Khalwat is the name of the prayer-houses of the Druze. The primary

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

of the Druze is at Khalwat al-Bayada.

The Druze school of theology in Lebanon

The ''Khalwat al-Bayada, Khalwet el Biyad, Khalwat al-Biyyada'' or ''White houses of communion'' is the central

, and

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

school of the Druze, located in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. Located near

Hasbaya Hasbeya or Hasbeiya ( ar, حاصبيا) is a town in Lebanon, situated at the foot of Mount Hermon, overlooking a deep amphitheatre from which a brook flows to the Hasbani. In 1911, the population was about 5000. Hasbaya is the capital of the Wa ...

, the khalwat is the location where

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 ...

is supposed to have settled and taught from during the first Druze call. It features a large, stone, circular bench next to an ancient

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

tree known as ''Areopagus of the Elders'' that is secluded amongst nature and trees. The Kalwaat provides around forty hermitages for Al-ʻuqqāl (the initiated) at various times of the year. In 1838, copies 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 ...

were taken from the site by invading Egyptians. Visitors are politely requested to seek permission from the resident sheikh before entering the site and female visitors are requested to cover their heads as a courtesy.

References

External links

Laurence Oliphant. The land of Gilead, with excursions in the Lebanon

Photographs of Khalwat al-Bayada and the circular bench on www.panoramio.com

Khalwat al-Bayada on www.discoverlebanon.com
{{coord missing, Lebanon Hasbaya District Sacred natural sites Hermitages Religious buildings and structures in Lebanon History of the Druze Druze holy places

The Druze school of theology in Lebanon

See also

References

External links