A religious sect in the Middle East of some
500,000 people. They are monotheists,
preaching that the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim
(996-1021) is God; their scriptures are drawn
from the Christian gospels, the Torah (the
first five books of the Old Testament), the
Koran, and Sufi allegories. Druse militia
groups form one of the three main factions
involved in the Lebanese civil war (the
others are Amal Shi'ite Muslims and Christian
Maronites). The Druse military leader (from
the time of his father's assassination 1977)
is Walid Jumblatt. The Druse sect was founded
in Egypt in the 11th century, and then fled
to Palestine to avoid persecution; they today
occupy areas of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.