Majmoo Fatawa Ibn Taymiyyah’s Series [III]: Are the Druze and Nusayris Muslims?

Saturday 11-Jan-2020, 5:56AM / 157

Shaykhul Islam was asked about the Druze and the Nusayris; and the ruling about their Islam.

He answered: ‘The Druze and Nusayris are disbelievers according to the consensus of the Muslims, it is not permissible to eat their slaughters or to marry their women, in fact, Jizyah cannot be accepted from them because they have apostatized from the Deen of Islam; they are not Muslims neither can they be regarded as Jews nor Christians. They don’t accept the obligation of the Five Daily Prayers [of the Muslims], or the obligation of fasting in Ramadan or going on pilgrimage. They do not regard as prohibited what Allaah and His Messenger – salaLlaahu alahyhi wa sallam – have prohibited, of dead animals and liquors, and other prohibited things. They may claim to affirm the Two Shahaadah while they habour all these thoughts; they are disbelievers by the consensus of the Muslims.

Nusayris are the followers of Abu Shuayb Muhammad bn Naseer [d.868CE], he was one of the deviants that used to say Alee [bn Abee Taalib, the Fourth Khaleefah] was divine. They used to chant some lines of poetry to that effect viz:

I testify that there is none to be    worshipped except/ Aydara al-Anzau al-Bateen [that is, Alee]
There is no veil upon him except/ Muhammad the Truthful Trustworthy One 
There is no path to him except/ Salman the possessor of strong might. 

As for Druze, they are the followers of Hashtakeen Ad-Dur’zi who was a former slave to [Faatimid Khaleefah] al-Haakim [bi-AmriLlaah, who ruled from 996-1021CE], he was sent be the latter to the valley of Taym bn Tha’labah and he invited the people there to belief in the divinity of al-Haakim whom they used to refer to as ‘al-Baari al-Allaam, and whom they used to swear with. They are from the [Shia sect of] Ismaailiyyah who say Muhammad bn Ismail [their leader] had abrogated the Sharee’ah of Muhammad bn Abdillaah [salaLlaahu alayhi wa sallam]. Their disbelief is the worst among all the deviants [in the Shia Enclave]; they would refer to Allaah as an All-Knower from Aforetime [meaning there was a time before the aforetime that He did not know; may He be glorified from that]. They deny the Resurrection and the obligations of the rites of Islam, and its prohibitions. They also belong to the Qaraamitah al-Baatiniyyah whose disbelief is worse than that of the Jews, Christians and the Mushrikoon of Arab; their aim is to become philosophers on the School of Thought of Aristotle and his likes, or that they become Majoos. Their statements are an admixture of philosophy and Fire-worship; they display Shi’ism to the populace as a hypocrisy. Allaah knows best.’

Vol35; 161

Translator’s Note

The Druze live mostly in Lebanon, Syria and Israel. They believe in the divinity of al-Haakim who was the Sixth Faatimid Khaleefah in Egypt, though the religious establishment of Faatimiyyah [as a sub-sect of Shia] did not totally subscribe to that. That claim of al-Haakim being divine had led to several riots in Cairo in the old centuries. The Druze belief once had its foothold in Egypt before it fizzled out and saw its resurgence in isolated areas of Syria and Lebanon.

As for the Nusayris, their own belief is a mixture of Islamic, Gnostic and Christian sources. Their three basic doctrines are: [1] The belief that Alee bn Abee Taalib is God in the flesh, that Alee created Muhammad from his spirit and that Muhammad created Salmaan al-Faarisee. The three constitute the Trinity where Alee is the Meaning, Muahmmad is the Namr and Salmaan is the Door. [2] They reject the Qur’aan and all forms of Islamic religious rites such as prayers, fasting, Hajj and Umrah, etc. [3] They belief in reincarnation though they believe women do not have souls. They live in mountainous areas of Syria and have been very prominent in the Syrian political space since the 1970 coup of Hafiz al-Asad, the father of the present President of Syria, Bashaar al-Asad, who has killed many Muslims in the ongoing war in Syria. The Nusayris, with many other horrific practices, use wine as a symbol for God.