The Origins of the Druze People and Religion

Two Reproduced Sample Pages from Druze Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . .
Foreword (by the Editor of the Studies) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III
Preface (by the Author) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V

CHAPTER I

A UNIQUE AND SECRET SECT

Two Historical Fossils—Relation to World Events—Minor Episodes—
Other Secret Sects—Special Interest of this Study . . . . . . . 1-4

CHAPTER II

SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

Feudal Organization—The Role Played during the Crusades—The Druze
Power at its Height—The Banu-Shihab original: "Banu-Shihāb"; an influential Lebanese noble family, the Last Feudal Chiefs—Druzes
and Christians Grouped in Political Rather than Religious Parties—
The Civil War of 1860 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9

CHAPTER III

RACIAL ORIGINS

Population and Geographical Distribution—Religious and Racial Boundaries sharing the same limits original: "Coterminous"—The Silence of Historians—Accounts from Travelers and Scholars—Criticism of the Arabian Theory—Various Hypotheses—Supposed Relationships with the French, the British, and with Freemasonry—Other Theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-17

CHAPTER IV

THE PERSIAN ORIGIN OF THE DRUZES

The Persian Center original: "Nucleus" at Wadi al-Taym original: "Wādī-al-Taym"; a valley in Lebanon considered the birthplace of the Druze faith—The Founders of the Druze religion original: "Druziṣm" Were All Persian—The Evidence of Religious Vocabulary—Names of Feudal Families—Persian Tribes Relocated into Syria . . . . . . . 18-23

CHAPTER V

DRUZE THEOLOGY AND ITS SOURCES

I. THE PROBLEM AND ITS DIFFICULTIES
Various Hypotheses—The Period of Concealment—Manuscripts—The Historical Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-26

II. THE HAKIM-GOD
The Unpredictable Character of al-Hakim original: "al-Ḥākim"; referring to the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah—His Deification—Al-Hakim as the Messiah—A Series of Divine Incarnations—The Disappearance and Triumphant Return of al-Hakim—Indo-Iranian Influences—Unitarians original: "al-Muwahhidun"; the name the Druze use for themselves, emphasizing their belief in absolute monotheism . . . . . . 26-34

III. FIVE DIVINE MINISTERS AND THREE INFERIOR ONES
The Process of Spiritual Flow original: "Emanation"—The Neo-Platonic Source—Lower-ranking original: "Inferior" Ministers . . . . 34-37