Druze believe that the soul is infinite and the body is temporary. He was renowned for his contributions to arab studies in the west. While the spiritual elements of their religion are highly guarded and known only to the elders, the known practices are made up of various religions which include hinduism, christianity, islam and judaism. Few people know about the druze, a mysterious, 1,000 year old religion in lebanon. Therefore, the druze refrain from missionizing, and no member of another religion can become druze. The druze, who primarily live in lebanon, syria and israel, have a mysterious religion which has been the subject of much speculation over the centuries. Last week, around 30,000 people downloaded books from my site 8 people gave donations. The juhal ignorant ones accept the faith on the basis of the tradition handed down from generation to generation. In 1018, addarazi was assassinated for his teachings. The druze religion is monotheistic believing in one god, and it is considered one of the abrahamic faiths, along with judaism, islam, and christianity. During an interview for the book heirs to forgotten kingdoms, sheikh alaql, the head of the druze clergy in lebanon, said. From then on, the druze religion became hereditary. It is a collection of books, of which the first six are most commonly used. They hold the quran to be sacred, but look upon it as an outer shell, holding an inner, esoteric meaning.
He writes with style and elegance and shares with the reader what a true druze. As well as being secret, its also a closed religion. This evidence refutes the claims of certain books, namely, that the druze are of phoenician or greek or french origin. This is the only paperback you will find anywhere in the world, and we have a very limited quantity left in inventory. The druze and the order of the eastern star while reading, during my few days of winter break, i decided to go back through some old articles i read and came across worshipful brother cliff porters article on his time in the middle east and his discussion about the druze when something caught my attention. The druze muwahhidun an introduction by hammud quteish. Druze teachings are kept secret, so libel and slander by their opponents have been generally left uncorrected. The druze, who can be traced back to eleventhcentury levant, have long intrigued scholars of the middle east.
Any person in the druze community can choose his spiritual path at any age. The druze religion is purported to be a complex mixture of neoplatonic philosophy, gnosticism, sufi mysticism and ismaili tradition. The origins of the druze people and religion saqi books. The author is not very organized on the development of the religion.
Hudson, georgetown university a broad and exotic historical view. The origins of the druze people and religion by philip k. Their obscure origins and blending of beliefs from ismaili shiism, animism, greek philosophy, jewish and christian mysticism, iranian gnosticism and. He writes with style and elegance and shares with the reader what a true druze believer knows. In the past, the druze feared extermination for breaking away from islam. Druze, also spelled druse, arabic plural duruz, singular darazi, small middle eastern religious sect characterized by an eclectic system of doctrines and by a cohesion and loyalty among its members at times politically significant that have enabled them to maintain for centuries their closeknit identity and distinctive faith. Origins of the druze people and religion, free ebook. The druze religion was founded by mohammad al darazi who had been associated with the maverick heretical borderline muslim ruler of egypt, al hakim 9851021 ce. The druze challenge of survival opinion the harvard crimson.
This book is considered secret and only religious sages uqqal are permitted to peruse its six volumes. Hitti the mysterious religion of the druze of lebanon. The druze religious establishments interpretation of taqiyya. These books can take me from 2 to 10 hours to create. The majority of the druze are considered secular juhhal and are not permitted to study religious books or participate in religious assemblies that take place on sunday and thursday. In the late 1800s, with the vast immigrant waves that came to america seeking new life and freedom, also emerged the druze from the levant or the east mediterranean region with aspiring hope, to forge new paths. The druze are spread in numerous countries of the world. The origins of the druze people and religion by philip. We will not be able to replenish inventory for this cover. Origins of the druze people and religion forgotten books philip k. Although the druze religious books describe addarazi as the insolent one and as the calf who is narrowminded and hasty, the name druze is still used for identification and for historical reasons. Druze religious books are accessible only to the initiates, the uqqal knowers.
The druze challenge of survival opinion the harvard. Druze religious belief branched out from tenth and eleventhcentury shiism, and includes elements derived from islamic mysticism. Druze the druze religion the muwahideen ifcj learn. Hardcover verified purchase this is a superb book about the druze faith written by a well known scholar and professor sami nasib makarem. I am a druze and here is what i have been taught about my religion.
The druze religion is purported to be a complex mixture of neoplatonic philosophy. What is the name of the holy book of the druze faith answers. The origins of the druze people and religionnook book. Only a limited number of esoteric men and women called uqqal the enlightened are permitted to study the religions six holy books. Betts, who has spent a great deal of time with the druze, interweaves his firsthand observations with a wealth of primary and secondary sources, describing not only their thousandyear history but also their political significance in. The druze religion has been closed for years or more. More information about this seller contact this seller 25. Origins of the druze people and religion forgotten books. Religious sages constitute no more than 25% of the sect. Druze believe that in death, the body goes to an unborn baby and the soul remains. The lebanese druze people are believed to constitute about 5. It enshrines all religious schools, but posits istelf as the sole path to mystical knowledge. Their religious texts are known collectively as kitab al hikma the book of wisdom. The tenets of the druze religion are a secret, even to many of its members while the druze religion is an outgrowth of islam, and incorporates elements of judaism and christianity, it is very different from any of those religions.
Hitti 18861978 was born in lebanon and taught at princeton university from 1926 to 1954. The druze religion differs from classic forms of other monotheistic faiths in several key ways. A deeply informed, brightly written account of the druze that will be read with profit by students of middle east history, politics, religion, and anthropology as well as by everyone with an interest in lebanon, syria, and israel. At first the religion was open to all but it quickly closed its ranks and ceased officially to allow newcomers. The origins of the druze people and religion by philip khuri hitti. Other druze, known as the juhhal the unenlightened, are not permitted to access the religion s six holy books but are given a simplified outline of their faith in the form of.
Their holy book, known as the book of wisdom, is not easily accessible nor is it comprehensible. While living in lebanon during the civil war i became facinated by the druze fighters i encountered during my assignment. Druze times february 6 we are selling all our remaining copies of the druze faith, the timeless book on the druze religion written by the scholar sami nasib makarem in english. The tawhid religion has derived a good deal of its wisdom and philosophy from greek culture, sufism and indian wisdom. In the 19th century manuscript copies of their religious literature were spirited away to collections in europe and the united states, and scholars were finally able to. The epistles of wisdom are also referred to as the kitab alhikma book of wisdom and alhikma alsharifa. The druze dont want any noninitiated druze to read their holy books. In the first complete account of the druze, robert brenton betts provides a general survey of the history, traditions, and society of this secretive arab sect. I enjoyed reading this book because it offered a onestopsolution to the problem of better understanding the druze community of which i am a member. As a druze person i hear this a lot but it is completely untrue. This is a superb book about the druze faith written by a well known scholar and professor sami nasib makarem. Also called the druse, duruz, duroz, and the tawhid faith, there are about 750,000800,000 of them today, primarily in syria, lebanon, and israel. Druze, also spelled druse, arabic plural duruz, singular darazi, small middle eastern religious sect characterized by an eclectic system of doctrines and by a cohesion and loyalty among its members at times politically significant that have enabled them to maintain for. Druze history, modern era, immigration and settlement.
The druze live primarily in syria, lebanon, israel and jordan, with expatriate populations in the u. The druze, who refer to themselves as almuwahhideen, or believers in one god, are concentrated in the rural, mountainous areas east and south of beirut under the lebanese political division parliament of lebanon seat allocation the. The book includes rarelyseen extracts from the sacred writings of the druze and offers a unique insight into this fascinating religious minority. The idea that druze will only know their religion or can be initiated at the age of 40 is completely wrong. It consists of a wellorganized collection of articles written by several authors with diverse personal, professional and accademic backgrounds. They live primarily in the galilee and the golan heights, and are classified as a separate religious group, with their own courts and their own jurisdiction in matters such as marriage, divorce, and adoption the druze religion has its roots in islam, but although some members consider themselves. I want to keep them free, but need some support to be able to do so. The journey of the druze in america is one filled with pride, hard work, and boundless dreams. There are thought to be around 1m druze people in the world today, whose secretive religion was developed in 986 ad as a movement within islam. The druze holy book, known as the epistles of wisdom rasa. The druze believe in koran as the unique religious book, but like other muslims, the druze have their specific explanations of koran.
Unfortunately, religious leaders have maintained this psychology of fear to. The book discusses the druze origin with a foreword by the translator f. The druze faith, by sami nasib makarem, is the paperback edition of the timeless book first published in 1974 by caravan. The druze community, more correctly known as the muwahideen, number close to 120,000 in israel. They believe in one god, in the prophet mohamad and imam ali.
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