EMAD SAAD

I AM A DECENDANT OF THE DRUZE What is the Druze's evaluation of Christianity ?The answer to this question is quite special. The Druze believe inJesus and his four disciples, who wrote the Gospels. According to theirclassification Christ is the Greatest Imam and the incarnation of UltimateReason (Akl) on earth and the first cosmic principle (Hadd). He is directlysecond to God. His four disciples are considered as the four cosmic principles(Houdoud). The Gospels are Holy Books. With Christianity, the developmentof Monotheism was decisive. God promised the Christians the salvation ofthe tortured souls, and made it clear that Jesus had come to lead his followersto the safety shore. As for the crucifixion of Jesus, the Druze believethat he was not crucified but another person who resembles him was crucifiedin his place. Such a belief may seem very queer to a traditional Christian,but we have to remember that the Druze follow also the koranic verses andthe Koran made it clear that Jesus Christ was not crucified. Nevertheless,the Druze maintain a great value to the meaning of sacrifice. John theBaptist is considered next to Jesus and he personifies the Ultimate Sacrifice. One of the Druze manuscripts reveals a fascinating idea by mentioning thatJesus and the Holy Spirit are one identity. This idea is very near to theconcept of the sacred Trinity in Christianity. The Druze's manner of thinkingenabled them to accept the idea of the all in one. The diluted pantheismof their faith leads to such a conclusion. Another remark that shows a close relation with Christianity is the Druzerefutation to polygamy unlike the traditional Muslim sectsHISTORY of LEBANONThe first written artifacts from the ancient Lebanon tell us about the first known occupants of the land, Phoenicians. As long as 5000 years ago, people known also as Canaanites of the Bible were living here. Ancient Greeks called them Phoenicians. They were living in cities like Byblos, Sidon and Tyre and involving with commercial and maritime activities. These three cities were among the most important port-cities of the ancient times. Tyre was considered to be the most important of the Phoenician city-states. The ancient people of the city built a business empire nearly 3000 years ago. They founded Carthage in the 9th century B.C. and reached the Straits of Gibraltar. They colonized part of Cyprus, Rhodes and the Aegean Islands. They founded Tashish, a great commercial colony, on the coast of Spain. After reaching most remote parts of the Mediterranean region, they sailed around Africa. Starting from the Gulf of Aqaba they returned to Egypt. Egyptian domination of the Phoenician cities started in about 1500 B.C. and continued for many centuries. Only there was a period during which the Hittites, an Indo-European civilization from Anatolia, dominated the areas covering Syria and Lebanon. After a short period the Egyptians took over the control of Lebanon again. As the Egyptian domination ceased to exist, Phoenicia enjoyed a period of independence. This was interrupted by the Assryians. This Assryian domination was very brutal. The relative prosperity came back only after the Persian king Cyrus' conquering of Phoenicia in 538 B.C. The Phoenician fleet became a major weapon in the hands of Persian kings to conquer the rest of the Mediterranean region during the following centuries. The Macedonians under Alexander the Great overthrew Persia in 333 B.C. All Phoenician cities except Tyre welcomed Alexander's rule. It took 7 months for Alexander to take control of the city. This was the beginning of the Greek/Macedonian cultural domination of Phoenician cities during the following many centuries. The Phoenician traders sold cedarwood, bronze, glass, silk and brocades to the cities in Greece and Asia Minor as early as 4000 years ago. This commercial activity was not a one way process. They sold and bought items from places like ancient Greece. This activity soon started to influence the ways Phoenicians lived, thought and believed. Greek traditions, festivals, baths, theatres and even gods and goddeses became part of Phoenicians' life. The first alphabet of 22 consonants from which most ancient and also the modern scripts were derived was created by the Phoenicians. They invented the first glass making technique and produced glassware in large quantities. The cultural influence of Greeks was replaced with the Romans during the following centuries. In 64 B.C. Phoenicia was officially ceased to exist and became part of the vast Roman province of Syria. The important Phoenician cities such as Berytus (Beirut) and Heliopolis (Baalbeck) became model Roman cities soon after this takeover. The law school in Berytus which was founded by the Emperor Septimus Severus (193 - 211 A.D.) was contributed extensively by the Phoenician lecturers and the law studied here were compiled into the Roman Code of Law which is still studied by students now. After Roman era, there was a short period of Byzantine rule on the land of Phoenicia ending in the 6th century A.D. The Muslim Arabs invaded and ruled the country until the late 11th century, when European Crusaders arrived. The Christian Crusaders ruled Lebanon for only 200 years. Finally, by the late 13th century, the Seljuk Turks and then the Ottomans ruled the land during the following 600 years. During this period the people of Lebanon, mainly both Christians and Muslims co-existed peacefully. This harmony quickly disappeared soon after the decline of the Ottoman rule in the mid-19th century. Troubles surfaced between Muslem Druzes and Christian Maronites. The long disturbing riots and massacres were stopped by a new authority which was setup under French Government control. This authority covered the areas only in Mount Lebanon district. This period under the new authority, brought important political, social and educational and economic reforms. Consequently, the country has became prosperous once again. This continued until the World War I. The new educational system encouraged the use of the Arabic language as a prime cultural resource. The newly emerging Arabic nationalism was fed tremendously by this recent trend of education in Arabic has caused the Arabs to demand independence from the Ottoman rule. After the World War I the Ottoman Empire was totally destroyed and the control of the State of Lebanon was passes into French authorities in the form of a mandate approved by the League of Nations. During the French domination period, an effective health, education and judiciary system was established. In 1926, Lebanon was declared a republic. The foreign control of Lebanon did not end with this declaration. The independence from French was granted on 22 November 1943. The newly elected Nationalist Government tried to purge the constitution of all references to the French mandate. This has caused the French delegate-general to suspend the constitution and arrest the prime minister and cabinet and even send them into exile. Riots and strikes against the French forced the French authorities to back down. In 1944 all important government positions were handed back to the Lebanese. After World War II the most important Western influence in the country has been USA. Lebanon's strategic location and stable west-leaning stand made it a major banking and trade center. Many mulitnational companies had their Middle Eartern head-quarters in Beirut. This stable and prosperous period continued until mid-70s. The power was mainly in the hands of the Christian half of the people of Lebanon. The other half, mainly Muslim citizens of Lebanon were excluded from real government. The escalating tensions in the new Middle East, dislocated Palestinians and Suez crisis caused the national unity to break apart. The first Muslim rebellion in 1958 was put down by the help of USA. After the disastrous Arab-Israeli war in 1967, the problems have been surfaced more seriously. In the mid-70s the all-out civil war began which has torn the country apart. Since then the power struggle between different groups continued with less hope for a true peace. Syria and Israel marched in and marched out without any real success to turn the struggle to their advantage by leaving a worse mess behind them everytime. Only in 1991 a final cease-fire and then a continuing peace accord has been established between the rival groups. The current political status is stable and very promising. Israel, Hezbollah in deadly battle On July 13, Israel launched a series of bombing raids in Lebanon. The move came after Hezbollah forces crossed into Israel, killing three soldiers and abducting two more -- an act the Israeli prime minister declared an "act of war." Since then, Israel has carried on an aerial and ground battle against Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon, as the Lebanese militant group pounds northern Israel with Katyusha rockets. The Lebanese prime minister described his country as a "disaster zone." Thousands of foreign nationals have been fleeing on cruise ships and military vessels, passing through an Israeli naval blockadeIsrael Attacks Lebanon's Christian HeartlandAn Israeli airstrike hit dozens of farm workers loading vegetables near the Lebanon-Syria border, killing 28, the workers' foreman and a Lebanese official said.Five Lebanese civilians were killed and 19 wounded in the Israeli airstrikes north of the capital in Christian areas where Hezbollah has little support or presence, including the picturesque coastal resort of Jounieh.According to the Psalmist, the heathen’s attitude is, “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm 2:3). Translated into modern terms, this reads: “Come now, we can no longer tolerate any condemnation from the Bible. We won’t allow this ’Jesus bondage’ to stop us. We’re going to put into effect laws that break all the old chains of morality. We’ll claim our right to marriage between two men or two women. We’re going to push for the rights of all manner of sexual deviations. We need to break down the old moral boundaries. We’ll claim the moral high ground.” My Bible tells me what will happen in such an hour. When evil men’s wrath is poised to overwhelm the laws of nature - turning society into an indescribable, Sodom-like hell, where every man is a law unto himself - that’s when our Lord moves in: “Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure” (2:5). The Psalmist tells us, “They have set up their own standards as holy. They’ve lifted up their earthly axes in a forest of trees to cut down all that is righteous. They’re smashing holy things with hatchets and hammers, and defiling God’s dwelling place” (see Psalm 74:4-7). He then laments, “O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?” (74:10). That’s when God’s Word tells us the destruction and blasphemy being brought about by man’s wrath won’t last much longer. “Surely the wrath of men shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (76:10). How will this happen? Simply put, the more intense the wrath of men becomes, the more God will pour out his grace. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). We see wonderful examples of this throughout history. Think about how the church of Christ was trampled in China, under the horrible wrath of communism. All forms of religious activity were banned, including Buddhism, the prominent religion in that land. A spiritual vacuum was left, with people empty and hungering. Yet, once again, the wrath of man was turned into the praises of God. The Lord poured out rivers of grace on China, and an underground church sprang up all across the nation. Today the Chinese church numbers in the millions, and it’s still growing strong. Perhaps the clearest example to me of man’s wrath turning into God’s praise is the testimony of the apostle Paul. Jesus manifested himself to this fierce persecutor of the early church, on the road to Damascus. In a single moment, Paul’s raging hatred for Christ and his church was turned into God’s praise. The entire world is different today as a result. Even now we’re seeing the wrath of Hezbollah being turned into God’s praise. How? Islamics in South Lebanon fled the war into Jordan and Syria, where many were taken in by Christians. As those believers showed Christ’s unconditional love to the refugees, feeding and housing them, the hearts of the disenfranchised Islamics were being melted. They are now more open to the gospel than ever. Through all of these examples, I see the Lord answering the Psalmist’s cry: “Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually” (Psalm 74:22-23). Religion and group of people with somewhere between 350,000 (estimate of Western scholars) and 900,000 (figures presented by the Druze) members (LexicOrient estimates that around 600,000 live in the Middel east and nearly 700,000 all over the world), living in Lebanon ,Syria, Israel and Jordan , often in mountainous regions. There are also important Druze communities abroad, living in Europe and USA. While the Druze are not regarded as Muslims by other Muslims, they regard themselves as Muslims as well as carriers of the core of this Islam. The Druze seem, to a large extent, to have originated from a group of Shi'is, the Ismaili'is, but they have diverged much, and the Koran does not seem to be a part of their religion. The Druze call themselves muwahhidun, 'monotheists'.THEOLOGY The theology of Druze religion is called hikma and its main theme is that God incarnated himself in the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, who they claim disappeared in 1021. While most Muslims believe he died in 1021, the Druze disagree and believe that al-Hakim is awaiting to return to the world in order to bring a new golden age to true believers. Druze believe in one God and claim that the qualities of God cannot be understood or defined by humans. Al-Hakim is worshiped in Druze religion, he is called 'Our Lord', and his cruelties and eccentricities are all interpreted symbolically. But while God incarnated himself in al-Hakim in his unity, other aspects of God can be incarnated in other human beings. These aspects are represented with 5 superior ministers. Under the ministers, one finds three other groups: functionaries, preachers, and heads of communities. The knowledge of about this hierarchal system is the highest knowledge in the Druze religion. Frequently one hears from sources about a calf in Druze religion. It is believed that the calf is a central symbol which represents the negative forces in the world. 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 Central in the Druze world system is the belief in reincarnation, through which all souls are reborn as humans, good as well as bad. Good people have a more fortunate rebirth than bad people. Behind this system is the belief that humans cannot reach perfection and unite with God. Hell and heaven in Druze religion are viewed differently from most other Middel Eastern religions, and bear clear resemblances with Gnostic philosophy and religion, as heaven is only spiritual, when man stops being man and is saved from more rebirths. Hell is just as spiritual and is the distance from, and the longing to, unity with God which goes on for one lifetime after another if a person has been evil.MEANING OF THE DRUZE STAR The Druze star symbolizes the five wise superior ministers, each with his quality. Green is for "the mind", 'al-'akl, which is necessary for understanding the truth. Red is for "the soul", 'an-nafs. Yellow is for "the word", 'al-kalima, which is the purest form of expression of the truth. Blue, 'as-sabik, is for the mental power of the will. White, 'al-tali, is the realization of Blue, in which its power has been realized in the world of matter.ORGANIZATION OF THE DRUZE COMMUNITYThe hikma is known only to an elite of religiously trained men, the uqqal. Most Druze know only parts of their religion's theology, and they are referred to as juhhal, "ignorants." One out of 50 members of the uqqal, reach as high as perfection, and are called 'ajawid, 'noble', and work as the real leaders of the Druze religion. The uqqal take care of the religion for the juhhal, and they alone attend the religious meetings taking place on the night between Thursday and Friday, in ordinary buildings in the outskirts of Druze villages. For the Druze, the centre of religious activities is located to the mountainous region called Jabalu d-Duruz in Syria. The juhhal perform few of the typical Muslim rituals, prayer is not performed in mosques, a fast is not performed during the Muslim month of Ramadan, and there are no obligations to perform the Hajj the Muslim pilgrimage.LIFE STYLESThe Druze follow a life style of isolation in which no conversion is allowed, neither out of, or into, the religion. When Druze live among people of other religions, they try to blend in, in order to protect their religion and their own safety. They can perform prayer as Muslims, or as Christians, depending on where they are. This system is apparently changing in modern times, where more security has allowed Druze to be more open about their religious identity. Druze have earlier been reported to practice polygamy. But there is no evidence of such a practice among Druze today. Druze abstain from wine and tobacco. There are clear prohibitions against a number of other acts, too. Druze have a strong community feeling, in which they identify themselves as related even across borders of countries. There are sources suggesting that the Druze had their own identity even before conversion to the faith in al-Hakim. Unsubstantiated theories point in a direction of the Druze being descendants of Persian colonists, while another theory says they are descendants of Christians from the time of the Crusades. The latter is not very likely, due to the fact that the first crusade took place 80 years after al-Hakim's disappearance. Despite their practice of blending with dominant groups in order to avoid persecution, the Druze have had a history of brave resistance to occupying powers, and they have at times enjoyed more freedom than most other groups living in the Levant.HISTORY1017: The religion is established in Cairo. The religious orientation gets its name from one of the earliest followers of Caliph al-Hakim, Muhammadu d-Darazi. It is believed that it spread to many regions in the Middel East and North Africa, but that it is only the Druze that kept it up. 1516: The Druze come under Turkish pressure as the Levant is conquered by the Ottomans. The Druze offer strong opposition, and keep a higher level of independence than their neighbours. 1918: Druze participate in the army of Faisal, thereby breaking a principle of non-participation outside their own community. 1921 March 4: The Druze are granted autonomy in the region of Jabalu d-Duruz, from the League of Nations. 1925: The Druze revolt, when Druze leaders protest against the liberalization of the society as promoted by the French governor of Duruz Mountains. The revolt ends with the arrest of the Druze leaders, and their being exiled to Palmyira. 1927: The Druze revolt is over, and the French begin a politics that is intended to keep the Druze away from Arab nationalism, and hence dependent upon the safety offered by the French.Since 1948 the Druze are integral part of the state of Israel concetrating in the Golan with strong orientation to Syria, Very strong community in the upper Galilee and 2 villages on the top of the Carmel. They serve in the Israeli armyInfluences I am a lebanese christian , also an ancestor and descendant of The Druze Religion and group of people with somewhere between 350,000 (estimate of Western scholars) and 900,000 (figures presented by the Druze) members (LexicOrient estimates that around 600,000 live in the Middle East and nearly 700,000 all over the world), living in Lebanon , Syria , Israel , and Jordan , often in mountainous regions. There are also important Druze communities abroad, living in Europe and USA. While the Druze are not regarded as Muslims by other Muslims, they regard themselves as Muslims as well as carriers of the core of this Islam . The Druze seem, to a large extent, to have originated from a group of Shi'is , the Isma'ilis ., but they have diverged much, and the Koran does not seem to be a part of their religion. The Druze call themselves muwahhidun, 'monotheists'. THEOLOGY The theology of Druze religion is called hikma and its main theme is that God incarnated himself in the Fatimid . caliph al-Hakim, who they claim disappeared in 1021. While most Muslims believe he died in 1021, the Druze disagree and believe that al-Hakim is awaiting to return to the world in order to bring a new golden age to true believers. HISTORY 1017: The religion is established in Cairo. The religious orientation gets its name from one of the earliest followers of Caliph al-Hakim, Muhammadu d-Darazi. It is believed that it spread to many regions in the Middle East and North Africa., but that it is only the Druze that kept it up. 1516: The Druze come under Turkish pressure as the Levant is conquered by the . The Druze offer strong opposition, and keep a higher level of independence than their neighbours. 1918: Druze participate in the army of , thereby breaking a principle of non-participation outside their own community. 1921 March 4: The Druze are granted autonomy in the region of Jabalu d-Duruz, from the League of Nations. 1925: The Druze revolt, when Druze leaders protest against the liberalization of the society as promoted by the French governor of Duruz Mountains. The revolt ends with the arrest of the Druze leaders, and their being exiled to 1927: The Druze revolt is over, and the French begin a politics that is intended to keep the Druze away from Arab nationalism, and hence dependent upon the safety offered by the French. Druze believe in one God and claim that the qualities of God cannot be understood or defined by humans. Al-Hakim is worshiped in Druze religion, he is called 'Our Lord', and his cruelties and eccentricities are all interpreted symbolically. But while God incarnated himself in al-Hakim in his unity, other aspects of God can be incarnated in other human beings. These aspects are represented with 5 superior ministers. Under the ministers, one finds three other groups: functionaries, preachers, and heads of communities. The knowledge of about this hierarchal system is the highest knowledge in the Druze religion. Frequently one hears from sources about a calf in Druze religion. It is believed that the calf is a central symbol which represents the negative forces in the world. 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 Central in the Druze world system is the belief in reincarnation, through which all souls are reborn as humans, good as well as bad. Good people have a more fortunate rebirth than bad people. Behind this system is the belief that humans cannot reach perfection and unite with God. Hell and heaven in Druze religion are viewed differently from most other Middle Eastern middle_east. religions, and bear clear resemblances with Gnostic philosophy and religion, as heaven is only spiritual, when man stops being man and is saved from more rebirths. Hell is just as spiritual and is the distance from, and the longing to, unity with God which goes on for one lifetime after another if a person has been evil. MEANING OF THE DRUZE STAR The Druze star symbolizes the five wise superior ministers, each with his quality. Green is for "the mind", 'al-'akl, which is necessary for understanding the truth. Red is for "the soul", 'an-nafs. Yellow is for "the word", 'al-kalima, which is the purest form of expression of the truth. Blue, 'as-sabik, is for the mental power of the will. White, 'al-tali, is the realization of Blue, in which its power has been realized in the world of matter. ORGANIZATION OF THE DRUZE COMMUNITY The hikma is known only to an elite of religiously trained men, the uqqal. Most Druze know only parts of their religion's theology, and they are referred to as juhhal, "ignorants." One out of 50 members of the uqqal, reach as high as perfection, and are called 'ajawid, 'noble', and work as the real leaders of the Druze religion. The uqqal take care of the religion for the juhhal, and they alone attend the religious meetings taking place on the night between Thursday and Friday, in ordinary buildings in the outskirts of Druze villages. For the Druze, the centre of religious activities is located to the mountainous region called Jabalu d-Duruz in Syria. The juhhal perform few of the typical Muslim rituals, prayer is not performed in mosque., a fast is not performed during the Muslim month of Ramadan, and there are no obligations to perform the hajj., the Muslim pilgrimage. LIFE STYLES The Druze follow a life style of isolation in which no conversion is allowed, neither out of, or into, the religion. When Druze live among people of other religions, they try to blend in, in order to protect their religion and their own safety. They can perform prayer as Muslims, or as Christians, depending on where they are. This system is apparently changing in modern times, where more security has allowed Druze to be more open about their religious identity. Druze have earlier been reported to practice polygamy. But there is no evidence of such a practice among Druze today. Druze abstain from wine and tobacco. There are clear prohibitions against a number of other acts, too. Druze have a strong community feeling, in which they identify themselves as related even across borders of countries. There are sources suggesting that the Druze had their own identity even before conversion to the faith in al-Hakim. Unsubstantiated theories point in a direction of the Druze being descendants of Persian colonists, while another theory says they are descendants of Christians from the time of the crusades.htm. The latter is not very likely, due to the fact that the first crusade took place 80 years after al-Hakim's disappearance. Despite their practice of blending with dominant groups in order to avoid persecution, the Druze have had a history of brave resistance to occupying powers, and they have at times enjoyed more freedom than most other groups living in the Levant . HISTORY 1017: The religion is established in Cairo. The religious orientation gets its name from one of the earliest followers of Caliph al-Hakim, Muhammadu d-Darazi. It is believed that it spread to many regions in the Middle East and North Africa., but that it is only the Druze that kept it up. 1516: The Druze come under Turkish pressure as the Levant is conquered by the . The Druze offer strong opposition, and keep a higher level of independence than their neighbours. 1918: Druze participate in the army of , thereby breaking a principle of non-participation outside their own community. 1921 March 4: The Druze are granted autonomy in the region of Jabalu d-Duruz, from the League of Nations. 1925: The Druze revolt, when Druze leaders protest against the liberalization of the society as promoted by the French governor of Duruz Mountains. The revolt ends with the arrest of the Druze leaders, and their being exiled to 1927: The Druze revolt is over, and the French begin a politics that is intended to keep the Druze away from Arab nationalism, and hence dependent upon the safety offered by the French. ......