The A to Z of the Druzes by Samy Swayd

Author:Samy Swayd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scarecrow Press

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JABAL AL-A‘LA. Mountainous region in northwestern Syria, also known as Jabal al-Sumaq. It has been populated by small communities of Druzes since the beginning of the Druze movement in the 11th century. Like other mountainous, remote, and hard-to-reach areas in the region, it provided a safe haven to members of the Druze community. See also CARMEL; GALILEE; JABAL AL-DURUZ; SHUF.

JABAL AL-‘ARAB. See JABAL AL-DURUZ.

JABAL AL-DURUZ. The Mountain of the Druzes. A province in southern Syria inhabited mainly by Druzes (90 percent Druzes and 10 percent Greek Orthodox Christians). The city of Suwayda is the largest Druze center in Jabal al-Duruz.

Druzes began settling in the mountain in the late 17th century, but larger numbers of Druzes migrated there after the 1711 battle of ‘Ayn Dara between the Qaysis and Yamanis, in which the latter were defeated and many of them were forced to migrate. An additional but smaller Druze migration took place during the Civil War of 1840–1860 in Mount Lebanon.

During the Great Revolt of 1925–1927 against France, the Druzes received worldwide attention because of their leading role in the revolt. Their leader, Sultan al-Atrash, became a Syrian and Arab nationalist symbol. Although the French were able to crush the revolt by 1927 and force its leaders to flee, the resistance in that revolt has facilitated the independence of Syria and other Arab states and the departure of the French (and British) from the Middle East.

In a 1937 gathering of Druzes in Amman, Jordan, the title “Jabal al-Duruz” was declared by some Arab nationalist Druzes as Jabal al-‘Arab. But the mountain is still commonly known as Jabal al-Duruz.

JABAL AL-MUQATTAM. See MUQATTAM, AL-.

JABAL AL-SUMAQ. See JABAL AL-A‘LA.

JABER, BOBBY. A contemporary American-born Druze educator, businessman, and artist who makes porcelain pots called Porcelainia. Jaber’s approach to design in porcelain draws from the works of other artists and scientists, especially from R. Buckminster Fuller, the founder of synergetic geometry and inventor of the geodesic dome. He is also known in the American Druze Society (ADS) and has contributed funds to children’s education and to other social causes in both Lebanon and the United States. Jaber has also founded, edited, and distributed the newsletter Dialogue, which deals with community affairs.

JABHAT AL-TAHRIR AL-YAZBAKIYYA. See YAZBAKI LIBERATION FRONT.

JABIR, SHAKIB (1932–1965). A Lebanese Druze lawyer who was born in ‘Alay and became an activist in the 1950s and early 1960s. He served as the spokesman of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), representative of many organizations, and head of the Lebanese delegation to the Afro-Asian Conference. He died in a car accident while attending this conference.

JADD. A cosmic principle or entity that acts as a mediator between the spiritual and physical world. Jadd is the sixth luminary in Druze cosmology. See also HUDUD.

JA‘FAR AL-SADIQ (?–765). The sixth Shi‘i imam and a prominent figure in Islamic circles. His son Isma‘il is the forefather of the Isma‘ilis and Druzes. His other son, Musa, became the accepted patriarch of the Ithna ‘Ashari (Twelver) Shi‘is.

JAMAL AL-DIN, SHAYKH. See TANUKHI, EMIR AL-SAYYID JAMAL AL-DIN.

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