON, ed. (JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1890). The Missionary review of the world, Volume 13. Vol. VOL. III. NEW SERIES. VOL. XIII. OLD SERIES. C.S. Robinson & co., printers. p. 790. Retrieved April 4 2012.
These people are the most completely isolated of all men; their organization is a secret society. Their doctrines are carefully withheld from the rest of mankind. Every Druze is sworn to secrecy, and it was only through the wars of Ibrahim Pasha, between 1837 and 1842, that their sacred books first became known to the world. The Druzes have many mythical doctrines in regard to the successive manifestations of God among men, in which Adam, Enoch, Noah and Shem play a part. The Deluge is treated allegorically; honor is shown to Isaiah, David and Daniel, who "allegorized the Law of Moses;" also to Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle. Jesus is said to have been only a representative of the true Christ, who remained concealed in the person of Lazarus. Druzes reject the doctrine of the Resurrection, but admit that the true Clirist promulgated the story that the son of Mary had risen, as a means of establishing the Christian religion. This was done in order that, under the foil of Christianity, the esoteric Druze religion might be concealed. It was the real Christ, and not Jesus, that appeared to the Disciples after the Resurrection. God is represented as having purposely misled one portion of the human race and to have enlightened and saved another. And this arbitrary and fatalistic doctrine has given a vitiating tendency to all Druze ethics. For example: the sacred books enjoin strict veracity in dealing with fellow Druzes, but justify falsehood toward all others. No confidence, therefore, can be placed in the word of a Druze beyond the dictates of his own interest. He is commanded to love the brethren of his sect, but no others. An implacable hatred exists toward Mohammedans, and yet, as a matter of policy, the Druzes conform to many outward requirements of Islam. They are not greatly trusted as soldiers, though they are enrolled. When Ibrahim Pasha, taking them at their own professions of faith in Islam, compelled them to bear arms, multitudes became Christians, only to throw off the mask at the close of the war. Except in their many acts of kindness toward each other, Dr. Wortabet, of Beyrout, from whom I have received many facts, regards them as " the most fraudulent and deceptive of all peoples." They believe that the inhabitants of China are all Druzes, or, as they say, "Unitarians," and that in a great future conflict between Mohammedans and Christians, a great Druze leader, with a vast army, will come from the far East, and conquer both. El Hakem will then reappear in visible manifestation, and will reign for ever from his throne in Egypt, attended by five ministers! What can be done with such a people? It is well to know their real character. Their bitterness and ferocity was shown in the massacre which attempted the extermination of the Maronites of Lebanon in 1860. Their system seems a master-piece of Satan. Only the power of the Divine Spirit can transform them. The work of missions must be a work of faith and prayer. Discouraging as missionary labor among the Druzes is, the Presbyterian Mission in Syria has rejoiced in many apparent conversions. It even numbers two or three Druze preachers. The native Protestant Christians, however, look with great distrust upon members of this sect who profess their faith. But all things are possible with God. His means may be various. Education will effect changes. The absurdities of the old system will be seen. Prevailing Christian sentiment will make itself felt. THE RELIGION OF THE NUSAIRIYEH. These strange people, found in the extreme north of Syria, are even less understood than the Druzes. Their mystical and mysterious faith has been kept a secret by the force of the death penalty which awaits any
{{cite book}}
:|volume=
has extra text (help); Check date values in:|accessdate=
and|date=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 327 (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)(THE Missionary Review of the World. VOL. III NEW SERIES. VOL. XIII. OLD SERIES. JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1890. EDITORS : J. M. SHERWOOD, NEW YORK, ARTHUR T. PIERSON, PHILADELPHIA. PUBLISHERS : FUNK & WAGNALLS, NEW YORK :18 AND 29 ASTOR PLACE. LONDON : 41 FLEET STREET. TORONTO, CANADA : WILLIAM BRIGGS, 78 AND 80 KING STREET, EAST.) (Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1899, by FUNK & WAGNALLS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.) Original from the University of Michigan Digitized May 9, 2011 - ^ William Ewing (1907). Arab and Druze at home. T. C. & E. C. Jack. p. 90. Retrieved April 4 2012.
They live sober and temperate lives, abstaining from all aleoholic liquors, from tobacco, and even from coffee, the universal beverage of the Arab. Hamzeh, who systematised their doctrines and gave something like coherency to their beliefs, they continue to honour as el-H&di ("the guide"). Durazy, strangely, they have forgotten, or remember only to repudiate. El-Hadi is from the same root, and has the same meaning, as el-Mahdi, the expected "guide" of the Moslems, who is to "lead " them to the universal triumph for which they yearn. The Druzes number in all perhaps something over a hundred thousand. They do not, however, for a moment believe that all real Druzes are confined to Syria. China, for example, is a land of which they have some dim knowledge; it figures vague and vast in their untutored minds. They have heard that there are beliefs common to them and the Chinese; this is sufficient to create the conviction that the Chinese are really Druzes too, whatever name they may be called, and that, when the proper time comes, that mighty empire will pour forth its millions to do battle in the cause of el-Hakim. The British share, in this regard, their affection and confidence, an impression prevailing widely that they too are a nation of Druzes. If this impression did not come from the kindly treatment of the Druzes by the British, when, after the massacre, they were in imminent danger, it was certainly strengthened thereby. If one of them asks how many Druzes there are in England, and receives the reply that
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 148 (help)LONDON : T. C. & E. C. JACK 16 HENRIETTA STREET W.C. AND EDINBURGH Original from Oxford University Digitized Jan 10, 2008 - ^ William Ewing (1907). Arab and Druze at home. T. C. & E. C. Jack. p. 91. Retrieved April 4 2012.
DRUZE FIDELITY there are none, he is far from being convinced, and most likely he leaves you with the suspicion that you are a Druze yourself. He will think nothing the less of you for your stout denial; for it is permitted to them to assume the outward form and profession of any religion whatever, if their welfare for the time may thereby be promoted, the only condition being that they remain true in heart to the faith of their fathers. In a country where the people excel in clever deceptions, it is often extremely hard for the missionary to distinguish between the true and the spurious convert. There is a wellauthenticated case in which a Druze professed conversion to Christianity, was baptized, received into the Church, and, having given proof of his fitness, was at length ordained to the ministry. He continued to exercise his calling with acceptance for several years ; then, throwing off the mask by which he had deceived everybody, he openly declared that he was a Druze at heart, and had never been anything else. The Lebanon for long was the home of the Druzes, but now they are found as far north as Antioch and as far south as Carmel; while since 1860 they have gone eastward, and settled in such numbers on the mountain, that the name Jebel Hauran, by which it was formerly known, is fast giving place to that of Jebel ed-Druze. Wherever the Druze goes, he maintains his well-earned reputation for hospitality and kindly treatment of strangers. This practice is mixed up with the religious ideas that from hoary antiquity have prevailed from the eastern
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 15 (help)LONDON : T. C. & E. C. JACK 16 HENRIETTA STREET W.C. AND EDINBURGH Original from Oxford University Digitized Jan 10, 2008 - ^ The Athenæum: A Journal of Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music, and the Drama, Volume 1. LONDON : PRINTED BY JOHN EDWARD FRANCIS, ATHENEUM PRESS, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE.: J. Francis. JANUARY TO JUNE, 1907. p. 160. Retrieved April 4 2012.
we dissent. The Druzes are not more cruel than their neighbours in habits of warfare. They are less inhuman, for example, than her favourite Kurds. It is-—or was until very lately—their custom to spare all females, and males under seven years of age. Eyewitnesses of the slaughter of 1860 mention this forbearance with praise; and we have been assured by various Druzes that it is a condition of their warfare. The Circassians do not deserve such sweeping condemnation. Their stiff-necked pride and great dis trust of foreigners make them hard to approach ; and they have never forgiven the French and English for betraying (as they believe) their country to the Muscovite ; but though ruthless as enemies they make staunch friends, as the Sultan knows. Asia is scarcely so coherent as at one point the author would have us believe. It was not because the Japanese were Asiatics that the Moslems and Druzes of Syria sided with them during the late war, but because Russia is the ancient enemy of the Moslem, and China is the place where good Druzes go when they die. When the Japanese beat the Chinese the Druzes were aghast—heaven had been stormed (we are quoting Druze talk at the time); and it appears from Miss Lowthian Bell's account that they wisely transferred their heaven to Japan. The Metawileh, we agree, are repulsive ; but their manners are well worth studying. The story, told by Mahmud, of the talking jug (p. 234), and another illustrating the transmigration of souls, are both of them Druze stories, though here referred to the Nusairis. A good variant of the latter is given in Skene's Syrian 'Rambles.' The admiring crowds which annoyed the author in Homs were but pursuing an ancient and, in intention, honorific custom, with a name of its own. The author evidently knows Arabic ' well, but we wish she had adopted some other system of transliteration. To the average reader, Ic or .9 with a dot underneath is k or s demented; he must say Jerusalem and pass on ; while the reader conversant with Arabic has his attention called to the spelling, which is not immaculate. For example, in the proverb, " Hayyeh rubda wala daif mudha," following the author's system, there should be four dotted letters; she gives but one. A like objection applies to her perpetual use of the word "God " instead of "Allah." Every one knows that Allah signifies the Supreme Being, but "God" in English has too solemn an efiect, and the best authorities write "Allah " when rendering common expletives, &c. But after a searching criticism this book remains one of the best of its kind that we have ever read. A valuable map is appended, but, alas ! there is no index. statement in this life that the writer had talked with men who remembered Columba may easily be received. A manuscript of the life, now at Schadhausen, is in the hand of a scribe named Dorbhene, and belongs to the early years of the eighth century. It is written in Latin which has some of the forms of expression and a few of the peculiar words used by Irish writers of Latin in the period which the pride of later times has chosen to call the Dark Ages. Thus the work which Mr. Huyshe has translated, and Messrs. Routledge have published in a cheap, but well-printed edition, is one of the earliest complete literary compositions written in the British Islands. The author was a contemporary of Caedmon and of Bede, and his book had probably been copied more than once before the ' Ecclesiastical History ' of Bede had become known outside the monastery in which it was written. The dwellings, the journeys by land, the voyages in skin-covered boats across the seas, the social conditions, the agriculture, and the domestic life of its time are displayed in it, not as the result of antiquarian research, but as part of the daily experiences of the writer. The narrative is simple, and obviously veracious. " What the miracles were I cannot tell," said Carlyle, in a conversation in which he praised the life, " but you can see that the man wrote things exactly as they appeared to him, and that he was a man who would not tell a lie." The sunlight shining on a particular spot, such as a distant hill-side in some well-known and beloved region, or upon a grave, often produces a great effect upon a mind already filled with thoughts of the place thus illuminated; and when this is remembered truth as well as poetry is apparent in such a description as that in the life The numerous pictures of nature—of the rocks, of the distant views across the sea, of the great waves, of the harvest field—add to the charm and the reality of the biography. We are made to see the heron rising from the sea-level into the sky and slowly flying out of sight, and the whale appearing on the surface of the sea and then disappearing in its depths. Nor are illustrations of human nature omitted, such as the touching account of the saint watching, with recollections of his youth, the bird flying towards Ireland, and of the traveller in Ireland asked soon after C'olumba's death. not yet known there, whether all was well with the saint, and bursting into tears with the reply, " All is indeed well." Mr. Huyshe has written an introductory summary of the principal events in the life, and at the end of each chapter has added brief but useful notes. A map showing the parts of Scotland and Ireland most often mentioned in the book is given, and in the note on this the error is made of regarding as identical the Irish kingdoms called Dalriada and Dal-Araidhe. These kingdoms formed the region of Ulidia, or Lesser Ulster, after the sack of Emania. They are now represented by the counties of Antrim and Down. Dalriada occupied the northern half of Antrim and part of its eastern coast, and the territory inland for some distance. Dal-Araidhe consisted of the county of Down and the southwestern part of Antrim. Mr. VVhitwell Elwin once wrote part of a translation of Adamnan's ' Life of Columba' in which he represented with extraordinary skill the simplicity of the style of the original. It is to be regretted that he never completed the projected work. Prof. J. T. Fowler's useful translation in the endeavour to be faithful has obscured the literary character and merit of the original. Mr. Huyshe has done more justice to the style of Adamnan, and his translation may be recommended as the beet which has appeared, and as a suitable presentation in English of this venerable biography. NEW NOVELS. By the Light of the Soul. By Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. (Harper & Brothers.) Mas. DIARY Wrnxms Fssmmrz has a delicate appreciation of the young girl in her attitude towards life, and her sympathetic manner of writing and the extreme sincerity of her treatment lend themselves well to her subject. ' By the Light of the Soul' is the story of a girl's development from childhood to womanhood through difiicult though not remarkable circumstances. It opens with the death of Maria Edgham's mother, speedily followed by her father's marriage with a school teacher, whose fixed smile and incapacity for natural affect-ion. allied with a keen sense of outward decorum, are ably drawn. The characters, indeed, all have that individuality and distinction which mark the author's work, and not the least notable is that of Maria's sweet-natured, but irresponsible father, who sorely misses the stern but unselfish discipline of his first wife. The peculiarly fresh simplicity of Maria's girlhood is too soon blurred by the foolish and improbable ceremony of boy-and-girl marriage into which she is hurried, and the childish reserve which she maintains with regard to it after childhood has past, with such disastrous consequences, is certainly overstrained. The depths of her nature have been first sounded by her love for her little half-sister, and it is through this love that later she has to make the great renunciation. Viewed from an artistic as well as a human point of view, Maria.'s story is sadder than
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
and|date=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 470 (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, E.C., BY JOHN C. FRANCIS AND J. EDWARD FRANCIS. Original from the University of California Digitized Dec 6, 2011 - ^ The Athenæum: a journal of literature, science, the fine arts, music, and the drama. The Office Bream’s Buildings, Chancery Lane, EC: John C Francis & J Edward Francis. JANUARY TO JUNE, 1907. p. 160. Retrieved April 4 2012.
we dissent. The Druzes are not more cruel than their neighbours in habits of warfare. They are less inhuman, for example, than her favourite Kurds. It is—or was until very lately—their custom to spare all females, and males under seven years of age. Eyewitnesses of the slaughter of 1860 mention this forbearance with praise; and we have been assured by various Druzes that it is a condition of their warfare. The Circassians do not deserve such sweeping condemnation. Their stiff-necked pride and great distrust of foreigners make them hard to approach; and they have never forgiven the French and English for betraying (as they believe) their country to the Muscovite; but though ruthless as enemies they make staunch friends, as the Sultan knows. Asia is scarcely so coherent as at one point the author would have us believe. It was not because the Japanese were Asiatics that the Moslems and Druzes of Syria sided with them during the late war, but because Russia is the ancient enemy of the Moslem, and China is the place where good Druzes go when they die. When the Japanese beat the Chinese the Druzes were aghast—heaven had been stormed (we are quoting Druze talk at the time); and it appears from Miss Lowthian Bell's account that they wisely transferred their heaven to Japan. The Metawileh, we agree, are repulsive; but their manners are well worth studying. The story, told by Mahmud, of the talking jug (p. 234), and another illustrating the transmigration of souls, are both of them Druze stories, though here referred to the Nusairis. A good variant of the latter is given in Skene's Syrian 'Rambles.' The admiring crowds which annoyed the author in Horns were but pursuing an ancient and, in intention, honorific custom, with a name of its own. The author evidently knows Arabic well, but we wish she had adopted some other system of transliteration. To the average reader, k or s with a dot underneath is k or 8 demented; he must say Jerusalem and pass on; while the reader conversant with Arabic has his attention called to the spelling, which is not immaculate. For example, in the proverb, "Hayyeh rubda wala daif mudha," following the author's system, there should be four dotted letters; she gives but one. A like objection applies to her perpetual use of the word "God" instead of "Allah." Every one knows that Allah signifies the Supreme Being, but "God" in English has too solemn an effect, and the best authorities write "Allah" when rendering common expletives, &c. But after a searching criticism this book remains one of the best of its kind that we have ever read. A valuable map is appended, but, alas! there is no index. The Life of St. Columba by St. Adamnan. Translated by Wentworth Huyshe. (Routledge & Sons.) Coltjmba died in 597, and Adamnan was elected Abbot of Iona in 679, so that the statement in this life that the writer had talked with men who remembered Columba may easily be received. A manuscript of the life, now at Schaffhausen, is in the hand of a scribe named Dorbhene, and belongs to the early years of the eighth century. It is written in Latin which has some of the forms of expression and a few of the peculiar words used by Irish writers of Latin in the period which the pride of later times has chosen to call the Dark Ages. Thus the work which Mr. Huyshe has translated, and Messrs. Routledge have published in a cheap, but well-printed edition, is one of the earliest complete literary compositions written in the British Islands. The author was a contemporary of Csedmon and of Bede. and his book had probably been copied more than once before the 'Ecclesiastical History' of Bede had become known outside the monastery in which it was written. The dwellings, the journeys by land, the voyages in skin-covered boats across the seas, the social conditions, the agriculture, and the domestic life of its time are displayed in it, not as the result of antiquarian research, but as part of the daily experiences of the writer. The narrative is simple, and obviously veracious. "What the miracles were I cannot tell," said Carlyle, in a conversation in which he praised the life, " but you can see that the man wrote things exactly as they appeared to him, and that he was a man who would not tell a lie." The sunlight shining on a particular spot, such as a distant hill-side in some well-known and beloved region, or upon a grave, often produces a great effect upon a mind already filled with thoughts of the place thus illuminated; and when this is remembered truth as well as poetry is apparent in such a description as that in the life OF A LUMINOUS RAY SEEN ON THE FACE OF THE BOY HIMSELF AS HE SLEPT. On another night Cruithnechan, the priest, a man of admirable life, the foster-father of the same blessed boy, returning after Mass from the church of his little dwelling, found his entire house irradiated by bright light: for he saw, indeed, a globe of fire stationary over the face of the little sleeping boy. And seeing it, he immediately trembled with fear, and, falling with face on the ground in great wonder, he understood that the grace of the Holy Spirit was poured out from heaven upon his foster-child. The numerous pictures of nature—of the rocks, of the distant views across the sea, of the great waves, of the harvest field—add to the charm and the reality of the biography. We are made to see the heron rising from the sea-level into the sky and slowly flying out of sight, and the whale appearing on the surface of the sea and then disappearing in its depths. Nor are illustrations of human nature omitted, such as the touching account of the saint watching, with recollections of bis youth, the bird flying towards Ireland, and of the traveller in Ireland asked soon after Columba's death, not yet known there, whether all was well with the saint, and bursting into tears with the reply, "All is indeed well." Mr. Huyshe has written an introductory summary of the principal events in the life, and at the end of each chapter has added brief but useful notes. A map showing the parts of Scotland and Ireland most often mentioned in the book is given, and in the note on this the error is made of regarding as identical the Irish kingdoms called Dalriada and Dal-Araidhe. These kingdoms formed the region of Ulidia, or Lesser Ulster, after the sack of Emania. They are now represented by the counties of Antrim and Down. Dalriada occupied the northern half of Antrim and part of its eastern coast, and the territory inland for some distance. Dal-Araidhe consisted of the county of Down and the southwestern part of Antrim. Mr. Whitwell Elwin once wrote part of a translation of Adamnan's 'Life of Columba' in which he represented with extraordinary skill the simplicity of the style of the original. It is to be regretted that he never completed the projected work. Prof. JT Fowler's useful translation in the endeavour to be faithful has obscured the literary character and merit of the original. Mr. Huyshe has done more justice to the style of Adamnan, and his translation may be recommended as the best which has appeared, and as a suitable presentation in English of this venerable biography. NEW NOVELS. By the Light of the Soul. By Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. (Harper & Brothers.) Mrs. Mary Wilkins Freeman has a delicate appreciation of the young girl in her attitude towards life, and her sympathetic manner of writing and the extreme sincerity of her treatment lend themselves well to her subject. 'By the Light of the Soul' is the story of a girl's development from childhood to womanhood through difficult though not remarkable circumstances. It opens with the death of Maria Edgham's mother, speedily followed by her father's marriage with a school teacher, whose fixed smile and incapacity for natural affection, allied with a keen sense of outward decorum, are ably drawn. The characters, indeed, all have that individuality and distinction which mark the author's work, and not the least notable is that of Maria's sweet-natured, but irresponsible father, who sorely misses the stern but unselfish discipline of his first wife. The peculiarly fresh simplicity of Maria's girlhood is too soon blurred by the foolish and improbable ceremony of boy-and-girl marriage into which she is hurried, and the childish reserve which she maintains with regard to it after childhood has past, with such disastrous consequences, is certainly overstrained. The depths of her nature have been first sounded by her love for her little half-sister, and it is through this love that later she has to make the great renunciation. Viewed from an artistic as well as a human point of view, Maria's story is sadder than
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
and|date=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=
(help); More than one of|location=
and|place=
specified (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 750 (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Rabih Alameddine (2008). The Hakawati. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 200. ISBN 0307266796. Retrieved April 4 2012.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help) - ^ Jack Dann, Grania Davis, ed. (2000). Everybody has somebody in heaven: essential Jewish tales of the spirit. Devora Publishing. p. 122. ISBN 1930143109. Retrieved April 4 2012.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=
and|month=
(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ "1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, DRUSES, or DRUZES (Arab. Druz)".
There is good reason to regard the Druses as, racially, a mixture of refugee stocks, in which the Arab largely predominates, grafted on to an original mountain population of Aramaic blood.
- ^ Voyage, by Lamartine, II, page 109.
- ^ Recollections of the Druses of Lebanon (London, 1860), pp. 42-43.
- ^ Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (London, 1911), page 241.
- ^ "Ongoing Adaptive Evolution of ASPM, a Brain Size Determinant in Homo sapiens", Science, 9 September 2005: Vol. 309. no. 5741, pp. 1720-1722.
- ^ evolutsioon.ut.ee
- ^ "The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people".
- ^ a b c American Technion Society (2008, May 12). Genetics Confirm Oral Traditions Of Druze In Israel, ScienceDaily.
- ^ a b Lev, David (25 October 2010). "MK Kara: Druze are Descended from Jews". Israel National News. Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
Further reading
- Sakr Abu Fakhr: "Voices from the Golan"; Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 5–36.
- Jean-Marc Aractingi et Christian Lochon , Secrets initiatiques en Islam et rituels maçonniques-Ismaéliens, Druzes, Alaouites,Confréries soufies; éd. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2008 (ISBN 978-2-296-06536-9 ).
- Rabih Alameddine: I, the Divine: A Novel in First Chapters, Norton (2002). ISBN 0-393-32356-0.
- B. Destani, ed.: Minorities in the Middle East: Druze Communities 1840–1974, 4 volumes, Slough: Archive Editions (2006). ISBN 1840971657.
- R. Scott Kennedy: "The Druze of the Golan: A Case of Non-Violent Resistance"; Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Winter, 1984), pp. 48–6.
- Dr. Anis Obeid: The Druze & Their Faith in Tawhid, Syracuse University Press (July 2006). ISBN 0815630972.
- Shmuel Shamai: "Critical Sociology of Education Theory in Practice: The Druze Education in the Golan"; British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 11, No. 4 (1990), pp. 449–463.
- Samy Swayd: The Druzes: An Annotated Bibliography, Kirkland, Washington: ISES Publications (1998). ISBN 0966293207.
- Bashar Tarabieh: "Education, Control and Resistance in the Golan Heights"; Middle East Report, No. 194/195, Odds against Peace (May–Aug., 1995), pp. 43–47.
External links
![]() | This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (November 2010) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/40px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png)
Sources
- History and sites of the Druze
- Rise and fall of the Syrian Druze
- Institute of Druze Studies, San Diego, California
- Druzenet, English publications
- Druse, Druze, Mowahhidoon described at the OCRT site
- Druze Catechism
- 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article
- Article about Druze Encyclopædia Britannica Concise
- Longer article about Druze Encyclopædia Britannica Concise
- Druze by Pam Rohland
- SEMP - Who are the Druze?
- Druze articles
- Who are the Druze? Photo essay on PBS Wide Angle website
- [1]
Communities
- Druze Professional Network (DPN)
- Druze Chat
- Druze Faces
- Druze News Druze News from Lebanon, Israel and the Druze world.
- Lebanese Druze Online Community
- American Druze Society - National
- American Druze Society - Michigan
- The Druze Association of Edmonton
- Canadian Druze Society
- Australian Druze Community
- South Australian Druze Community
- Israeli Druze Online - in Hebrew
- European Druze Society
- Meeting Druze from all over the world
Other links
- Staying Druze in America video on PBS Wide Angle website
- Druze: A small peace of Israel from hackwriters.com
- The Druzes and the Maronites under the Turkish Rule from 1840 to 1860. Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection. ISBN 1-429-73982-7.
- Contestant No. 2 PBS Wide Angle documentary about a Druze teen who challenges her conservative community
- Druze in Israel and Syria
- The Druze by Dr. Naim Aridi
- Historical Changes in the Political Role of the Druze in Lebanon by Dr. Abbas Abu Saleh
- The Druze