who are the druze?

[Smiley]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/rdonlyres/4E9F006E-1BED-4FF0-94FF-CAD9989C3481/132703/coffin.jpg

thats druze women mourning the death of an Israeli soldier.

i googled them and apparently theyre Muslim?

[publicist]

I think they believe in reincarnation, and though they would consider themselves muslims/shias, they are not considered muslim by the majority of muslims, because of the influence of Greek and Christian philosophy in their beliefs.

Also, i don't think they marry 'muslims'.

[Illuminate]

thats druze women mourning the death of an Israeli soldier.

i googled them and apparently theyre Muslim?
There are Druze in the israeli army..

They have weird beliefs and are a very secrective sect - they don't call themselves muslim and say 'muslim' are kaffir - most of them have christians names.

Druze are not real muslim, but technically they are considered muslim...just to add confusion - I think they came from a sect from the shia..


This is all I know about them :D

[waz___]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/rdonlyres/4E9F006E-1BED-4FF0-94FF-CAD9989C3481/132703/coffin.jpg

thats druze women mourning the death of an Israeli soldier.

i googled them and apparently theyre Muslim?

They are NOT Muslims sis they started off as a sub sect of Shia that branched off many hundreds of years ago but now are a completely different faith. Their practices are a mix of Greek philosophy, some Islam, other mystic teachings.

They have their own holy book and observe none of principles of Islam and instead believe in their own religious code.



Here is more on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze

[publicist]

They are an offshoot from the ismaili shia sect -- but the Quran doesn't really have any bearing in their beliefs. they also believe that God incarnated himself in the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, who they claim disappeared in 1021 and will return and establish a just and good society ... this has no basis in islam.

Muslims await the Mahdi.

[Smiley]

ohh....

when did they come about?
how many of them are there?

[publicist]

ohh....

when did they come about?
how many of them are there?
about 900,000 spread across syria, lebanon and israel.
Came about around 1100 AD. During the Fatimid caliphate or thereabouts.

[Smiley]

do they believe in the Prophet?


omggggggggggggggggg

[waz___]

do they believe in the Prophet?


omggggggggggggggggg



They believe in him but they reject a great deal of what he said as they say other people such philosophers knew better. They just take the stuff the like.

[Zesty]

They believe in him but they reject a great deal of what he said as they say other people such philosophers knew better. They just take the stuff the like.

So they basically pick and choose? :-/
Ive heard of them before but didnt know who/what they are.

[Smiley]

Israeli Druze, however, absolutely do not want to be classified as Arabs

There are about 2.3 million Druze worldwide, the vast majority in the Levant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant) or East Mediterranean.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze#_note-1) However, this figure may not be accurate as some sites/studies suggest they number around 450,000.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze#_note-2)



After the death of Ḥakīm, the Druze were forced to move and use the (accepted) practice of taqiyya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqiyya) "dissimulation", whereby they conceal their true beliefs and outwardly accept the religious beliefs of those amongst whom they live even as they secretly retained their true convictions.

Daliyat al-Karmel is a Druze (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze) town in the North District (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_District%2C_Israel) of Israel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel), about 20 km southeast of Haifa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa) [/url].

Their symbol is an array of five colors: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green"]green (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa), red (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red), yellow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow), blue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue) and white (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White). Each color pertains to a symbol defining its principles: green for ˤAql "the Universal Mind", red for Rūħ "the Universal Soul", yellow for Kalima "the Truth/Word", blue for Sabq "the Antagonist/Cause" and white for Talī "the Protagonist/Effect".

Lately, Azzam Azzam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azzam_Azzam), an Israeli-Druze alleged spy, has become (in Israel’s popular culture) the model of the “ultimate Israeli patriot”.

ahahahhaaa

[Illuminate]

They are an offshoot from the ismaili shia sect -- but the Quran doesn't really have any bearing in their beliefs. they also believe that God incarnated himself in the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, who they claim disappeared in 1021 and will return and establish a just and good society ... this has no basis in islam.

don't they believe something like fatimid caliph al-hakim, became mad and destroyed the churches and this what triggered the crusades :confused:

[irfan]

They also don't have mosques/places of worship.

Only a distinct few Druze know the 'real' teachings of their heretical faith.

[Smiley]

The principles of the Druze faith are: guarding one's tongue (honesty), protecting one's brother, respecting the elderly, helping others, protecting one's homeland, and belief in one God.

Another well-known feature of the Druze religion is a fervent belief in human-only reincarnation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation) for all the members of the community. They reject polygamy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy), tobacco smoking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_smoking), alcohol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_beverage) or consumption of pork (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork), although pork and alcohol may be consumed in many non-religious and/or al-Juhl (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Al-Juhl&action=edit) households.

Druze religion does not allow them to intermarry with Muslims (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslims), Jews (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews) or members of any other religions.

Individual prayer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer) does not exist. Druze are not required to follow the Muslim duties of prayer, fasting, or pilgrimage to Mecca (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecca) but may do so, especially if it is dangerous for them if they do not. :laffin:

The Druze are split into two groups. The outer group, called al-Juhhāl (جهال), "the Ignorant", are not granted access to the secret Druze holy literature. :sly:

it is still unclear to most outsiders whether the Druze follow the same traditions of fasting as Muslims in the month of Ramadan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan). This is because the Druze have followed these traditions for centuries in order to protect themselves.





omgggg :LOL:

[Smiley]

so they only fast and pray just to protect themselves from mad arabs? lol

[Smiley]

The moral system of Druze religion consists of seven principles:




Love of truth
Taking care of one another
Renouncing all other religions
Avoiding the demon (the calf?) and all wrongdoers
Accepting divine unity in humanity
Accepting all of al-Hakim's acts
Acting in total accordance to al-Hakim's will

Speaking the truth (instead of prayer)
Supporting your brethren (instead of charity)
Abandoning the old creeds (instead of fasting)
Purification from heresy (instead of pilgrimage)
Accepting the unity of God
Submitting to the will of God (instead of holy war)

[GCarty]

I'd say that the Druze and the Christians are sort-of mirror images re the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lebanese Christians are often pro-Zionist, while Christians further south usually identify as Palestinians and are anti-Zionist. Lebanese Druze are anti-Zionist, while Druze further south usually identify as Israelis.

[waz___]

I'd say that the Druze and the Christians are sort-of mirror images re the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lebanese Christians are often pro-Zionist, while Christians further south usually identify as Palestinians and are anti-Zionist. Lebanese Druze are anti-Zionist, while Druze further south usually identify as Israelis.


Good points.

[Muslim Pride]

LOL what weirdos.

I learnt something new today :D

[Medievalist]

Druze are a branch of the diseased tree known as the Rawaafidh.

[Blueprint]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/rdonlyres/4E9F006E-1BED-4FF0-94FF-CAD9989C3481/132703/coffin.jpg

thats druze women mourning the death of an Israeli soldier.

i googled them and apparently theyre Muslim?

the druze women dress like muslims?

[tammi]

Quite interesting... and odd.

[Hamas786]

They are not Muslim, although sometimes officially given that designation, and neither do they consider themselves to be orthodox Muslim, although they follow many traditions of Islam, but also of Christianity and Greek philosophy. Grew from an Islamili Shi'i sect. In Jewish occupied territory, they serve in the Israeli army, and have all the privileges of Israeli Jews, except that some in the Galilee refuse Jewish citizenship and consider themselves Syrian. They have their own particular customs and beliefs.