The divine call, unitarian call, or da‘wat at- tawḥīd is the time period of Druze proselytization that was opened at sunset on Thursday 30 May 1017 CE by Fātimid

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah and closed in 1043 CE by al-Muqtana Baha'uddin, henceforth prohibiting anyone else from converting to the Druze

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

.Al-'Uqayli, Ḥasan., ''Muntekhab'', fol. 75v.; Yūsuf al-'Uqayli, ''al-Mu'allaf'', p. 775.

History

The call was suspended briefly between 19 May 1018 and 9 May 1019 CE during the

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

ad-Darazi Muhammad bin Ismail Nashtakin ad-Darazi ( ar, محمد بن اسماعيل نشتاكين الدرازي) was an 11th-century Ismaili preacher and early leader of the Druze faith who was labeled a heretic in 1016 and subsequently executed in 10 ...

and again between 1021 and 1026 CE during a period of persecution by

Ali az-Zahir Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥākim ( ar, أبو الحسن علي ابن الحاكم; 20 June 1005 – 13 June 1036), better known with his regnal name al-Ẓāhir li-iʿzāz Dīn Allāh ( ar, الظاهر لإعزاز دين الله, ...

for those who had sworn the

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

to accept the call. Persecutions started forty days after the disappearance into

occultation An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks ...

of al-Hakim, who was thought to have been converting people to a Unitarian faith for over twenty years prior. Al-Hakim convinced some heretical followers such as

of his

soteriological Soteriology (; el, wikt:σωτηρία, σωτηρία ' "salvation" from wikt:σωτήρ, σωτήρ ' "savior, preserver" and wikt:λόγος, λόγος ' "study" or "word") is the study of Doctrine, religious doctrines of salvation. Salvation ...

divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

and officially declared the Divine call after issuing a decree promoting religious freedom. The call summoned people to a true unitarian belief that removed all attributes (wise, just, outside, inside, etc.) from God. It promoted absolute

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfo ...

and the concepts of supporting your fellow man, true speech and pursuit of oneness with God. These concepts superseded all

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...

, law and

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...

and requirements for

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

, holy days,

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

, charity,

devotion Devotion or Devotions may refer to: Religion * Faith, confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept * Anglican devotions, private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians * Buddhist devotion, commitment to religious observance * Cat ...

profession of faith A profession of faith is a personal and public statement of a belief or faith. Judaism Among the Jews, the profession of faith takes the form of '' Shema Israel'' (שמע ישראל in Hebrew), ''Shema Israel Hachem Elokenu, Hachem Ekhad''; is ...

and particular worship of any prophet or person was downplayed.

Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

was opposed and Druze traditions started during the call continue today, such as meeting for reading, prayer and social gathering on a Thursday instead of a Friday at Khalwats instead of mosques. Such gatherings and traditions were not compulsory and people were encouraged to pursue a state of compliance with the real law of nature governing the universe. Epistle thirteen of the

Epistles of Wisdom The Epistles of Wisdom or ''Rasa'il al-Hikmah'' ( ar, رَسَائِل ٱلْحِكْمَة) is a corpus of sacred texts and pastoral letters by teachers of the Druze faith native to the Levant, which has currently close to a million practitioner ...

called it ''"A spiritual doctrine without any ritualistic imposition"''. The time of the call was seen as a revolution of truth, with missionaries preaching its message all around the Middle East. These messengers were sent out with the Druze epistles and took written vows from believers, whose

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

s are thought to still exist in the Druze of today. The souls of those who took the vows during the call are believed to be continuously reincarnating in successive generations of Druze until the return of al-Hakim to proclaim a second Divine call and establish a

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

and

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

for all. In 1043 al-Muqtana declared that the sect would no longer accept new pledges, and since that time

proselytization Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between '' evangelism'' or '' Da‘wah'' and proselytism regarding proselytism as invo ...

has been prohibited awaiting al-Hakim's return on

Judgement day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

to usher in a new

References

{{Reflist

External links

AbouFakher, Rabeea., The Tahwid Faith
History of the Druze 11th century in religion Religious conversion

History

See also

References

External links