Druze
The Druze faith is an 11th-century esoteric monotheistic religion that branched from Ismaili Shia Islam during the reign of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in Cairo. Its public preaching closed in 1043 under the community's founders Hamza ibn Ali and al-Muqtana Baha al-Din, and since then the tradition has been closed: no conversion in or out, and marriage strictly within the community. Theology draws on Neoplatonic philosophy, gnostic thought, and Ismaili cosmology, with core beliefs including the absolute unity of God, the transmigration of souls, and a series of divine emanations. The community is divided into the uqqal ("knowers"), who are formally initiated into the sacred texts and rituals, and the juhhal ("unlearned"), who observe general ethical principles without access to esoteric teaching. Worship takes place in khalwas — simple prayer halls — rather than mosques. Roughly one million Druze live primarily in the mountains of Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Jordan.