Druze Snood.

I decided to write about the Druze today. I've been chewing over their history and such and felt it was time to write something concrete down.

First, who are the Druze? They are a small, Levantine Arab religious community; their stronghold since just after their inception (see below) has been Lebanon, but they are present in other countries, including Israel. In fact, the Druze in Israel have the same requirements for military service as do Jews, at the specific request of their leadership. (Bedouin groups also serve in the IDF, but strictly on a volunteer basis.)

The Druze describe themselves as "maðhab Islāmī, Shī‘ī, Tawḥīdī islāḥī" - "a reformist, Unist, Shī‘a Muslim school." In fact, they call themselves the "Ahlu t-Tawḥīdī" "People of Unism" or "Muwaḥḥīdūn" "Monotheists, Unists" - the name Druze is actually incorrect, as it refers to a heretical group of believers who followed a man whose name was Darazī.

More specifically, the Druze are Ismā'īlī or "Sevener" Muslims. This means that they accept that the rightful leaders of the Umma (Muslim community) after the death of Muḥammad were:

1. ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib
2. Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī (an-Nāqī Sa’īd Sahib Ahlu l-Janna)
3. ‘Alī Zayn al Abīdīn (Abû l-Ḥassan, ‘Alī ibn Ḥusayn)
4. Muḥammad ibn ‘Alī (al-Baqir li-Ulūm ad-Dīn) d. 119 AH
5. Ja‘far ibn Muḥammad (as-Sadiq Abū ‘Abdu l-Lāh) d. 148 AH
6. Ismā’īl ibn Ja‘far d. 199 AH
7. Muḥammad ibn Ismā’īl (al-Maktûm “The Hidden”)

According to the Ismā’īliyya, the Seventh Imām’s apparent death before his father’s was a sham to throw off his Abbāsid oppressors; he retained his father’s nass “designation [as Imâmat-Successor]". This is the beginning of the first “Cycle of Concealment” (Dawru s-Satr).

In 286 AH, the "Cycle of Manifestation" (Dawru z-Zuhūr) returned under the founder of the Fātimid Dynasty, ‘Abdu l-Lāh; his state was born among the Berber Banū Kutāma in the Maghrib. His reign name was al-Mahdî bi l-Lâh but soon grew great and seized Egypt under the fourth ruler, Mu‘izz, in 358 AH.

It was the Shī‘a Fātimids who founded Cairo ("al-Qāhira al-Mu‘izziyya" "Mu‘izz's Victoria") and the famous religious institution of modern Sunnī Islām, al-Azhar University. Under him, the Door (Bāb, a title for the state's chief theologian-judge) Nu‘mān first wrote up the principles of the Mission of the Truth (i.e. Ismā'īlism); his most famous work is “Pillars of Submission”, which presented Ismā'īlism as a valid Shī‘ī maðhab “persuasion, school, sect” and argued that in law, one must balance the Esoteric and Exoteric aspects of faith.

Moving on.

It was the sixth Fātimid, Tāriqu l-Ḥakīm, called "Ruler in the Name of God" (bi-ˤAmru l-Lāh) who was the inspiration of the early Unists under their Imām, Hamza ibn ˤAlī ibn Aḥmad, a Persian immigrant. Ḥakīm was known for his extreme piety - he only wore black as a penance and regularly took nighttime rides on an ass to the Muqattam Hills for private devotions - and he supported the Unist "reformers" strongly, to the annoyance of more mainstream Ismā'īlī.
When ad-Darazī, the heretic mentioned above, claimed leadership of the Unist community and promulgated teachings that Ḥakīm was divine, those opposed to him withdrew from public life and Ḥakīm had him executed for heresy.

The Druze community spread out throughout the empire and beyond, establishing cells everywhere to prevent it from being destroyed should religious persecution increase after Ḥakīm's death - which it did. Ḥakīm disappeared mysteriously on one of his nighttime rides in 411 AH, and later rulers were not supportive of the Unist programme.

The Unists taught that Ḥakīm did not die in 411, but went into hiding, thus bringing the Imamate back into a second Cycle of Concealment. They believe he will return at a later date as the Mahdi.

Eventually, the core of the Unist movement ended up in the mountains of Lebanon in the 11th century of the common era. They ceased accepting converts and retreated into heavy secrecy, relying on the practice of taqiyya "dissumulation" as well as brute force to protect themselves from Muslims who saw them as heretics.

The Unist faith is not well understood because it remains a secret. The community has traditionally been divided into two sections, the Educated and the Ignorant, with the former donning dark garments and a white veil. The Educated are spiritual initiates, and women are especially valued as spiritual leaders; the Ignorant are traditionally secular leaders who run the state. The community as a whole are led by the Juwayid "Little Wise Ones", a tiny subset of the Educated, who are considered spiritual authorities over the entire Unist community.

That's all for now. I just wanted to write about Druzes, so that's my beginning.