KNOW THY-SELF

KNOW THY-SELF

The quest for the knowledge of one's self has been the notion that kept the world turning, One does not have to be physically lost to look for himself or herself.

Curiosity has always been the incitement that stirred our emotions, and kept us in motion. It is part of growing up, It is the essence of knowledge.

God in His Creation made things different. When He created us, He made us different. This phenomena is the cause of the so many different social environments. It is also the reason for the different identities within the human race.

When we are asked: What is your religion? We know the answer, that is, DRUZE

When we are asked: What is DRUZE? Many become confused and hesitant to reply. They insist that they do not know the answer because they were not taught about their religion. They argue that this is due to the following facts:

Druze do not have a church or houses of worship.

Druze Holy books are not widely published, or are not easily available.

Druze do not have Sunday schools.

Druze are not taught specific prayers.

This is correct, but why? You may ask. Well here again, curiosity is in focus that is how we seek knowledge. There could be many reasons. One may think that something is wrong with this set-up. If that is true then the Druze faith would have been lost a long time ago. Secondly, we may think that it is meant to be like that, and there must be a wisdom behind it, and it can be easily explained as follows:

a. We do not have churches or houses of worship, because in our belief; "God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds cannot be restricted to one place. He is everywhere and anywhere. Wherever we turn there is the face of God," Therefore, we can pray to him wherever and whenever we so choose.

b. Our Holy books are not widely published, or are not easily available, because in our belief ; "God, most Gracious and most Merciful, does not have to be advertised, His presence should be felt by His Creation. We should seek His Wisdom. If we worship God, we are doing that for our own good, if we do not, we are the loser’s and God's might is not affected, God's light is visible to those who look. His wisdom is available for those who listen. His blessing is accessible to those who seek." Therefore, we must search and seek the Holy books, if we so choose, they are available for our knowledge and salvation.

c. We do not have Sunday schools, because in our belief; "God Almighty, cannot be restricted to a certain time, He is available all the time, He is all-knowing".

d. We were not taught specific prayers, because we do not need anyone to write our prayers, or tell us how to pray to our Lord. In our belief; We do not need a middleman to introduce us to God. God is in all of us, all we need is to seek Him. We do not have to repeat other people's prayers, after all, a certain person's prayer does not have to be everyone's prayer. One’s need of God may differ from another. So one chooses his or her own words to communicate with the Creator.

e. In short, It is our duty to seek God. He is everywhere all the time. Anytime we choose to pray, that time becomes our Sunday. Any place we choose to pray, that place becomes our church. The words we choose to address our Lord become our prayer.

f. Some argue that their Christian neighbors are better informed in their faith. That is, because they attend churches regularly. Believe me, a very few number of Christians, maybe less than one per thousand are knowledgeable in the teachings of Christian Theology and/or Christian Doctrine.

g. Most of the Christians are knowledgeable of the basics of Christianity only. That is, the birth of Jesus, and his crucifixion. That is what I am attempting to explain. The main thing is that all the Druze should at least know the basics of their religion.

h. Then if anyone's interest is aroused, and that person decided to continue in his or her quest to improve their knowledge of the TAWHEED Faith, that is, the faith of the DRUZE, they can always do that.

i. The basics of the TAWHEED faith, that is the minimum a Druze should know in order to identify him or herself can be summarized as follows:

1. The DRUZE are UNITARIANS who believe in Unitarianism, TAWHEED.

2. TAWHEED is as old as CREATION itself. It is an admission that: "GOD IS ONE. GOD IS ETERNAL. THERE IS NO LORD BUT GOD. HE IS EXALTED IN POWER ALL WISE. GOD BEGOT NONE, NOR WAS HE BEGOTTEN. NONE IS EQUAL TO HIM."

3. The last Call (Dawa) to TAWHEED Faith started in Egypt during the reign of the sixth Caliph of the Fatimid Empire in the year 1017 A.D.. His name was AL-HAKIM BI-AMR-ALLAH (Ruler in the name of God ).

4. The call was headed by HAMZA BIN ALI BIN AHMED (985-1021 A.D.) He was the first Dignitary, that is, HADD. He was known as AL-AKL, that is, The Universal Mind.

There were another four Dignitaries, that is, HUDUD ( plural of HADD), who assisted Al-AKL, they were:

ISMAIL BIN MOHAMMAD BIN HAMEDAL-TAMIMI, the second Dignitary, known as AL-NAFS, that is, The Universal Soul.

MOHAMMAD BIN WAHAB AL-QURASHI, the third Dignitary, known as AL-KALIMA , that is, The Word.

SALAMA BIN ABDUL-WAHAB AL-SAMURRI, the fourth Dignitary, known as AL-SABIQ, that is, The Antecedent or Cause.

ALI BIN AHMED AL-TAI AL-SAMOUKI, BAHA-AL-DEEN the fifth Dignitary, known as AL-TALI , that is, The Successor or Affect.

There were three other Dignitaries, HUDUD, they were: AL-JADD, AL-FATEH, and AL-KHAYAL. Beside those, there were another one hundred and sixty four (164) main missionaries. The are called DUAT, That is, callers to the (Dawa), who assisted in the Call (Dawa).

5. The Call (Dawa) was suspended from 1021-1027 A.D.. This period is known to the Druze as the seven-years of persecution. This is because forty days after the disappearance of the Fatimid Caliph AL-HAKIM BI-AMR-ALLAH (The Ruler in the name of God), who was the protector of the Call, his successor, AL-ZAHIR, who promised AL-HAKIM that he will continue to protect the Druze, went back on his words and unleashed his forces against the Druze.

6. Thousands of Druze were killed. Many abandoned the new belief, only the steadfast held to their TAWHEED Faith. The Call (Dawa) was then resumed until 1042 A.D.. Then it was closed by order from HAMZA-BIN-ALI. That was after the disappearance of all the Dignitaries, HUDUD, who went into retirement.

7. The Call (Dawa) we were told, reached the four corners of earth. The UNITARIANS became a closed community, not seeking nor even accepting new converts.

8. The name DRUZE, is a reference to one of the missionaries (Duat), who was called, NASH-TA-KIN AL-DARAZI In the year 1018 A.D. AL-DARAZI became obsessed with power, he revolted against HAMZA-BIN-ALI, and deviated from the true teachings of TAWHEED. NASH-TA-KIN AL-DARAZY was deposed and killed. Unfortunately we were not able to rid ourselves from his name. Therefore, we became known as the DRUZE instead of MOWAHEDOON, and historians always referred to us as DRUZE,

9. Converts who believed in the TAWHEED Faith seeked admission. They had to adhere to the Covenant, that is, AL-MITHAQ , The Covenant stressed that adherence was voluntary. It was administered to each person as an individual, and in the presence of witnesses. The names of adherents were sent by missionaries to the fifth Dignitary, BAHA-EL-DEEN, known as AL-TALI, the Affect. AL-TALI registered the names, then sent lists of the new converts to the first and second Dignitaries.

10. The main belief of TAWHEED is:

a) The absolute Oneness of GOD.

b) God is beyond comprehension of human understanding.

c) God rises above language and thought.

d) God does not come under any name, characteristic, or expression.

e) God cannot be defined by words, for words convey what is grasped by the senses, reason or imagination.

f) God's existence cannot be apprehended by the most profound reflection and meditation.

g) God is without like and without opposite, eternal without beginning, abiding without end.

h) God is in every age and place, not limited by the bounds of time and space.

i) God is One but not in number. Single without any similar.

j) God is the Creator who produced from His light all things, to Whom all shall return. God is the only Existent. He is that He is, Self-Subsistent.

11.There are seven commandments in the TAWHEED Faith, they are:-

First: A Truthful Tongue.

Second: Cultivation and protection of the brethren.

Third: Excision of fallacies and falsehood.

Fourth: Rejection of the villain and aggressor.

Fifth: Adoration of the Lord in every era and at all times.

Sixth: Cheerful acceptance of whatever comes from Him.

Seventh: Spontaneous submission to His will.

12. The Sacred or Holy books in the TAWHEED Faith are called AL-HIKMA, the books of wisdom. They consist of six-books containing one hundred and eleven messages, RASA’IIL. These messages were written by the Dignitaries, HUDUD.

13. Creation started when the Lord said: "Let it be, and it was".

14. The devils in TAWHEED are:

The Adversary that was born from the darkness of AL-AKL (the Universal Mind).

The Opponent, that was born from between the light of AL-NAFS (The Universal Soul) and the Adversary.

15. According to the TAWHEED Faith, all human Souls were created at once. Their number is fixed for all time. It is not subject to increase or decrease. Upon death, the Soul is immediately reborn into another human body. The body serving as envelop or robe to the Soul. This process is called REINCARNATION, Reincarnation is therefore one of the main basics of TAWHEED.

16. Reincarnation confirms GOD’S DIVINE JUSTICE, because TAWHEED Faith states that:-

Self-identification by the Soul, according to the TAWHEED Faith, occurs only once. That is, on the Last Day, which no one but He knows when. On that day, all veils are lifted from the Soul, Each Soul is then given the power to see its entire catalogue of past live in the context of knowledge and deed.

17. TAWHEED Doctrine makes thinking the exclusive function of the Mind. The physical mind is the property of the animal spirit. The Universal Mind is the property of the Soul.

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This is a very brief introduction to the DRUZE (TAWHEED) FAITH. I hope that this will enable DRUZE to at least know who they are.

Moustafa F. Moukarim

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