The Druze Faith – Sami Nasib Makarem

Description

LebanonPostcard presents the book The Druze Faith by Sami Nasib Makarem – Caravan – Hardcover book with protective cover, 21.7×15 cm, 155 pages.

THIS history-making book, written at the request of the Shaykh al-Aql, spiritual leader of the Druzes, and the American Druze Society, for the first time lifts the veil of secrecy that has long surrounded this esoteric branch of Ismaili Shi’a Islam.

In a scholarly work intended primarily for laymen, Professor Makarem, himself a Druze, uses medieval manuscript sources still under the seal of secrecy to trace the history, beliefs and customs of this little known and commonly misunderstood religious faith from its origins early in Islam and its founding in the eleventh century A.D. under the Fatimid Caliphs of Egypt.

The adherents to this faith call themselves the Muwahhidun (Unists), holding oneness with God as a central belief. Ironically, they derive their popular name from Nashtakīn ad-Darazī, an eleventh-century heretic whose brazen and dissolute ways deflected others from the faith and led many outsiders to mistaken notions about the nature of this religious movement. This book seeks to correct these erroneous impressions, reported by medieval travellers and perpetuated over the intervening centuries by historians, by showing the developments of the Druze doctrine and revealing the true beliefs of the faith.

The book contains translations of numerous quotations from the sacred Druze Scriptures – the Six Books of Wisdom set forth by the Imam Hamza ibn ‘Ali and his disciples, and commentaries by leading Druze scholars over the centuries and several appendices, including a list of shi’a Imams and Stations, Druze prayers, a description of the Druze domestic law and important dates in the history of the Druzes.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
2. THE STORY OF THE MOVEMENT
The Boy Caliph
The New Era
Hamza ibn ‘Ali
The First Apostate
A Year of Trial
A Revival of the Call
A Test for the Believers
Al-Muqtanā Baha’uddin
Years of Persecution
The Call Resumed
A Counter Movement from within
Sukayn
‘Ammar’s Mission
Sarah in Wādi t-Taym
Mi’ḍād’s Expedition
The Movement Underground
The Movement’s Recovery

3. GOD AND THE UNIVERSE
Man’s Restlessness
God in the Druze Faith
The Five Cosmic Principles
The Physical World
Good and Evil

4. MAN: SOUL AND BODY
Why Reincarnation?
The Body as a Medium
Progress towards Knowledge

5. GOD AND MAN
The Human Conception of God
God’s Self Manifestation
The One’s Reflection
The Cycles of Progress
Adam
Station and Imam
The Advent of al-Ḥākim
The Allegory of the Birds
The Movement Realized
The Concepts of Heaven and Hell

6. THE COMMANDMENTS
The Meanings of the Divine Law: Literal, Inner and Real
The Meanings of the Testimony
The Meanings of Prayer
The Meanings of Almsgiving
The Necessity of Keeping Divine Knowledge Secret
The Meanings of Fasting
The Meanings of Pilgrimage
The Meanings of Strife in God’s Way
The Meanings of Allegiance
Equality
Free Will

CONCLUDING NOTE

APPENDIX A List of Stations, Imams, and Related
Personalities

APPENDIX B The Islamic Lunar Calendar

APPENDIX C Important Dates

APPENDIX D
1. Sarah’s Prayer
2. Excerpts from a Prayer by ash-Shaykh al-Fadil
3. Prayer to Be Recited in the Morning
4. Recitation before Meals
5. Prayer to Be Recited before Sleep

APPENDIX E The Druze Law of Domestic Relations

APPENDIX F On Safeguarding and Helping One’s Fellow Men

GLOSSARY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

MY GRATITUDE to his eminence Shaykh Muhammad Abou Shaqra, the Shaykh Aql of the Druzes, for instigating this work and for furnishing material included in Appendix D. I am greatly indebted to Mr. Issam Makarem and Mr. Salem Makarem for their encouragement and support in the research that led to the writing of this work. I should like to express my deep gratitude to the American Druze Society—especially to Mr. Baheej Aboul-Hosn, ex-President, Mr. Ajaj Andary, President, and to the members of the Committee on Religious Affairs: Dr. Abdallah E. Najjar, chairman, Henry Flehan, Jack Hamady, Raymond Helal, Nafe Katter, Adil Najar and Rafic Rasamny-for supporting my research on the Druze faith and offering much assistance and encouragement. My thanks go also to Mr. Raja Hassen of Haskell, Texas, whose cooperation was greatly appreciated. I was fortunate in having the manuscript carefully read and criticized by Miss Mary Flanagan; her help and valuable suggestions have led to many improvements and are warmly acknowledged. My gratitude also goes to Prof. Hani Khayreddin of the Lebanese University, Dr. Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia, Miss Pamela Wentworth and Mr. Ramez Saab who have read and criticized the manuscript in whole or in part. I would like also to thank Prof. Suheil B. Bushrui of the American University of Beirut for his useful comments and cooperation. Finally, I thank my wife, Julie Makarem, for her suggestions and help and for her understanding and patience throughout the preparation of this work.

S. N. M.

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