The Druze (, plural دروز, durūz, druzim ) are a monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism school of Shia Islam.

Amal and Hezbollah are the main rivals for the organized Shi ' a vote, and the PSP ( Progressive Socialist Party ) is the leading Druze party.

There are Shia Muslims ( Alawite, Twelvers, and Ismailis ) and Druze.

Alawis and Druze are also considered a part of Shia Islam.

The Yazidi, Druze and Azali faiths are small post-Islamic monotheistic faiths whose adherents mainly reside in Muslim-majority countries.

Israeli Knesset member Ayoob Kara speculated that the Druze are descended from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, probably Zevulun.

The root of discrimination on the basis of army service lies in the fact that at age 17, non Arab citizens ( including Druze ) are called up to be examined for eligibility to compulsory military service.

In 2011, 7, 000 Christian, Druze and Muslims held a solidarity march in support of Christians in Iraq and Egypt who are suffering from religious persecution.

Several modern towns are located on the range, including Yokneam on the eastern ridge, Zikhron Ya ' aqov on the southern slope, the Druze town of Carmel City on the more central part of the ridge, and the towns of Nesher, Tirat Hakarmel, and the city of Haifa, on the far northwestern promontory and its base.

The Druze ( very small in number today ) are ( or were initially ) Shi ' a and separated from the Ismailis just before the Bohras after the death of the Fatimid Imam and Caliph Hakim.

The Druze find this assertion offensive ; they hold ad-Darazi as the first apostate of the sect and their beliefs regarding al-Ḥākim are complex.

Confusion and slander by opponents of the Druze were generally left uncorrected as the teachings of the sect are secret and the Druze preferred taqiyya when independence was impossible.

In Lebanon, Ayn Ali refers to the Druze chieftains with the note: ‘ there are non-Muslim lords in the mountains .’ There were other autonomous enclaves in the Empire, whether or not they received formal recognition as sanjaks but, by the 16th century, these were exceptional.

Most of the inhabitants of this region are Arab Druze, and there are also small Arab Christian communities.

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2005, the population of the district stood at 858, 000, of which 71. 27 % are Jewish, 18. 81 % are Arab Muslims, 1. 78 % are Arab Christians, 2. 52 % are Druze, and 4. 9 % are " not classified by religion ", and grew at an average annual rate of 0. 8 %.

This definition includes the inhabitants of the West Bank ( including the Dom and Samaritans ), the inhabitants of Gaza Strip, the Israeli Arabs ( including Druze and Bedouin ), the Israeli Jews whose ancestors were living there prior to the onset of Zionist immigration ( the Old Yishuv ), ethnic Jews in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East whose roots are predominantly Palestinian ( Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Mizrahim, Italqim, and Romaniotes ) and the communities of Palestinian Refugees all over the world.

The word " Palestinian " is occasionally used by ethnographers and linguists to denote the specific Arab subculture of the southern Levant ; in that sense, it includes not only the Arabs of British Mandate Palestine, but also those inhabitants of Jordan who are originally from Palestine and the Druze, while excluding both Bedouin ( who culturally and linguistically group with Arabia ) and ethnic minorities such as the Dom and Samaritans.

These estimates differ from census figures because census figures do not count " temporary " visitors and workers, and Bahá ' ís and Druze are counted as Muslim ..

The stronghold of the PSP / PLA laid in the Jabal Barouk area within the Shouf, which they turned into a semi-autonomous canton in the early 1980s, known unofficially as the ‘ Druze Mountain ’ ( Arabic: Jabal al-Duruz ).

The Progressive Socialist Party's territory was the " Civil Administration of the Mountain ", commonly known as the " Jebel-el-Druze " ( a name which had formerly been used for a Druze state in Syria ).

These tribes were known as the Tanoukhiyoun and in the 11th century they converted to the Druze faith and ruled the areas of Mount Lebanon stretching from Metn in the north to Jezzine in the south.

In the early 17th century, Emir Fakhreddine the 2nd ascended the throne in the Druze part of the mountains known as the Chouf.

The most prominent feature of this volcanic field is 1800m-high Jabal al-Druze ( also known variously as Jabal ad Duruz, Djebel Al-Arab, Jabal Druze, Djebel ed Drouz ).

Some of these include: husayniyas ( also known as ashurkhanas, imambaras, matams or tekiyas ) used by Ithna ‘ Ashari Shi ‘ i communities ; ' khanaqas, ribats, tekkes and zawiyas used by mystically-oriented Muslim communities commonly referred to as Sufis ; the cemevi of the Turkish Alevis ; and the majlis and khalwas of the Druze.

On February 22, 1987 in what became known as the “ War of the Flag ”, a brutal militia battle spread throughout western Beirut between the Druze PSP and Amal.

He was known to refuse to treat Druze soldiers that served in the West Bank, believing it was against Jewish laws to treat non-Jews even for payment.

However, he is known to have an affinity for and is popular amongst the Druze population ( the only Arab population to be fully drafted into the IDF ), and has attracted a number of Druze voters, including some in the Golan Heights who voted for the party in protest.

Shahba ( ), known in Late Antiquity as Philippopolis, is a city located 87 km south of Damascus in the Jabal el Druze in As-Suwayda Governorate of Syria, but formerly in the Roman province of Arabia Petraea.

Although the Druze religious books describe ad-Darazi as the " insolent one " and as the " Calf " who is narrow minded and hasty, the name " Druze " is still used for identification and for historical reasons.

The Ma ' ans chose for their abode the Chouf District in south-western Lebanon ( southern Mount Lebanon Governorate ), overlooking the maritime plain between Beirut and Sidon, and made their headquarters in Baaqlin, which is still a leading Druze village.

In 1305, after the issuing of a fatwa by the scholar Ibn Taymiyyah calling for jihad against all non-Sunni Muslims like the Druze, Alawites, Ismaili, and twelver Shiites, al-Malik al-Nasir inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Druze at Keserwan and forced outward compliance on their part to orthodox Sunni Islam.

This arrangement was to provide the cornerstone for the privileged status which ultimately came to be enjoyed by the whole of Mount Lebanon in Ottoman Syria, Druze and Christian areas alike.

The mountainous territory of Mount Lebanon has long been a shelter for minority and persecuted groups, including its historic Maronite Christian majority along with Druze, and local Shi ' a Muslims.

The Ottomans attempted to create peace by dividing Mt Lebanon into a Christian district and a Druze district, but this would merely create geographic powerbases for the warring parties, and it plunged the region back into civil conflict which included not only the sectarian warfare but a Maronite revolt against the Feudal class, which ended in 1858 with the overthrow of the old feudal system of taxes and levies.

Another destabilizing factor was France's support for the Maronite Christians against the Druze which in turn led the British to back the Druze, exacerbating religious and economic tensions between the two communities.

Including these is the Maronite Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir – the most eminent religious figure for Maronites – and the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt appealed for calm, but said the car bomb was a clear message for the opposition.

Multiple news agencies estimated the crowd at between 800, 000 and 1 million – a show of force for the Sunni, Christian and Druze communities.

He also forced al-Azhar to issue a fatwa readmitting Shia Muslims, Alawites, and Druze into mainstream Islam ; for centuries before, al-Azhar deemed them as " heretics " and non-Muslims.

It is notably used by Druze for their religious men, but also by Arab Christians for elder men of stature.

Perhaps inspired by the contemporary Turkish War of Independence ( 1919-1921 ), similarly, the Great Revolt for Syrian Independence began in the countryside of Jabal al-Druze, led by Sultan al-Atrash, as a Druze uprising ; the movement was adopted by a group of Syrian nationalists led by Dr Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar and spread to the States of Aleppo, Damascus.

After his father ’ s death, Kamal Jumblatt ’ s mother Nazira played a significant political role in the Druze community for over a quarter of a century.

In addition, the village had a mosque and a shrine for the Druze Shaykh Aby Muhammad al-Qurayshi.