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Druze
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The beginning of the call to the Druze faith was in Egypt in the age of Al-Hakem Bi Amr Ellah. Al-Hakem proclaimed the start of the call in the evening of Friday the first day of 408 A.H.. He assigned the leadership of the call to Imam Hamzah Ibn Ali Ibn Ahmad, and on that day, he issued a decision calling upon people to practice their faith without fear or concealment. Planning by the ruler to ready the people to embrace an anticipated role preceded the Tawhidi call. These preparations were overseen by Al-Hakem, and they continued for seven consecutive years. The missionaries embarked upon readying the people through reason and knowledge to absorb and welcome the new phase.
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The origins of the Druze faith can be traced to Egypt in the early eleventh century. Their faith subsequently spread to many regions in the Middle East and North Africa. The basis of the religion is the belief that at various times God has been divinely incarnated in a living person. His last, and final, incarnation was al-Hakim bi-Amrih Alla, who announced himself as the earthly incarnation of God in about 1009. A year later, his followers helped shaped a creed that is still followed today.
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In Lebanon the history of the Druze has very much been tied up with the unfortunate history of the country. During the first twenty-five years of the country's history the various religious groups succeeded in coexisting without conflict. However, the denial of effective political power to Lebanon's Muslims by the Christian majority led to the outbreak of civil war in 1958 and in 1975. One important consequence of the post-1975 conflict for the Druzes of Lebanon was the establishment of links between themselves and the Druzes of Syria and Israel as these two countries became involved in Lebanon's civil war.
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Druze poetry does not have any love songs. Instead, it focuses on themes such as the love of God and of one's native countryside. Druze writers include poet Samih al-Qasim and Shaqib Arslan, known as "the prince of eloquence" (amir al-bayan). Among classical musicians, pianist Diana Taqi al-Din is a Druze. A well-known performer of traditional Middle Eastern music was singer and composer Farid al-Atrash (1916–76).
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The Druze sect developed out of Shia Ismaili Islam, a philosophical movement based in the Fatimids Caliphate, in the 10th century, a time of particular cultural wealth. The religion did not attempt to reform mainstream Islam but aimed to create a whole new religious body influenced by Greek philosophy, Gnosticism and Christianity, among others. The main actors were Tariq al-Hakim... known as al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the 16th Fatimi Caliph, and Hamza ibn-Ali ibn-Ahmad, the main architect of the movement. It was Hamza who first publicly proclaimed that Hakim was God. Hakim opposed this claim which was apostasy. Because the Druze considered Tariq al-Hakim to be the incarnation of God, they were persecuted by orthodox Muslims, especially after Hakim's death in 1021.
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By the time the Druze forces reached Zahle on 13th of June 1860 they numbered close to 9,000 whilest the defenders could only field 4,000 men. On the 14th and 15th the Christians made sorties against the Druze which ended in disaster. On the first day of action the Druze took seventy Christian heads to the camp. After the second day the Christians decided to confine their efforts to defence. The 16th and 17th passed without major incident but involved Turkish attempts to disarm the Christians and offering them protection. It is not known if the people of Zahle knew of what had taken place at Hasbaya but they refused to disarm.
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Druze