African Art

Druze

The Druze, who call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (lit. 'the monotheists' or 'the unitarians'), are an esoteric religious group of Arabs who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, esoteric, monotheistic, ethnic, and syncretic religion whose main tenets assert the unity of God, reincarnation, and the eternity of the soul. Although the Druze faith originally developed from the Ismā‘īli branch of Shiʿa Islam, members of the Druze community do not identify as Muslims. They maintain the Arabic language and culture as integral parts of their identity, with Arabic being their primary language. Most Druze religious practices are kept secret, and conversion to their religion is not permitted for outsiders. Interfaith marriages are rare and strongly discouraged. They differentiate between spiritual individuals, known as "uqqāl", who hold the faith's secrets, and secular ones, known as "juhhāl", who focus on worldly matters. Druze believe that, after completing the cycle of rebirth through successive reincarnations, the soul reunites with the Cosmic Mind (al-ʻaql al-kullī). The Epistles of Wisdom (Rasāʾil al-Ḥikma) is the foundational and central text of the Druze faith. The Druze faith originated in the Ismā‘īli denomination of Shiʿa Islam, and has been influenced by a diverse range of philosophical and religious traditions, including Christianity, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Pythagoreanism. This has led to the development of a distinct and secretive theology, characterized by an esoteric interpretation of scripture that emphasizes the importance of the mind and truthfulness. Druze beliefs include the concepts of theophany and reincarnation. The Druze hold Shuaib in high regard, believing him to be the same person as the biblical Jethro. They regard Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and the Ismā‘īli Imam Muhammad ibn Isma'il as prophets. Additionally, Druze tradition honors figures such as Salman the Persian, al-Khidr (who they say are reincarnations of Elijah, John the Baptist, and Saint George), Job, Luke the Evangelist, and others as "mentors" and "prophets". The Druze faith is one of the major religious groups in the Levant, with between 800,000 and a million adherents. They are primarily located in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, with smaller communities in Jordan.

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See also

• ▸Coptic monasticism
• ▸Anarkali salwar kameez
• ▸Green Man

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.