Druze
The Druze are an ethnoreligious group which was established in Western Asia. As a religion it is considered to have emerged from Islam although it now has a distinct identity.[1][2][3][4]
The village of Abu-Sinan in the Holy Land in what is now Israel had a significant Druze population and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá occasionally visited the village establishing positive relations with the Druze chiefs in the area and encouraging friendly association between the Bahá’í and Druze communities.[5]
In Some Answered Questions ‘Abdu’l-Bahá briefly referred to Druze beliefs while discussing reincarnation stating the following:
"The limited minds of the philosophers of old, such as Ptolemy and others, held that the realm of life and existence was confined to this terrestrial globe, and imagined that this infinite space was contained within the nine celestial spheres, all of which were void and empty. Witness how limited were their thoughts and how deficient their reasoning! The reincarnationists likewise imagine the spiritual worlds to be confined to those realms that the human mind can conceive. Some of them, such as the Druze and the Nuṣayrís, even imagine existence to be confined to this material world. What an ignorant supposition this is! For in this universe of God’s, which appears in the utmost perfection, beauty, and grandeur, the luminous bodies of the material universe are infinite. Pause to infer, then, how infinite and unbounded the spiritual realms of God, which are the very foundation, must be! “Take ye good heed, O people of insight!”[6]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Are the Druze People Arabs or Muslims? Deciphering Who They Are". Arab America. Arab America. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ↑ Léo-Paul Dana (1 January 2010). Entrepreneurship and Religion. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 314. ISBN 978-1-84980-632-9.
- ↑ James Lewis (2002). The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Prometheus Books. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ De McLaurin, Ronald (1979). The Political Role of Minority Groups in the Middle East. Michigan University Press. p. 114. ISBN 9780030525964.
Theologically, one would have to conclude that the Druze are not Muslims. They do not accept the five pillars of Islam. In place of these principles the Druze have instituted the seven precepts noted above..
- ↑ Ahang Rabbani, `Abdu'l-Baha in Abu-Sinan: September 1914, published in Bahá'í Studies Review, 13, pages 75-103, Association for Bahá'í Studies English-Speaking Europe, 2005
- ↑ (Some Answered Questions) www.bahai.org/r/710894979
