Druzes have historically practiced taqiyya (تقية) , in which they outwardly conformed to the religious practices of the majority in the region they were in , in order to avoid persecution. This was essential for their survival as they were brutally persecuted by Islam after they defected and so had to practice their faith in secret while still pretending to be Muslims to survive. Nowadays,with freedom of religion laws, most Druzes no longer do this, although the practice of praying in a mosque or a church has stuck with them. They do have their own prayer houses however , the majlis. They are usually built to resemble houses and they actually blend in with the surrounding houses, another remnant of their persecution when they used to meet secretly in the houses of their faithful to pray. Also, Druzes do have a Sabbath day, on Thursday. The laity light candles and venerate saints and worship God while the clergy meet to read their scriptures.
The Druze faith is very lax in what it allows its laity to do: the only religious obligation they have is not to marry a non-Druze. I know Druzes who consider their religion more of a philosophy than a faith, and others who venerate Hindu, Buddhist and other non-Abrahamic saints. (This practice is quite rare however, but I have never seen Druze clergy object to it when it happens). I know that Druze clergy have to give up veneration of non -Druze saints after their ordination, though.
To me Druzes are like Protestants. What started as a simple objection to the veneration of Islamic saints like the Sahaba of Muhammad and mosque ritual like wudu’ (the act of washing oneself before prayer, considered an obligation in Islam) suddenly snowballed into a rejection of all things Islamic, and thus Druzes started incorporating Christian, Gnostic, and even Hindu beliefs , kinda like Protestants today whose rejection of certain elements of Catholicism led to them creating churches that would have left the early Christians scratching their heads (No liturgy?No baptisms?) . And the thing is , no one can be sure what they actually teach . Many Druzes actually become atheists or convert to Christianity or back to Islam because they are fed up with not knowing what they are supposed to believe in.
That said, I find most devout Druzes I know to be good and righteous people, pious in accordance to their own traditions and extremely tolerant, reverant even, of Catholicism. Druzes usually use Christian sacramentals like holy water and believe in the Virgin Birth. Whenever I announce I am making a trip to Saint Charbel’s shrine in Annaya , my Druze neighbours flood me with requests for rosaries, icons, statues, and bottles of holy oil and water.
Its worth mentioning that they may have a very erroneous, perverse even, understanding of the Christ. While I am not entirely sure of this ( we cant be sure about anything pertaining to their faith), I have heard that the Druze faith believes the Christ and Jesus were two separate entities that fused together in Mary’s womb, Christ being the God and Jesus being the human child. Truly gives Nestorianism and Adoptionism a run for their money.
Pax Christi.
