Editing Druze (section)

=== During the Crusades ===

[[Wadi al-Taym]], in [[Lebanon]], was one of the two most important centers of Druze missionary activity in the 11th century{{sfn|Abu Izzeddin|1993|p=12}} and was the first area where the Druze appeared in the historical record under the name "Druze".{{sfn|Hitti|1966|p=21}} It is generally considered the birthplace of the Druze faith.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Origins of the Druze People: With Extracts from Their Sacred Writings |first=Philip |last=Khuri Hitti |year=1996 |isbn=9781538124185 |page=10 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |quote=Lebanon therefore was the distributing center of the Druze people and Wādi-al-Taym was the birthplace of their faith.}}</ref>

It was during the period of Crusader rule in Levant (1099–1291) that the Druze first emerged into the full light of history in the Gharb region of the [[Chouf District|Chouf]]. As powerful warriors serving the leaders in [[Damascus]] against the [[Crusades]], the Druze were given the task of keeping watch over the Crusaders in the seaport of [[Beirut]], to prevent them from making any encroachments inland. Subsequently, the Druze chiefs of the Gharb placed their considerable military experience at the disposal of the [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk sultans]] in Egypt (1250–1516); first, to assist them in putting an end to what remained of Crusader rule in the coastal Levant, and later to help them safeguard the Lebanese coast against Crusader retaliation by sea.<ref name="Druze heritage">{{Citation|url=http://www.druzeheritage.org/dhf/Druze_History.asp |publisher=Druze Heritage |title=History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201657/http://www.druzeheritage.org/dhf/Druze_History.asp |archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

In the early period of the Crusader era, the Druze feudal power was in the hands of two families, the [[Buhturids|Tanukhs]] and the [[Arslan family|Arslans]]. From their fortresses in the Gharb area (now in [[Aley District]] of southern [[Mount Lebanon Governorate]]), the Tanukhs led their incursions into the Phoenician coast and finally succeeded in holding Beirut and the marine plain against the [[Farang|Franks]]. Because of their fierce battles with the Crusaders, the Druze earned the respect of the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] caliphs and thus gained important political powers.

After the middle of the twelfth century, the [[Maan family]] superseded the Tanukhs in Druze leadership. The origin of the family goes back to Prince Ma'an, who made his appearance in Lebanon in the days of the Abbasid caliph [[al-Mustarshid]] (1118–35). The Ma'ans chose for their abode the Chouf 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. They were invested with feudal authority by Sultan [[Nur ad-Din Zengi]] and furnished respectable contingents to the Muslim ranks in their struggle against the Crusaders.{{Sfn|Hitti|1924}}{{Rp|needed=yes|date=April 2012}}

Certain aspects of the faith, such as [[transmigration of souls]] between adherents and [[incarnation]], were viewed as [[heresy in Islam|heretical]] or [[kafir|kufr]] ([[infidelity]]) and foreign by Sunni and Shia Muslims,{{sfn|Zabad|2017|p=126}} but contributed to solidarity among the Druze, who closed their religion to new converts in 1046 due to the threat of persecution.{{sfn|Harris|2012|pp=45–47}} The [[History of Islam#Proto-Salafism|proto-Salafi]] thinker [[ibn Taymiyya]] believed the Druze had a high level of infidelity besides being [[apostasy in Islam|apostates]]. Thus, they were not trustworthy and should not be forgiven. He taught also that Muslims cannot accept Druze penitence nor keep them alive, and that Druze property should be confiscated and their women [[slavery|enslaved]].{{sfn|Zabad|2017|p=126}}<ref>{{Citation |publisher=shaanan |url=http://app.shaanan.ac.il/shnaton/15/14.pdf |title=Druze Identity, Religion – Tradition and Apostasy |date=May 2015 |access-date=12 May 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095224/http://app.shaanan.ac.il/shnaton/15/14.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Having cleared the [[Holy Land]] of the Crusaders, the Mamluk Sultanate now turned their attention to the schismatic Muslims of Syria. In 1305, after the issuing of a [[fatwa]] by the scholar ibn Taymiyya calling for [[jihad]] against all non-Sunni Muslim groups like the Druze, [[Alawites]], Isma'ilis, and [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver Shi'a]], [[al-Nasir Muhammad]] inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Druze at [[Keserwan District|Keserwan]], and forced outward compliance on their part to Sunnism. The [[Kisrawan campaigns (1292–1305)|Sunni Mamluk campaigns]] led to the destruction of many Christian churches and monasteries and Druze sanctuaries ''khilwat'', and caused mass destruction of [[Maronites|Maronite]] and Druze villages and the killings and mass displacement of its inhabitants.{{sfn|Harris|2012|p=71}} [[Lebanese Sunni Muslims|Lebanese Sunni]] authors generally write of the campaigns from a pro-Mamluk stance, seeing in them the legitimate Muslim state's efforts to incorporate Mount Lebanon into the Islamic realm, while Druze authors write with a focus on the Druze community's consistent connection to [[Mount Lebanon]] and defense of its practical autonomy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reilly |first1=James A. |title=The Ottoman Cities of Lebanon: Historical Legacy and Identity in the Modern Middle East |date=2016 |publisher=I. B. Tauris |location=London |isbn=978-1-78672-036-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1BKMDwAAQBAJ|page=15}}</ref>

Later, the Druze were severely attacked at [[Saoufar]] in the [[1585 Ottoman expedition against the Druze]] after the Ottomans claimed that the Druze had assaulted their caravans near [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]].{{Sfn|Hitti|1924}}{{Rp|needed=yes|date=April 2012}} As a result of the Ottoman experience with the rebellious Druze, the word ''Durzi'' in [[Turkish language|Turkish]] came, and continues, to mean someone who is the ultimate thug.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stefan |last=Winter |title=The Shiites of Lebanon under Ottoman Rule, 1516–1788 |url=https://archive.org/details/shiiteslebanonun00wint |url-access=limited |date=2010 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-139-48681-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/shiiteslebanonun00wint/page/n49 37]}}<!--|access-date=1 March 2015--></ref>

The 16th and 17th centuries witnessed a succession of armed Druze rebellions against the Ottomans countered by repeated Ottoman punitive expeditions against the Chouf, in which the Druze population of the area was severely depleted and many villages destroyed. These military measures, severe as they were, did not succeed in reducing the local Druze to the required degree of subordination. This led the Ottoman government to agree to an arrangement whereby the different [[nahiyah]]s (districts) of the Chouf would be granted in ''[[iltizam]]'' ("fiscal concession") to one of the region's [[amir]]s, or leading chiefs, leaving the maintenance of law and order and the collection of taxes in the area in the hands of the appointed amir. This arrangement was to provide the cornerstone for the privileged status ultimately enjoyed by the whole of Mount Lebanon, Druze and Christian areas alike.<ref name="Druze heritage" />