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The archways in the outer courtyard
A sculpture in the Souks
A glimpse of the greenery
Façade of St. George's Churchthe oldest community in lebanon
The Druze comprise another sect which is not widely regarded as being "truly" Islam by many Muslims. this is a religio-philosophical movement and a spirutual philosophie of life
the Druze hold other influential people - regardless of their religion - in great esteem, as the advocates of justice and belief in one god. These include the Egyptian Akhenaton, the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and Alexander the Great.
This group diverged in the eleventh century . They were declared to be heretics when the eleventh century leader al Darazi declared that the Hakim in the name of god (996-1021) was actually divine.
the Druze have always kept their doctrine and ritual secret to avoid persecution . Although an important principle for them is to always tell the truth to each other, . Evidently their religion is rather complex, and involves a combination of neo-Platonic thought
they reject much of Islamic legal practice. The Druze scripture is called the Rasa'il al-hikmah (Epistles of Wisdom), most of which was created by Hamzah's successor, Baha al-Din al-Muqtana
They argue that individuals who believe that God will forgive them if they fast and pray, will commit transgressions in the expectation of being forgiven - and then repeat their sins. The Druze thus eliminated all elements of ritual and ceremony; there is no fixed daily liturgy, no defined holy days, and no pilgrimage obligations. The Druze perform their spiritual reckoning with God at all times, and consequently need no special days of fasting or atonement. This is a religious community generally considered to be Muslim but whose practices contain elements of Christianity and paganism.
The Druze consider their faith to be a new interpretation of the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For them, the traditional story of the Creation is a parable, which describes Adam not as the first human being, but as the first person to believe in one god. Since then, the idea of monotheism has been disseminated by "emissaries" or prophets, guided by "mentors" who embody the spirit of monotheism. The mentors and prophets come from all three religions, and include Jethro and Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, and Salman the Persian
The religion was brought to Lebanon around the eleventh century by Darazi (hence the name Druze), a disciple of Al-Hakim, a Fatimid caliph from Egypt who considered himself the final incarnation of God.
The Druze religion is secret and closed to converts.it is the most missunderstood and understudies in the whole world
