Emergence of the Druze Faith

Timeline

1. 1017–1018Cairo · EgyptIn 1017 Hamza ibn Ali and other Ismaili theologians publicly preached in Cairo that al-Hakim was a divine manifestation, provoking riots. Hamza and his former disciple al-Darazi disputed orthodoxy; al-Darazi's name later became the outsiders' name for the sect, while the group called itself Muwahhidun.
2. 1021–1030Mount Lebanon · LebanonIn 1021 al-Hakim disappeared after leaving the city, and the Fatimid authorities officially denied his divinity. Hamza withdrew, while Bah al-Din Muqattam and others continued to guide the faithful by letter; believers established themselves in Syria, Mount Lebanon, and the Wadi al-Taym, parting ways with official Ismailism.
3. 1043Mount Lebanon · LebanonAround 1043 the Druze da'wa declared the 'closing of the gate', no longer accepting new converts, and the doctrine became esoteric and transmitted only within. Thereafter the community continued centered on Mount Lebanon and the Hauran, becoming a lasting independent faith community in the Levant.