Druze

A Druze is an person that adheres to the Druze faith.

• Example(s):
  • Jabal al-Druze Druze (from Jabal al-Druze in southern Syria, one of the oldest and most densely populated Druze communities).
  • Mount Lebanon Druze (from Mount Lebanon another significant center of the Druze population).
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • a Shia.
  • a Sunni.
• See: Abrahamic Religion, Ethnoreligious Group, Isma'ilism, Lebanese Politics, Monotheism, Religious Syncretism, Shuaib, Syncretic Religions, West Asian History.

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References

2024

• (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze Retrieved:2024-4-7.
  • The Druze who call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (lit. 'the monotheists' or 'the unitarians'), are an Arab and Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion whose main tenets are the unity of God and the belief in reincarnation and the eternity of the soul. Most Druze religious practices are kept secret. The Druze do not permit outsiders to convert to their religion. Marriage outside the Druze faith is rare and strongly discouraged. The Epistles of Wisdom is the foundational and central text of the Druze faith. The Druze faith originated in Isma'ilism (a branch of Shia Islam), and was influenced by Christianity, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Zoroastrianism, Gandharan Buddhism, Manichaeism Pythagoreanism, and other philosophies and beliefs, creating a distinct and secretive theology based on an esoteric interpretation of scripture, which emphasizes the role of the mind and truthfulness. Druze believe in theophany and reincarnation.The Druze believe that at the end of the cycle of rebirth, which is achieved through successive reincarnations, the soul is united with the Cosmic Mind (). The Druze have a special reverence for Shuaib, who they believe is the same person as the biblical Jethro. The Druze believe that Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and the Isma'ili Imam Muhammad ibn Isma'il were prophets. Druze tradition also honors and reveres Salman the Persian, al-Khidr (whom they identify as Elijah, reborn as John the Baptist and Saint George), Job, Luke the Evangelist, and others as "mentors" and "prophets". Even though the faith originally developed out of Isma'ilism, the Druze are not Muslims. The Druze faith is one of the major religious groups in the Levant, with between 800,000 and a million adherents. They are found primarily in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, with small communities in Jordan. They make up 5.5% of the population of Lebanon, 3% of Syria and 1.6% of Israel. The oldest and most densely-populated Druze communities exist in Mount Lebanon and in the south of Syria around Jabal al-Druze (literally the "Mountain of the Druze"). The Druze community played a critically important role in shaping the history of the Levant, where it continues to play a significant political role. As a religious minority in every country in which they are found, they have frequently experienced persecution by different Muslim regimes, including contemporary Islamic extremism.

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