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INTRODUCTION
ISLAM
CHRISTIANITY
JUDAISM
HINDUISM
THE GREEKS
EPILOGUE
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Since long, it was commonly believed that the Druze community possessed an
independent religious doctrine which differed totally from other religions.
This belief was the basic reason for the public opinion which justified the
fact of keeping this religion in total secrecy by its members. However,
such a belief lacks accuracy, and a deep look at the Druzes culture may
reveal many points in common between this religion and other religions. In
fact the Druze sheikhs prefer to consider their Dogma a sect or a Sufi
conduct rather than a religion. This point of view is not far from reality,
and there is an accord between the Druze writers who admit that the Druze
cult is not more than an inheritance descending from the Ishmaili-Fatimid
culture which marked the Islamic thought by its characteristical aspect.
Yet, the relation between this sect and the Islamic heritage is not all;
there are for sure other connections with Christianity, Judaism and some
eastern philosophies.
We aim here to reveal these relations which will give us a clear view about
this particular confession.
ISLAM
The Druze faith originated and evolved in a totally Islamic atmosphere. It
is Written in one of its Epistles that the Fatimid Caliph (Prince of
Believers) Al Hakim Bi Amr Allah declared that every person in his kingdom
had the right to adopt the religion he liked. This decree made it possible
for some Ishmaili preachers to construct a new dogma. This dogma inherited
almost all the Ishmaili teaching and modified certain rules.
The decree stated:
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 the 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.
The time was the beginning of the 11th century A.D., the place was Cairo,
the capital of Egypt, in the Era of the Fatimid dynasty during the reign of
the caliph Al Hakim Bi Amr Allah.We have clear evidences that this caliph
granted this new Call (Daawa) his financial, political, and moral support.
Al Hakim was aiming to reign all the Islamic Empire, so he encouraged the
Ishmaili preachers to call for a new dogma which permits the Unification
between two main Islamic sects i.e. the Sunna and the Shi'aa. He himself
was a descendant of the family of Muhammad (pbuh); and it was believed by
the different Shi'aa parties, that the members of this family are qualified
to continue the message of their Ancestor the prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
Every Imam descending from the family of the prophet has the right to
legislate and to develop for the welfare of the Umma because he inherits
the Divine knowledge from his ancestors. He is invincible, impeccable and
exempt from committing mistakes.
It is evident that this new religious approach was very ambitious and it
was not easy for a prince to make his people change their traditional
beliefs and customs of worship to convert to it, moreover the kingdom of Al
Hakim consisted of more than one religion: The Sunna and Copts in Egypt,
Orthodox, in addition to Islamic esoteric sects and Christian minorities.
For this sake Al Hakim mobilised all his staff to reach for this new
movement. The adoption to such movement was optional. The preachers were
counting on a new understanding to the Koran and the other Holy Books.
This new look at religion demanded an omniscient character to the knowledge
of its canvasser (promoter). This new theology was inherited from the
efforts made by Ikhwan Al Safa who preceded this new call. The two parties
(Ikhwan Al Safa and the Fatimid Preachers) were aiming at the same goal: The
reunification of religions under one belief titled as Al Tawhid
(i.e.Monotheism) for that sake high estimation was given to philosophy in
addition to the three celestial religions. Ikhwan Al Safa considered
philosophy on the same level as Islam; and they considered the work of
Aristotle and Plato as valid as the Koran.
However, we find that the Fatimid movement was a logical consequence to the
Ishmaili jurisprudences about the Islamic doctrine. So, it is not strange
to see the Koran is at the origin of every new thought or conduct, but the
interpretation of verses was different. There is also a philosophical touch
which makes the issues treated more relevant and logical.
Hence, the Druze faith descending from the Fatimid religious trend was not
an innovation independent from its precedent esoteric movement of the
Ishmailism. The difference between these two confessions is very slight.
The two confessions inherited the same metaphysical issues from the
neo-Platonism philosophy and they built up a new approach to the moral
concepts and Islamic Ethics was adopted by both.
But we have to be cautious about the Islamic identity of monotheism or
Tawhid, because if we look at this trend with a fundamentalists eye, many
obstacles will hinder us from accepting this trend as Islamic. Legislation
in the Tawhid regarding a number of issues differs radically from the
common Islamic view. We have in hand for example: the reincarnation,
monogamy, and the free will to transmit inheritance.
These legislations seems to be quite different from the Islamic laws. Yet,
the Tawhid doctrine refers these issues to the Koran. A new understanding
of the verses was possible by means of esotericism and allegory, and this
led to a new look at ethics and traditions. So a progress in human
relationships was set on, and a new kind of justification was made without
violating the scripts of the Koran. This new Islamic trend was formulated
to bring over the new believers from all the precedent dogmas of Islam,
Christianity, and Judaism.
In spite of its simple requirement with respect to other confessions , this
new call did not find much success. One of the main causes of that failure
is the quarrels which took place between its preachers notably Hamza Ibn
Ali and Mohammed Al Darazi. Al Darazi proclaimed without the permission of
Hamza the Imam that Al Hakim is the incarnation of God on earth; and such a
claim did not match with the other doctrines. So a general refutation
spread between the people of Egypt. This refutation evolved into a struggle
between the traditional Muslims and the new believers and led these
believers to work underground for fear of liquidation.
The new philosophical concepts used to attract people were not so explicit
or easy to grasp by the lay man. The metaphysical complexity of its thesis
demanded special qualifications which overpasses the ordinary, while the
traditional Islam was still more tolerant in dealing with what may be
called human conduct. So the people regarded the call as Anti-Islamic; and
this look made the spreading very difficult. The new believers were trying
desperately to show the Islamic milieu, where they were dwelling that this
new movement was not against Islam but was only a wider scope to its
teachings.
This attempt to convince other Muslims that the Fatimid movement was quite
an Islamic movement and not a conspiracy against it, was in vain. The main
cause for such a failure was the close connection between different Islamic
parties with the political motivations that lay behind. The other parties
knew very well that such a movement might threaten their existence and lead
to the sovereignty of the Fatimid dynasty over all controversial dynasties.
So all the logical proofs and the philosophical approaches of this new call
met deaf ears. The greed for power was the dominant factor, and every party
had its dogma to serve a special regime. It was impossible to separate
politics from the religious legislations. This has been and is still one of
the main characteristics of Islam.
Eventually, the call was put to an end after 27 years of hard struggle and
since that time the Druze prohibit preaching because they believe that
every thing possible has been done, and there is no need for further
preaching; hence, a believer must not speak about his faith, and the holy
teaching of the sect should be kept in total secrecy. This conduct has been
respected for almost one thousand years, and the studies about this special
sect did not see light before the second half of the 18 century. Sylvester
De Sacy, a French orientalist, was the first pioneer who tried to give a
complete information about this sect in his book Expose de Religion Des
Druzes and with the increasing interest in the Druze people many books were
written afterwards.
The acceptance of the Druze as an Islamic sect is still under question in
most of the Arabic countries; controversial casuistries has been presented
about that case.
However, the majority of Druze communities maintain the claim which
ascertain that the Druze is an Islamic sect. The main arguments this claim
can be classified as follows:
The chain of Imams who oriented and gave the legal decision for the call
were the descendants of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
The Epistles of Wisdom, which contain the whole dogma of the Druze faith,
made it clear that the confessed religion in front of God is Islam and
nothing else
All the prayers and rituals practiced during birth, marriages,
funerals, obituaries ....etc. are totally Islamic word and spirit.
The Druze religious status in the Islamic Hanafi legislation with some
slight modification.
The Sufi conduct of the Druze priests (Okkal) is quite Islamic in nature.
With Sufism , the Druze conformity with Islam reaches its Climax.
The history of the Druze reveals beyond any doubt that the Druze were in
Alliance with the other Islamic sects in their struggle to protect the
Islamic Empire from the crusades and other enemies of Islam.
The Koran is the source of legislation for the Druze and it is considered
as the Holy Book of God. Moreover, the Koran as well is the Book of the
Druze, while the Epistles of Wisdom are their culture and tradition.
Most of the rules which regulate the Druze ethics and social conduct are
inspired from the tradition of the prophet Mohammed (pbuh).
In spite of these arguments we cannot deny that the Druze faith has its own
particular characteristics and it contains for certain some revolutionary
ideas. So the claim affirming the Islamic identity of the Druze does not
eliminate their special character. The Druze rest as an independent Islamic
sect and we can compare the Druze sect with respect to other Islamic sects
as similar to that of the Protestants with respect to the Roman Catholics.
In the past, the Druze possessed about 20 Mosques in Lebanon where prayers
were practiced. The majority of these mosques were destroyed due to the
bloody conflicts that took place between the Druze and other sects.
Nowadays , the Islamic identity of the Druze community is accepted
politically in most of the Arabic countries. The Druze in Lebanon, Syria,
and Jordan are considered as an Islamic sect and this recognition is a kind
of relief with respect to them. The link between the Druze and Islam is
very tight. All the Druze insist on being Muslims. Many attempts were done
to prove the contrary but the Druze refutation to it was total.
They maintain strongly the attitude of loyalty to the Islamic legislation
and faith. This has been always a general conduct and a final end. One
point remains most critical about the relation between Druze and Islam and
it is the very strict relation of Sufism. The Druze as a Sufi community is
closely attached to Islam, whereas the intellectual dogma is very close to
Napoleonic philosophy.
CHRISTIANITY
The relation between the Druze faith and Christianity takes another scope.
The Druze faith considers the history of religion as a flow of continuous
events arranged in a chronological order. This flow characterizes the birth
of Monotheism and its development across the ages. The Druze belief
stresses on a special theory of evolution with respect to the three
celestial religions. This belief states that the wisdom of God did not
appear suddenly and all at once. It was in fact a slow process in which
Monotheism started to develop from simple ideas to more complicated ones.
So every prophet prepares for his successor and the successor adds new
items and pave the way for the next to come. The history of religion is not
a futile accumulation of time. The role of every prophet is inscribed in
the eternal Will of God; and historically, events take place according to a
well studied plan. Nothing is arbitrary, nothing is a hit of chance. This
kind of look pushes the Druze doctrine to a very high level of idealism and
encourages the belief in determinism. Many Druze thinkers tried to escape
this theory in order to justify God's right of judging man for his actions
and sentence him to either eternal paradise or eternal hell. But all these
attempts were in vain. It is almost impossible to deny the factors of
determinism which hinder any possibility of human liberty in the Druze
doctrine. The destiny of every human being is written in advance on his
forehead. Predetermination rules everywhere. It is very difficult to make
space for any form of personal will in such a belief. Nevertheless, the
conclusion obtained from such sets of ideas leads to the acceptance of
every other religion because they incarnate God's Will, and Christianity is
one of the most important stages in the human history of religions; it
preceded Islam and affirmed the return of Christ once more to save the
believers from their agony and torture in this damned life.
What is more special is the identities of the prophets responsible for
Christianity and other religions. According to the Druze's belief they have
the same personality and every prophet's soul transmigrates to a new
prophet to continue the spreading of God's message to every human being.
This genuine idea leads consequently to consider that the prophets of
Christianity are as well the prophets of Judaism and the prophets of Islam.
They have different names but their souls are the same. Similarly, these
prophets are also the prophets of the Druze. In the Druze culture we find
schedules which classify the different personalities of the prophets in
every role and every epoch.
Thus the Druze faith is considered by its believers as the last stage of
preaching by these prophets. In it the Monotheism and divine Wisdom reached
their climax. Every reality has been transferred to humanity, and now the
destiny of every human being is decided forever.
What is the Druze's evaluation of Christianity ?
The answer to this question is quite special. The Druze believe in Jesus
and his four disciples, who wrote the Gospels. According to their
classification Christ is the Greatest Imam and the incarnation of Ultimate
Reason (Akl) on earth and the first cosmic principle (Hadd). He is directly
second to God. His four disciples are considered as the four cosmic
principles (Houdoud). The Gospels are Holy Books. With Christianity, the
development of Monotheism was decisive. God promised the Christians the
salvation of the tortured souls, and made it clear that Jesus had come to
lead his followers to the safety shore. As for the crucifixion of Jesus,
the Druze believe that he was not crucified but another person who
resembles him was crucified in his place. Such a belief may seem very queer
to a traditional Christian, but we have to remember that the Druze follow
also the koranic verses and the Koran made it clear that Jesus Christ was
not crucified. Nevertheless, the Druze maintain a great value to the
meaning of sacrifice. John the Baptist is considered next to Jesus and he
personifies the Ultimate Sacrifice.
One of the Druze manuscripts reveals a fascinating idea by mentioning that
Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one identity. This idea is very near to the
concept of the sacred Trinity in Christianity. The Druze's manner of
thinking enabled them to accept the idea of the all in one. The diluted
pantheism of their faith leads to such a conclusion.
Another remark that shows a close relation with Christianity is the Druze
refutation to polygamy unlike the traditional Muslim sects. It is true that
the Druze refer to their refutation to certain Koranic verses, but their
attitude gives them a special character and brings them close to the
Christian opinion about marriage. What is more remarkable about the Druze
with respect to the matter is the adoption of Monasticism by some Druze
Sheikhs. This conduct is highly praised in the Druze community and it is
considered as the highest degree of chastity. A sheikh may ask his fiancée
to agree to marry him without conjugal relations, and there are many cases
in which a Druze priest has remained single for all his life. Sex is not an
aim in itself; it is only stressed for the sake of reproduction. A part of
that sex maybe considered as a sin. Such a belief proves beyond doubt that
the Druze have inherited much of the Christian dogmatic with respect to
marriage and to the sincere mutual relations between man and woman. The
general outlook on marriage in the Druze community is quite similar to that
of the Christians and has the same pious spirit.
JUDAISM
We have seen that the three celestial religions are closely related in the
Druze belief. The history of these three religions is one. There is a vital
common factor which links between them. The belief in the arrival of a
Savior to salvage humanity on the judgment day. This common factor means
that the three religions were inspired from one personality, so Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad are the same cosmic principles in different
personal manifestations. In every manifestation new ideas were added and
some modifications were presented. According to this doctrine, which is
based mainly on reincarnation, the three religions are only different
consecutive steps of one common religion notably called Islam. Needless to
say how much such a belief solidify the unity between these three
religions. We must not forget that the Tawhid movement i.e. the Druze
Movement has aimed to unify people under one religious doctrine which
belongs to all. The Tawhid in itself mean Unification.
As for the relation of the Druze faith with Judaism we see that in the
Druze tradition the Jews are said to be divided into twelve tribes, two
tribes and and a half are lost. The Druze claim to be these lost tribes. In
their belief, the lost tribes left Judaism and joined Christianity and
Islam afterwards. And their final station was the Druze's tawhid i.e.
Monotheism. For this reason the Druze glorify the prophets of the Bible and
give a special esteem to David and Solomon. The other prophets of Israel
are classified in a hierarchic order. The number of prophets for one epoch
is one hundred sixty four. This number is based on a legendary science
where conclusions are obtained from an arithmetical relation between the
Arabic letters and the number corresponding to them.
The prophets are called "letters of veracity" and they transmigrate
from
one epoch to another spreading the word of God across the ages, and
preparing his people to welcome eternal happiness after the Judgment Day.
We conclude that the three celestial religions with respect to the Druze
are three consecutive stages by which God has sent his aid and blessing to
humanity ,and every individual has chosen his fate by belonging to one of
these trends. Truth and Reality are found in the three Holy Books; the Old
testament, the Gospels, and the Koran. The truth is revealed to the
believers by Wisdom. The Wisdom of the Druze has uncovered the secret and
unified the three dogmas in one consistent doctrine.
HINDUISM
The relation between the Druze faith and the far eastern thinking is
obscure. One of the main evidences is the belief in reincarnation, but
there is a main difference between the Druze and the Hindus concerning this
issue. Unlike the Hindus, the Druze DO NOT believe in the transmigration of
the human soul from the human body to animal, plant or inorganic
substances. The human soul transmigrates only from human body to another
human body and maintains the same gender. A male into male, and female into
a female. This difference is accompanied also by another difference which
is the belief in sanction. The human soul is rewarded or punished eternally
on the Judgment Day. There is no Nirvana because the human soul cannot
exist without a body. The attachment of the soul to the consecutive bodies
is eternal in this world, and in the future world. Such ideas make it
difficult to find the clue which relates the Druze faith to Indian
religions. What is certain is that there has been no??? relation between
the Druze and some Indian personalities and one of them is mentioned in the
books of the Druze's Wisdom, and there is a special Epistle which is named
the Epistle of India. Moreover, one of the Druze authors claimed to find
many epistles sent to India, and he classified them in a book. This book is
regarded by the Druze intellectuals as an important reference, but the
Druze sheikhs refuse to accept it as one of their books.
THE GREEKS
Another kind of special relation does exist between the Druze faith and the
Greek idealistic philosophy. The Druze consider Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle as prophets. Many inspirations were taken from the Greek thought.
The idea of Ultimate reason adopted by the Druze is a neo-platonic idea.
The Greek philosophers are currently mentioned in the Druze culture, and
there is an extensive use of Aristotle's logic in the argument dedicated to
prove the validity of the new thesis presented to people by the Druze
preachers. It is well known that the Druze's call came in the time when the
interrelation between Islam and Greek metaphysics has reached its climax.
Every Islamic sect was trying to affirm its issues by referring to
Aristotle's categories. Islamic philosophers worked hard to combine Islamic
theology with the Greek philosophy. The Druze's call was one of these
attempts. The Druze preachers reached a high level in understanding this
philosophy and applied its concepts on their religion.
EPILOGUE
The Druze doctrine was very ambitious like every humanitarian movement. But
the path to its final end was not paved. The Druze preachers tried hard to
unify people under its flag, but all their effort went in vain. Its radical
ideas did not appeal to the people at that time, and fanaticism remained
the ruling factor.
Today, the Druze community lives peacefully in the Middle East. Its members
are extremely polite with others, and they don't interfere with others'
matters. They don't preach anymore, and they don't like others to interfere
with their religious matters. It is almost impossible to reveal their
secret. When religious matters are presented in front of them, they keep
silent. The philosophy of their life is quite simple. It can be summarized
in the following epigram: Keep Silent and Wait.
So, the Druze believer waits for the final Judgment which he thinks to be
his last shelter. He despises all the riches of the world because he thinks
that every thing on earth is temporary, and Wisdom is to seek for the
eternal.
The highest concern for the Druze sheikh is to await patiently for the
arrival of the city of God where Justice, Love, and Grace will reign
forever.
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARAMCO WORLD MAGAZINE, Nov.-Dec. 1973
ASSAD, Sadik, The reign of Al Hakim Bi Amr Allah, the Arab Institute for
research and publishing, Beirut, 1974
Bouron, Capitaine N. Les Druzes. Paris Editions Berger, Levrault, 1930.
Churchill, Colonel Charles. The Druze and the Maronites. London, Bernard
Quatrich, 15 Picadelly, 1862.
Mount-Lebanon, A ten years residence from 1842-1852. Vol. II London,
Ssaunders and Otely, Conduit Street, 1853
De Sacy, Sylvester. Expose de religion des Druzes. Paris, 19
Guys, Henri. La nation Druze Paris 1863
Head, Joseph & Cranston, S.L. Reincarnation: The phoenix Fire Mystery. New
York Julian Press 1986
Makarem, Sami Nassib. The Druze faith, New York, Caravan Books, Delmar,
1974.
Other references in Arabic
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