Editing Druze (section)

=== Theophany ===
[[Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad]] is considered the founder of the Druze and the primary author of the Druze manuscripts.<ref name="The World's Greatest Religious Lead"/> He proclaimed that God had become human and taken the form of man.<ref name="Aga"/><ref name="Poonawala 1999 542">{{harvnb|Poonawala|1999|p=542}}; {{harvnb|Nisan|2002|p=95}}; {{harvnb|Dānā|2003|p=41}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">"Encyclopaedic Survey of Islamic Culture", p. 94 by Mohamed Taher</ref> [[Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah]] is an important figure in the Druze faith whose eponymous founder [[ad-Darazi]] proclaimed him as the incarnation of God in 1018.<ref name="Aga"/>{{sfn|Poonawala|1999|p=542}} The Druze believe that al-Hākim will return at the end of times to judge the world and establish his kingdom, while [[Hamza ibn Ali]] is considered a reincarnation of Jesus, the Universal Mind ''[['Aql]]'', closely associated with al-Hākim.<ref name="Mahmut 2023"/>

The author of the epistle "The Report of the Jewish and Christians" (''Khabar al-Yahud wal Nasara''), part of first volume of the [[Epistles of Wisdom]], appears to have been a Druze individual. The account itself identifies him as [[Hamza ibn Ali]], a supporter of [[Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah|al-Hakim's]] [[divinity]] and the founder of the Druze faith.<ref name="Mallett 2010">{{cite book |title=Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 2 (900–1050)|last=Mallett|first=Alexander|year=2010|isbn=9789004129382|pages=640–645|publisher=Brill}}</ref>

Historian David R. W. Bryer defines the Druzes as ''[[ghulat]]'' of Isma'ilism, since they exaggerated the cult of the caliph [[al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah]] and considered him divine; he also defines the Druzes as a religion that deviated from Islam.<ref name="Bryer 1975 52–65">{{cite journal |last=Bryer |first=David R. W. |title=The Origins of the Druze Religion |journal=[[Der Islam]] |year=1975 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=52–65 |doi=10.1515/islm.1975.52.1.47 |s2cid=201807131 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/islm.1975.52.1.47 |issn=1613-0928 |ref={{harvid|Bryer|1975a}} }}</ref> He also added that as a result of this deviation, the Druze faith "seems as different from Islam as Islam is from Christianity or Christianity is from Judaism".<ref name="Bryer 1975 239–262"/>