The Druze: Outside Islam
The Druze originated from an Ismaili Fatimid offshoot in the 11th century and developed a theology that includes the deification of the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim, reincarnation, and a secret doctrine available only to initiates. The unanimous position of Islamic scholarship is that the Druze are not Muslim.
Their Origin
The Druze movement emerged in the early 11th century from the Fatimid Ismaili context in Egypt, founded around the figure of Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad and promoted during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (985–1021 CE). Al-Hakim was a controversial and erratic ruler who at various points persecuted Christians, Jews, and Sunni Muslims alike, and whose later years saw claims made about his divine status.
The Druze theology centred on the deification of al-Hakim, a human being being worshipped as God. When al-Hakim disappeared in 1021 CE (almost certainly assassinated), the Druze held that he had gone into occultation and would return.
Their Beliefs
The deification of al-Hakim: Al-Hakim is held to be an incarnation of God. This is shirk (the association of partners with God) by any definition.
Reincarnation: The Druze believe in transmigration of souls: that the soul is reincarnated repeatedly until it reaches perfection. This contradicts the Quranic account of death, resurrection, and the Day of Judgement.
The secret doctrine: Druze society is divided into the initiated (uqqal (the wise) who have access to the full esoteric doctrine, and the uninitiated (juhhal) the ignorant) who do not. The religion is not publicly proselytised; birth into a Druze family is the only entry point.
Syncretism: Druze theology incorporates elements from Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, and other traditions alongside its Ismaili Shia origins. It is a syncretic movement, not a branch of Islam.
Rejection of Islamic obligations: The Druze do not observe the five pillars of Islam as ordinarily understood: prayer, fasting, zakat, and hajj are either not observed or interpreted in a purely esoteric sense.
The Scholarly Ruling
Ibn Taymiyyah ruled on the Druze explicitly: they are not Muslims, they are worse in their deviation than Jews and Christians, and the rules of Islamic governance applying to dhimmis do not apply to them in the way they apply to the People of the Book.
This ruling has been upheld by subsequent scholars. The Druze are not a sect within Islam; they are a separate religion that originated in an Islamic context.
A Practical Note
Druze communities in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel occupy complex political positions, often serving in Israeli military forces, maintaining distinct communal identities, and navigating between surrounding Muslim and non-Muslim majorities. Their political complexity is separate from their theological status. The theological question is clear: they are not Muslim.
Scholar References
- Ibn Taymiyyah: ruling on the Druze
- Sami Makarem, The Druze Faith: academic account of Druze theology
- Islamic scholarly consensus on the Druze: documented across multiple fatwa institutions