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Druze: Syria
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The basis of the Druze religion is the belief that al-Hakim, a caliph (ruler) of the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt, was the incarnation of God. The Ismaili Fatimid rulers claimed descent as well as legitimacy as Muslim caliphs through Fatima, the daughter of the prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Al-Hakim, the sixth caliph, ruled from 996 to 1021. A Turkish dai (preacher) named Muhammad al-Darazi spread the notion of al-Hakim as God incarnate to Muslims in the regions now known as Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. Individuals who followed these ideas were named Druze after al-Darazi.
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When Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi overthrew Za`im in August 1949, Amir Hasan al-Atrash and a number of Druze officers were his staunchest supporters. Hinnawi called for the return to power of Syria's traditional politicians, and for the quick unification of Syria and Iraq, both policies the Druzes supported. The Druze leaders had never tried to conceal their disdain for Syria's republican form of government nor their admiration for the old world set-up of the Hashimite monarchies of Jordan and Iraq. Syria came very close to unifying with Iraq during the brief tenure of Hinnawi's regime and the Druze remained among union's most vociferous advocates.
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Druze religion has its origins in the second decade of the 11th century, when al-Darazi and Hamzah ibn Ali declared the sixth Fatimid caliph to be the incarnation of the godhead. Following the death of al-Hakim in 1021 the Druze sect in Egypt was subjected to persecution and disappeared. The sect... flourished in Syria where it had been established by Darazi's followers, and reached as far as Iraq, Iran and India.
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The Druze (Druse, Druzes, or Druses) are a religious sect living in the mountains of the Levant, in their villages in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, where they have always resisted assimilation. In their religion they discarded the puritan determinism of Islam, sloughing off the metaphysical hindrance, spiritual imprisonment, and psychic restraint of strict Islamic law and practice. They believe in the freedom to make choices not determined by prior causes or divine intervention. Their religion stresses gnostic revelation and reincarnation, it is said, but little is known about their beliefs and practices, for their sacred books are secret, and they do not allow strangers to join them.
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Persecution of the Druze began early in their history. Their earliest leaders were forced into hiding, and many Druze were murdered. The survivors in southern Lebanon and Syria became secretive in order to survive. For the most part, no new converts have been accepted by the Druze since AD 1043. One must be born a Druze; no one can become one by choice.
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Ein el-Asad, the only all-Druze village founded in the twentieth century, is located nearby. The village's original residents came from Beit Jan and from Syria and Lebanon. Kafr Sumei', west of Peki'in, is thought to be the site of Kefar Sama, mentioned in ancient Hebrew literature.
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