Editing Prophet (section)

== Druze faith ==
In the [[Druze]] faith, seven spokesmen or prophets are considered and revered as messengers or intermediaries between God and mankind. These prophets include [[Adam]], [[Noah]], [[Abraham]], [[Moses]], [[Jesus]], [[Muhammad]] and [[Muhammad ibn Isma'il]]. Each of them was sent in a different period of history to preach the message of God.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Finegan |first=Jack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tqxtAAAAMAAJ&q=%22seven+prophets%22 |title=Discovering Israel: An Archeological Guide to the Holy Land |date=1981 |publisher=Eerdmans |isbn=978-0-8028-1869-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Hitti 1928 37">{{cite book|title=The Origins of the Druze People and Religion: With Extracts from Their Sacred Writings| first= Philip K.|last= Hitti|year= 1928| isbn= 9781465546623| page =37 |publisher=Library of Alexandria}}</ref><ref name="Dana 2008 17">{{cite book|title=The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status| first= Nissim |last= Dana|year= 2008| isbn= 9781903900369| page =17 |publisher=Michigan University press}}</ref>

The Druze believe that each spokesman or prophet (''natiq'') has a "foundation" or "guardian" who is responsible for the esoteric, interpretative law, while the spokesman or prophet himself presents the apparent, [[Religious law|obligatory law]].<ref name="Mahmut 2023">{{cite journal |last1=Mahmut|first1=R. İbrahim|title=The Christian Influences in Ismaili Thought|journal=The Journal of Iranian Studies|date=2023|volume=7|issue=1|pages=83–99|doi=10.33201/iranian.1199758|doi-access=free}}</ref> The first prophet was Adam, whose foundation was [[Seth]], although Adam did not have a mandate to introduce a law. Noah followed with a [[Religious law|new law]], superseding Adam's teachings, and his foundation was [[Shem]]. Then came Abraham, with [[Ishmael]] as his foundation, and [[Moses]], whose foundation was [[Joshua]] son of [[Nun (biblical figure)|Nun]] after [[Aaron]]'s death. Jesus followed, with [[Simon Peter]] as his foundation, and finally, Muhammad, with [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]] as his foundation.<ref name="Mahmut 2023"/> The last figure is [[Abd Allah al-Mahdi Billah]], the founder of the [[Fatimid Caliphate]], whose foundation was al-Qaddah. With [[Hamza ibn Ali]], the prophet of [[al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah|al-Hakim]], a new era began, introducing a new law called the "Law of Tawhid" (Unification) or the "Third Path," which superseded all previous laws. Hamza ibn Ali was assisted by four boundaries mentioned in their tradition.<ref name="Mahmut 2023"/>