Origins of the Druze People and Religion, by Philip K. Hitti, [1924], at sacred-texts.com
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Two Facsimile Pages from Druze Manuscripts |
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Foreword (by Editor of the Studies) | |
Preface (by Author) | |
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A UNIQUE AND SECRET SECT |
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Two Historical Fossils—Relation to World Events—Minor Episodes—Other Secret Sects—Special Interest of this Study | |
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SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT |
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Feudal Organization—Part Played during the Crusades—The Druze Power at its Height—Banu-Shihāb, the Last Feudal Chiefs—Druzes and Christians Grouped in Political Rather than Religious Parties—The Civil War of 1860 | |
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RACIAL ORIGINS |
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Number and Distribution—Religious and Racial Boundaries Coterminous—Silence of Historians—Travelers’ and Scholars’ Accounts—Criticism of the Arabian Theory—Diverse Hypotheses—Supposed Relationship with the French and British and with Freemasonry—Other Theories | |
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THE PERSIAN ORIGIN OF THE DRUZES |
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The Persian Nucleus at Wādi-al-Taym—The Founders of Druzism All Persian—The Testimony of Religious Vocabulary—Names of Feudal Families—Persian Tribes Transplanted into Syria | |
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DRUZE THEOLOGY AND ITS SOURCES |
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I. THE PROBLEM WITH ITS DIFFICULTIES |
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Various Hypotheses—Period of Concealment—Manuscripts—The Historical Setting | |
II. THE ḤĀKIM-GOD |
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Whimsical Character of al-Ḥākim—His Deification—Al-Ḥakīm as the Messiah—A Series of Divine Incarnations—The Disappearance and Triumphal Return of al-Ḥākim—Indo-Iranian Influences—Unitarians | |
III. FIVE DIVINE MINISTERS AND THREE INFERIOR ONES |
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The Process of Emanation—The Neo-Platonic Source—Inferior Ministers | |
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IV. THE PROPHETIC SUCCESSION |
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Seven Major Prophets—Seven a Sacred Number—Excellence of Druze System—Adam—Jesus | |
V. THE INNER MEANING |
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The Bāṭiniyyah—The Muḥammadan Law Abrogated—The Mystic Element—Sheikhs | |
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DOGMAS AND PRECEPTS |
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I. TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS |
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Method of Operation—Earlier Moslem Sects Believing in Transmigration—Relation to China | |
II. PREDESTINATION AND DISSIMULATION |
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Shī‘ite Contribution | |
III. THE CULT OF THE CALF |
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The Fact—Its Interpretation | |
IV. SEVEN PRECEPTS OF ḤAMZAH |
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Eight Dogmas—Ḥamzah's Precepts—Sources and Operation | |
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FOLKLORE |
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Animism and Saint Worship—Charges of Licentious Practices—Ḥamzites versus Darazites—Family Organization—Summary and Conclusion | |
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CONTAINING EXTRACTS FROM THE DRUZE SACRED WRITINGS |
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APPENDIX A—COVENANT OF INDUCTION INTO THE RELIGION OF THE RULER OF THE AGE | |
APPENDIX B—AL-ḤAKIM'S ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE USE OF WINE | |
APPENDIX C—EXCERPT FROM THE CHARTER FOUND POSTED ON THE WALLS OF THE MOSQUES ON THE OCCASION OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF OUR LORD AL-IMAM AL-ḤAKIM | |
APPENDIX D—EXCERPT FROM THE EPISTLE ENTITLED AL-QUSṬANṬĪNIYYAH ADDRESSED BY BAHĀ’-AL-DĪN TO THE BYZANTINE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE | |
APPENDIX E—EXCERPT FROM BAHĀ’-AL-DĪN'S EPISTLE ENTITLED CHRISTIANITY | |
APPENDIX F—EXHORTATIONS AND PRAYERS BY AL-SAYYID ‘ABDULLĀH AL -TANŪKHI | |
Index | |
Map |