About the Druze community

The Druze religion is an Arabic-speaking monotheistic religion that began as a movement in Shiite Islam in the 11th century and ‘שד in Egypt during the reign of the sixth Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim Bahmar Allah (governor of God’s command).

The Druze believe that human history is divided into seven periods, in every period there was a prophet  and close to him  a man who”knows hidden wisdom” this fact imparted the secrets of the Druze religion only to the privileged. The words of each of the prophets complement their predecessors, and together they form one whole religion.

According to the Druze belief, in the time of al-Hakim in Ammar Allah four different preachers appeared, the last of whom, Hamza ben Ali (Hamza ben Ali), was the most significant and he was declared the Imam of the Druz religion.

The Druze are also called “Bani Ma’aruf” and “Almohadon”  the “Monotheists”.

The name “Druze” was given to members of the community by their non-Druze neighbors. It appeared for the first time in the writings of an Arab Christian historian, Yahya bin Said al-Antaki. According to the Druze tradition, one of the newcomers to the religion of the Muhaddun was Nishikin a-Derzi, who first worked in coordination with the other religious propagandists, but later saw himself as the embodiment of God and decided to establish another religion. The war with A-Darzi was not long to come but eventually he was defeated by Hamza Ben Ali.

There are other versions of the origin of the name, and the Druze themselves do not entirely agree in this regard. According to one version, a-Darzi distributed a false religion and the Druzes were named after him in order to humiliate them and show their inferiority to the Muslims. According to another version, a-Darzi actually spread the religion of Muhaddon adhering to the Druzes which are named after him.

The name “Bnei Ma’aruf” refers to the positive qualities that characterized the Druze in their relations with their neighbors who gave them this name, such as hospitality, dedication, loyalty, patience and assistance and shelter for the persecuted. The source of the name in the religious books is different and derives from the term “Aaraf” given to members of the community, and the term “irfan” (which is somewhat mistic)  is given to the religion of uniqueness.

The last name – “Mahfadon” – was the first chosen by the founders of religion for themselves and their community. In this name, the central idea is embodied in their theory and is an absolute and abstract uniqueness of God. This name, like many other concepts related to the Druze and the religion of uniqueness, was kept secret for a long time. The name itself is derived from the name of the religion bin al-Tawhid (religion of uniqueness).