Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-08-03
WHO ARE THE DRUsEs :


They are principally a sect of the Moham-
medans, existing only in Syria. Their name
is derived from DaraZi or Darsi, who, as early
as 1919, came a missionary to them from an
Of-shoot Of the Moslem stock. Singularly
enough, the Druses dissvow any belief in the
peculiar doctrines Of the man whose name they
bear, and do not hesitate to call him a hereto,
and to look upon the title Of "Druse" as a
stigma. They, themselves, trace theif origin
a a religious sect to Hamsa, a wandering IA
natic, who, in 1920, persuaded Hakem, Ca
liph of Egypt, to declare himself manifesto
tion Of God. Although the Caliph was soon
sssassinated, Hamsa continued to propagate
his theory in Syria, and with one of bis follow
ers, Moktana BOhr-eddin, wrote a sacred book
embOdying his teachings. According to his
intention, only the Druse priesthood was to see
this volume, and no revelation was to be made
until the second advent Of Hakem, who was to
a IN fss 5sn sTs Ssfn mfaa aos MS %ssssI
by Christian dogmas. This secrecy about the
sacred writings of Hsmsa was not, however,
observed, and copies of the works are now in
the great libraries at Paris Vienna, the Vati-
can, Leyden, and the Bodician Library, at Ok
ford IL has been translated into French, from
which il appears that the characteristics dog
mas of the sect is the unity Of Gods being.
Indeed, the Druses call themselves Unitarians
They maintain that God is incomprehensible,
inexorable, pure, the essence of true life and
human manifestations only Ten times has the
Deity thus appeared in Africa and Asia, the
last manifestation having been that in the per-
son of Hakem, of Egypt Hakem left the care
of the faithful to five principal ministers, who
are to direct them till his return. Chief of
these ministers is Hamsa, who enjoys the high
title of . Universal Intelligence" And here
Is inserted in the Druse faith-to give it the
popular name-a doctrine so much like that
held by Christians thatit can be no mere coin
cidence, but rather proves the initiative pow
ers of the founders Of the Druse theology They
declare the frst-born of the Deity was a spirit
of intelligence, which was first incorporated in
Hamsa, who is the same as the Christ of the
Arlan theory. To Hamsa was confined the cre-
alton Of the world, and from him comes all
wisdom and truth, while through him only
does the Lord communicate with the human
family. This is simply the corrupted version
Of the great Christian doctrines of incarnation
and mediation. There is a complicated sys-
TEN Of priesthood mentioned by the Druses
who, like the followers of Mohammed en-
body in their religion many Of the traditions
and PersOnages Of the Old Testament. There
Is Satan or Ismail, as he is called, who first
introduced sin into the world.
In regard to free will the Druse theology
maintains that the length of every mans life
Is fOreordained. but not his individual acts
They believe in the transmi grafton of souls
and say that the soul of Ismail was once in
John the Baptist, and still earlier in Elijah
while that Of Hsmsa once dwelt in the body of
Jesus Yet while acknowledging that Jesus
once existed, they DO not think that he was in
any way divine, as the in1ividual soul VIII b
lived In him and in many others did not re-
ceive divine power till it reached the body of
Hamsa. The Druses do not extend their trans
migration doctrines so far as to allow that
human souls ever exist in the forms of animals
They think that the souls OF men 20 On iDhab-
iting different bodies-with the exception of a
very few, whose excellence permits them to
exert pure spirit-until the resurrection day
when the faithful will be resolved for eternity
into spiritual beings, but by far the greater
portion Of mankind will be annihilated
If the Druses lived up to the seven COM
mandments in which they express their moral
laws they would not be 30 dreaded and so
cruel a people, for murder, theft, covetous-
ness, and cruelty are prohibited as special
crimes. and chastity, honesty, meekness, and
mercy are regarded as high virtues-so high
unfortunately that the present Druse SO leIaly
cannot reach them. The men have put one
wife each, the form of government patriarchal
different tribes have Sheik, and agriculture
is carefully attended to. No marriages are
contracted outside Of the sect, and the Druses
adhere tenaciOuSly to their religious traditions
All the male population is trained from youth
TO serve in war, and the Druses have more
than once revOlted against the Turkish Govern
ment, which holds nominal sway over them.
Yet, Of late years, they have been regarded as
peaceful and quiet people, and were disabu-
sing their neighbors Of the traditional opinions
as to their ferOcity and cruelty, until the great
Christian massacre of this summer proves that
their unenviable notoriety was not without a
Just foundation.
With so many features in their own approx
mating to the Christian religion, it appears
somewhat strange that the Druses should man
ifest such fendish barbarIty as they have re-
k1w~ De- 81 IL.
as they are, the doctrines of polytheism are
peculiarly repulsive. In the ceremonies of the
Greek and Roman Churches they perceive
what they think to be q worship of more than
one God; they do not comprehend the relations
of the three persons in the Trinity and es-
pecially fail to understand the Interpretation
of the material symbols held In such venera-
tion in those Churches. The Protestants of
Syria, whese religion does not present these
features, would probably share better il the
Druses understood more about them; but the
PrOtestants, as well as.the Greeks and CathO-
lies, all come under the general head Of Chris
tians, and such fall beneath the indiscrimi-
Mating fury of these fanatics.
1t does not appear, however, that the Druses
are the only tribes engaged in the massacres.
Arab Mussulmans are equally guilty. The
principal cause Of the present trouble most
probably arises from the old feuds which for
centuries have been wsgsd between the Druses
anu euc 1uoLVaAtcs. 1nS AoeeoE peOpto arc
native Christians. followers of q monk called
Maron, who lived in the sixth century. In
I2l5 they effected q union with the Church Of
Rome, from which they have never widely diff
fered, though their spiritual head is called the
Patriarch Of Antioch, instead of Bishop. 1t is
no new thing for the Druses to make war on
the Maronites, and the attacks renewed upon
these native Christians were but the COM
meneement Of a general movement to extir-
pate all Christians in Syria. Already, others
beside the Maronites hsye been involved in
the terrible effects Of this fsnaticism, and un-
less it is soon stopped, the aim of the murder
ers will be achieved.