Druze

I found the Druze of the Levant while I was researching Haplogroup X and its possible links to Atlantis.

The Druze live mainly in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan.

The key study is Shlush and colleagues, “The Druze: a population genetic refugium of the Near East” (PLoS ONE, 2008).

It found Haplogroup X in 13.1% of its Galilee Druze samples (41 of 311).

The Druze also carry both the X1 and X2 branches.

The paper also notes that a separate sample of 77 Druze from the Carmel region held only one X sample.

So the pattern is strongest in the Galilee, not across all Druze.

The Druze marry almost only within the community, a practice called endogamy.

The Druze believe in one God, in reincarnation and in history as cycles.

Being Druze is a matter of faith and of birth.

Conversion has been closed since the 11th century, so almost all Druze descend from the first followers.

Druze have often been known as skilled fighters, and they have played important roles in the history of the Levant.

The Druze faith is monotheistic and esoteric.

Some Druze refer to the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who ruled Egypt in the 11th century, as a divine manifestation.

The Druze do not try to convert anyone.

Druze society has two groups.

The Druze have no mosques.

Much Druze lore is passed down orally, and much of it is read for a hidden meaning.

Druze believe he went into occultation, meaning hiding, and will return one day.

Some folk traditions link Druze spiritual roots to ancient Levantine or pre-Islamic esoteric knowledge.

Druze visit the tombs of saints and prophets (ziyaras) for prayer, storytelling and community gatherings.

The Druze word for reincarnation is taqammus (تقمص).

In Druze belief, the soul enters a new human body as soon as a person dies.

The Druze teaching sets firm limits on rebirth.

Only Druze.

A Druze soul is reborn only into another Druze body.

The number of Druze souls has stayed the same since the beginning.

These rules sit at the centre of Druze identity.

Because souls stay inside the group, the Druze have kept endogamy to preserve those souls across generations.

In Druze belief, rebirth is not random and not a punishment.

Druze belief has no traditional heaven or hell.

Some Druze believe strong emotions, like a violent death or unfinished business, make such memories more likely.

The Druze say only as a human.

Mainstream Islam generally rejects reincarnation, while for the Druze it is central.

One of the deeper Druze teachings is that history does not run in a straight line.

Most Druze do not talk about this openly.

Because of this view, many Druze see their religion as the continuation of much older wisdom, not as an 11th-century invention.

Some esoteric traditions link the Druze lineage to older monotheistic, gnostic or philosophical schools from before Islam, including ancient Levantine wisdom.

That is why some Druze feel their faith is older than its founding date.

Most Druze focus on ethical living, community and the basic principles of the faith.

The Epistles of Wisdom (Rasāʾil al-Ḥikma, also called Kitab al-Hikma or al-Hikma al-Sharifa) are the foundational scripture of the Druze.

They are esoteric texts and pastoral letters on Druze theology, cosmology and practice.

The early Druze gathered around one figure in the same way, and went into hiding when he was gone.

The Druze sage ʿAbd Allāh al-Tanūkhī compiled and edited them in their present form in 1479.

Hamza ibn ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad, the main architect of Druze doctrine.

Souls are reborn, a Druze soul only into a Druze body, until they reach perfection and reunite with the divine source.

This kind of synthesis is not unique to the Druze.

In Druze belief, a nāṭiq is a major prophet who appears in a historical cycle to proclaim tawhīd in a form that suits humanity’s level at that time.

Druze tradition counts seven:

He is named explicitly in Druze sources.

He is highly respected in Druze tradition.

He is the final manifestation of divine truth, and this is where Druze belief parts ways with the others.

The Druze era is the final cycle, in which the full truth is open to those prepared for it.

about 1021) is regarded as the founder of the Druze faith and the main author of the Epistles.

The Druze teach rebirth within the community.

The Druze community has been closed since 1043 and breaks with earlier systems.

Still, Jesus is respected in Druze tradition.

The frame stays different: the Druze system is philosophical and Neoplatonic, and Jesus’ teaching is ethical and about the heart.

He opposed the more radical teachings of al-Darazi, after whom the Druze are sometimes named.

What we know of Hamza comes from three places: the Epistles themselves, a few contemporary or near-contemporary chroniclers, often hostile, such as the Christian Yahya of Antioch and the Muslim historian Ibn Zafir, and later Druze tradition.

In the 17th century, Druze families began to settle on Mount Carmel.

Two Druze towns stand there today, Daliyat al-Karmel and Isfiya.

The Druze venerate Elijah, and I think that likely shaped where they settled.

I found no direct historical link between the Essenes and the Druze.

I also compared the Druze with the Faithists of the Oahspe.

The Druze have successive nāṭiqs.

For the Druze this is taqammus, within the community, until perfection.

The Druze put gnosis above outward ritual.

The Druze have the seven nāṭiqs.

The Druze are a closed ethnoreligious group with endogamy.

The Druze abrogated earlier religious laws, ritual included.

The Druze hold strict tawḥīd.

The Druze texts are deliberately secret.

This closed, initiatory character and centuries of endogamy have kept two things intact: the Druze religious identity and their genetic profile.