The Origin of the Druze Religion.

Finally, I am reading the article Al-Darazî and Hamza in the Origin of the Druze Religion.

I made some notes from the article

Background

• Hamza ibn Ali was the founder of the Druze/Duruz religion
• Druze sect (originally a Syrian mountain community), in the time of Hamza, was a cult of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim.
• A man called al-Darazi was one of the cult leaders of the Druze sect.
• According to a report by Sibt-ibn-al-Jawzi, that, after riots in Cairo, the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim "secretly sent [al-Darazi] money and told him to go to Syria and spread the da'wa in the mountains, for the people there readily let them selves be led about; so he went to Syria and settled in the Wadi Taym-Allah b. Tha'laba . . ."

The initial doctrine by al-Darazi

• Al-Darazi gathered the Syrian mountain people towards al-Hakim.
• He taught tanasukh (Intiqal al-arwah or reincarnation of souls in new generations (sometimes including passing of special powers).
• He permitted his followers to drink wine, commit adultery, plunder and kill people of other sects and much more

The above narrations (including the involvement of al-Hakim) are disputed by some. And this is based on letters written by al-Hamza. The conflicting report stated that al-Darazi was not responsible for converting the Syrian Druzes.

Rather, the term of Durziyya (or Daraziyya) is applied generally to all Hakim-cult circles in Egypt and included those of Syria by a natural extension.