The Druze religion is associated with an ethnic group living in the Near East. They are said to have descended from Jethro, the priest of Midian who was Moses’ father-in-law (Exodus 18:1), and they recognize him as their principal prophet and founder of their religion. The Druze religion is monotheistic (believing in one god), and it is considered one of the Abrahamic faiths, along with Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
The Druze religion differs from classic forms of other monotheistic faiths in several key ways. First, it is unitary, which means it draws beliefs and traditions from many different faiths and sees all faiths as equally valid—all are roads to the same divine source, despite disparate understandings of god or gods. Second, the Druze religion teaches reincarnation, or the transmigration of the soul—something not found in other monotheistic faiths. Third, the Druze religion brings in aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, and Pythagoreanism, belief systems considered false by Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Druze groups exist mainly in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, and their societies are generally close-knit and insular. Islamic terrorist groups such as ISIS believe the Druze to be “infidels” and have lately made them the target of violence, along with many other religious groups in the Near and Middle East whose beliefs are opposed to radical Islam.
Many of the core beliefs of the Druze religion are unbiblical. As a unitary group, they stand in disagreement with the Bible, which clearly states that there is only one true God and only one way to Him, Jesus Christ (John 14:6; 3:5, 16–17). Gnosticism, which the Druze religion supports, was opposed by the apostles Paul and John in 1 Timothy 6:20; 1 Corinthians 8:1–3; 1 John 4:1–3; and 2 John 1:7. Reincarnation is also an unbiblical concept. According to the Scriptures, man dies once and then faces judgment (Hebrews 9:27) and is therefore not reincarnated.
For these reasons and others, it is safe to say that the Druze religion is not congruent with Christianity or biblical in any way.
Salvation is by the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
Learn about the Druze faith, Druze history, the Israeli Druze community and more.
The Druze are a minority within Israel who thrive while practicing their own religion and living in close-knit communities in Israel’s north. Here are eight facts about the Druze community.
1. What is the Druze religion?
The Druze religion began 1100 years ago, in 11th century Egypt, among Shi’ite Muslims. A visiting missionary from Persia helped encourage the view that the caliph of Egypt at the time, al Hakim ibn Amr Allah, was the divine incarnation of God. Amidst an atmosphere of great religious tension, al Hakim disappeared in the year 1021, The Druze Believe that in one day he (al Hakim ibn Amr Allah) will return and usher in an era of global peace.
al Hakim ibn Amr Allah
Much of the finer points of the Druze religion are secret, even to ordinary Druze people, and are maintained by religious leaders called “uqqal” (“knowers”). Aspects of the Druze religion that are widely known include monotheism, a belief in reincarnation, equality between men and women, and a host of prophets who span Christian, Muslim, and ancient Greek culture. Druze have a unique religious text called Al-Hikmah al-Sharifah, which is only read by the faith’s elders. Among Druze holy figures are Moses, Moses’ father in law Jethro, Plato, Socrates, Jesus, Mohammed, and Alexander the Great. The Druze religion doesn’t recognize conversion, either into the religion or out to another faith.
2. Druze People Live in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Elsewhere
Druze followers left Egypt and flourished further north, in what today are the nations of Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Under French rule, there was an attempt to establish an independent Druze state inside of present-day Lebanon, which failed. Today, estimates of the number of Druze people in the world today range from 800,000 to 2 million. The greatest number – over 600,000 – of Druze people today live in Syria. Smaller communities exist in Lebanon, Israel, and abroad, in Europe, Australia, and both North and South America.
A Druze woman wearing a tantour during the 1870s in Chouf, Ottoman Lebanon
Approximately 150,000 Druze live in Israel. For generations, many Druze faced persecution and discrimination at the hands of their neighboring Muslim communities and overlords. Though Druze people speak Arabic, they consider themselves a distinct, unique group.
3. Druze Fought on Israel’s Side in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence
During the British Mandate period, when Great Britain ruled present-day Israel (1923-1948), tensions between Jews and Arabs soared. A series of Arab pogroms against Jewish communities swept present-day Israel in 1929, resulting in the deaths of scores of Jews. During this time, Druze people generally sided with Jews. When Israel declared its independence and faced an onslaught from surrounding Arab armies, Druze people stood with Israel and fought on the Israeli side during its War of Independence.
“A long-standing friendship links the Druze and the Jews in Israel,” noted former Israeli President Chaim Herzog. “In our War of Independence, many Druze fought side by side with Jews to repel the Arab invasion.” (Quoted in Living History: The Memoirs of a Great Israeli Freedom-Fighter, Soldier, Diplomat and Statesman, by Chaim Herzog. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London: 1997.)
4. Druze of Israel
Most Israeli Druze people live in the Carmel region of Israel’s north. There is also a flourishing Druze community in and around Haifa, and a smaller community of about 18,000 Druze people who live in the Golan Heights, which Israel gained from Syria in the 1967 “Six Day” War and which Israel annexed in 1981. Majdal Shams – where Hezbollah’s massacre of children took place – is a bustling town in the Golan Heights; the vast majority of its over 11,000 residents are Druze. (Unlike Druze people who live in the rest of Israel, Druze residents of the Golan have the choice of whether or not to accept Israeli citizenship; each year, scores of people do so.)
5. The Druze Flag
Visitors to Israel’s north might have noticed colorful rainbow flags flying in some towns and villages. This is the Druze flag, made up of red, green, yellow, blue and white. Sometimes flown in a stripe shape, it can also take the form of a colorful star. Each of the flag’s five colors is associated with a particular human trait, including the masculine, feminine, wisdom, etc.
6. Israel’s Druze Community is Flourishing
By many measures, the most successful and flourishing Druze community in the world is in Israel. Since Israel’s founding in 1948, the Israeli Druze population has increased over 1000%.
With the creation of the Israeli state in 1948 came an era of liberation for Israel’s Druze. As historian Howard M. Sachar has noted, in the early days of Israel’s poverty-stricken statehood, Israel encouraged Druze life by “granting the Druze the status of an official religious community, with their own religious council and courts” and “by supplying their villages with a generous measure of roads, water pipelines, and agricultural credit and guidance.” (Quoted in A History of Israel From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time by Howard M. Sachar. 2nd Edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York: 2002.)
Israeli Druze people have strong family values: in one recent Israeli poll, 99% of Israeli Druze said they believe in God. Only 1% report having married outside their faith. 93% describe themselves as proud to be Druze.
7. Israeli Druze Serve in the Israel Defense Forces and Excel in Israeli Society
Druze men are required to complete Israeli army service. (In this, they are unique among Israel’s Arab population: Arab Christians and Arab Muslims are not required to serve, though they can volunteer if they wish.) In the army – and elsewhere in Israeli society – many Druze people reach the highest levels, out of all proportion to their small numbers. When they serve in the armed services, Druze soldiers serve disproportionately in elite army units, helping to foster a feeling of intense patriotism in their community. Druze Israelis also work as university professors, politicians, members of Israel’s Knesset, diplomats, judges, physicians, and in other prestigious fields.
Wherever Druze people live, they traditionally have felt a fierce attachment to their home nation. “Each community is completely patriotic and loyal to its country,” explained Aimen Amer, an Israeli Druze entrepreneur, Israel Defense Forces veteran, and co-founder of the HR tech company Skillinn. This is the secret of the incredible success of Israel’s Druze community, he feels.
8. A Major Druze Holiday Takes Place in Israel Each Spring.
Each April 25-28, thousands of Druze people flock to the Israeli city of Tiberius for the Druze festival of Ziyarat al-Nabi Shu’ayb, which honors Jethro, Moses’ father in law, whom Druze believe is buried just west of Tiberius. The three-day long festival is recognized as a holiday in Israel. Druze people don’t work during the pilgrimage, and Israeli leaders commonly extend holiday greetings to the Druze community during this time.
