The Origins of the Druze People and Religion

Other Secret Sects:—The Druze people constitute one of the two leading secret sects found only in Syria; the other is the Nusayriyyah Now more commonly known as the Alawites. who inhabit the mountains north of Tripoli. The Isma'iliyyah of the Homs original: "Hims" and Hama original: "Hamāh" district, another secret sect, are descended from the Assassins From the Arabic Hashshāshīn, meaning those addicted to the use of a stupefying weed (hashish).. For approximately two centuries, the Assassins struck awe and terror into the hearts of the Crusaders; today, they are represented by a few other sectarians in Persia Modern-day Iran. and India. The Yezidis, the so-called "devil worshippers," practice their hidden rites in the remote hills between Antioch and Aleppo and have fellow believers in Kurdistan and Armenia.

Special Interest of this Study:—But of all these sects, Druze belief original: "Druizism" is perhaps the most interesting and important. It is still a living force. To the present day, its followers form a vigorous and flourishing community in the Lebanon mountains. Their scholarly system has not changed since it was first inaugurated in the early part of the eleventh century. Islam in the Near East has changed and adapted itself to the requirements of varying conditions. Christianity in the Near East has changed. But the Druze system has been, and still remains, the same.

In recent years, modernizing influences have reached a large number of the young and uninitiated Druzes. The report from the American University of Beirut for last year indicates that there are thirty-six Druze students and five Druze teachers in that institution alone. However, no one with first-hand knowledge of the situation would go so far as to even recognize the existence of a "modernist movement" alleged to be aiming at revealing original: "divulging" Druze beliefs, much less to declare, "It is understood that Dr. Bliss of Beirut will be the probable intermediary of communication with the Western world if this disclosure takes place." This quote is from De Lacy O’Leary's A Short History of the Fatimid Khalifate (London, 1923), p. 244. The author notes that Dr. Bliss actually died in 1920, making the claim unlikely.

In fact, the outside world knows so little about the contents of this religion that in a recent session of the Permanent Mandates Commission The League of Nations oversight body for territories like Syria and Lebanon after WWI....