The Construction of Druze Identity: Religious Traditions and Historical Contexts

LI Haipeng

Department of Arabic Language and Culture, School of Foreign Languages, Peking University

Arab World Studies, 2018.03

Abstract:

The Druze community can be traced to Ismaili Shi’ism，whose belief system and religious practice inherit Islamic cultural heritage in the Middle Ages．Since then，the Sunni ruling groups and religious scholars have issued a large number of hostile religious rulings against the Druze，which was due partly to the religious-cultural differences and social cleavage，and especially the complex political factors in specific historical contexts． In the modern era，Druze elites，represented by Shakib Arslan，Sultan Atrash and Kamal Jumblatt，have repeatedly taken the initiative to reshape their Druze self-identity to meet the challenges brought by political，social and cultural transformations．Although Druze elites’efforts have not overcome the political and social dilemma they face，viewing from the religious and cultural perspectives，their attempts have provided valuable insights for the eradication of sectarianism in the Middle East．
 

Key Words: 

Religious Minorities; Druze; Sunni; Sectarianism