Druze faith

Overview

The Druze faith is a small, close-knit monotheistic religion that broke away from Ismaili Shia Islam in Fatimid Cairo in 1017 CE. Its members call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn, "the Unitarians," for their uncompromising belief in one transcendent God. The theologian Ḥamza ibn ʿAlī organized the new teaching around the Fatimid caliph al-Ḥākim, while a rival preacher, Muhammad al-Darazi, unintentionally gave the community its outside name. Converts are not accepted in either direction; a person is born a Druze or not at all. The community divides between an initiated elite, the ʿuqqāl, who may study the tradition's esoteric scripture, and the much larger body of uninitiated juhhāl. Today roughly a million Druze live mainly in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, a minority that has repeatedly had to defend its standing amid the region's conflicts.^{[1–4, 6–8]}

History

Origins under the Fatimids 1017–1043

The faith began in Cairo under the sixth Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (r. 996–1021), when the preacher Ḥamza ibn ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad proclaimed al-Hakim a manifestation of God and organized the new teaching around that belief. A rival missionary, Muhammad al-Darazi, broke with Ḥamza and was declared an apostate; he was killed around 1019–20, but outsiders went on calling the movement after him, "al-Darāziyya" or "Druze," even though believers call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn. Ḥamza and later teachers compiled the community's scripture, the Rasā'il al-Ḥikma, and by 1043 the faith had closed itself to new believers; it has admitted no converts since.^{[2–5, 7]}

Persecution and a culture of secrecy 11th–19th centuries

Judged heretical by many of the Muslim rulers around them, the Druze faced recurring persecution and responded by withdrawing into defensible mountain country in Lebanon, Syria and Galilee. Secrecy became a central practice: most religious teaching, and even full membership in the initiated 'uqqāl, is withheld from outsiders and from the uninitiated juhhāl alike, a protective habit that still shapes Druze religious life.^{[6, 9–10]}

The Great Syrian Revolt 1921–1937

Under the French Mandate, the Druze heartland of Jabal al-Druze in southern Syria was governed as a separate statelet. In 1925 the Druze leader Sultan al-Atrash (1891–1982) declared a revolt against French rule from his base around present-day As-Suwayda; the uprising spread beyond the Druze community into a nationwide rebellion that reached Damascus. French forces suppressed the revolt in 1927, and al-Atrash lived in exile until a 1937 amnesty allowed his return to Syria.^[11–14]

Minority citizens in modern states 1943–2025

As Lebanon, Syria and Israel emerged as separate states, the Druze became divided among them, with a further community left on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights after Israel's 1967 capture of the territory. In Lebanon's 1975–90 civil war, Druze fighters of the Progressive Socialist Party, led first by Kamal and then Walid Jumblatt, fought from their Shuf Mountains stronghold, and fighting with Christian militias there in 1983 drove large numbers of Christian residents from the area. In July 2025, sectarian fighting among Druze factions, Bedouin tribes and Syrian government forces in Sweida province killed several hundred people within days; Israel carried out air strikes it said were in the Druze's defense before a ceasefire took hold.^[15–17]

Key moments

1. 1017 CEThe Druze faith begins · Cairo

Beliefs

al-Muwaḥḥidūn · الموحدون

the Unitarians

Druze doctrine insists on the absolute oneness and transcendence of God, a strictness of monotheism that gives the community its own name for itself. This is the belief Druze place above all others in describing their faith to outsiders.^[1]

Taqammuṣ · تقمص

reincarnation

Druze teaching holds that the number of souls in existence is fixed and that at death a soul is immediately reborn into a new human body of the same sex, continuing to be born as a Druze. The belief is tied to a conviction in divine justice, giving every soul a further chance at life.^[18]

al-Ḥikma · الحكمة

wisdom

Full access to Druze religious knowledge is restricted to the initiated 'uqqāl, who alone may read the six books of the Rasā'il al-Ḥikma and lead worship; the much larger body of juhhāl receive only a simplified outline of the faith's teachings.^{[5–6, 10]}

Practice

Marriage and family

Marriage outside the faith is strongly discouraged and rare, and the community does not permit converts to marry in from outside. This rule, together with the closure to conversion, keeps the Druze a tightly bounded, largely endogamous community.^{[7, 19]}

The initiated and the uninitiated

Weekly religious life centers on the 'uqqāl, who alone participate fully in formal religious services and gain access to the secret teachings; the juhhāl, the majority of Druze, take part only in the community-facing portion of religious and social life.^[6]

Pilgrimage to Nabi Shu'ayb

The tomb of the prophet Shu'ayb, identified by the Druze with the Jethro of the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, stands near Tiberias in the Galilee and is the faith's most important shrine. It draws an annual pilgrimage from Druze communities in the region.^[20]

People

Scripture

Rasā'il al-Ḥikma · رسائل الحكمة

compiled 11th century

The "Epistles of Wisdom" form the Druze scripture, a set of six books of esoteric teaching to which only the initiated 'uqqāl have full access; most Druze, the juhhāl, know only a simplified account of their contents.^[5–6]

Places

Nabi Shu'ayb (tomb of Jethro)

ISR

The faith's most important shrine, holding the tomb of the prophet the Druze call Shu'ayb and identify with the Jethro of Jewish and Islamic tradition; it stands in the Lower Galilee near Tiberias and is the focus of an annual pilgrimage.^[20]

As-Suwayda (Jabal al-Druze)

SYR

Capital of Syria's Druze-majority Jabal al-Druze region and the base from which Sultan al-Atrash launched the 1925 revolt against French rule; it remains the center of Syria's Druze community and was the focus of deadly sectarian fighting in 2025.^{[11, 17]}

Moukhtara

LBN

A town in Lebanon's Shuf Mountains and the seat of the Jumblatt family, leaders of the Druze Progressive Socialist Party; the surrounding Shuf was the Druze stronghold during Lebanon's civil war and the 1983 Mountain War.^[16]

Numbers

Followers

c. 1 million (early 2020s)^[8]

Britannica and the Gale Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa both put the world total at about one million in the early 2020s, with roughly 700,000 in Syria, 300,000 in Lebanon and 140,000 in Israel.

National censuses

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, 'Religious affiliation in Australia' (Table 4), CC BY 4.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0 Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0342-01 Religion by visible minority and generation status: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts, released 2022-10-26. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.

Common misconceptions

Glossary

al-Muwaḥḥidūn · الموحدون

"The Unitarians": the name Druze use for themselves, reflecting their strict monotheism.^[1]

'Uqqāl · عقال

"Knowers": the initiated elite who may read the Rasā'il al-Ḥikma and lead religious services.^[6]

Juhhāl · جهال

"The uninitiated": the majority of Druze, who are not given access to the faith's secret teachings.^[10]

Taqammuṣ · تقمص

The Druze doctrine of reincarnation: a soul passes immediately at death into a new body of the same sex.^[18]

Rasā'il al-Ḥikma · رسائل الحكمة

"Epistles of Wisdom": the six books of esoteric teaching that make up Druze scripture.^[5]

Jabal al-Druze · جبل الدروز

"Mountain of the Druze": the Druze-majority region of southern Syria around As-Suwayda, self-governing under the French Mandate and the center of the 1925 revolt.^[11]