Marriage and the Druze

Since 1957, the Israeli government has recognized the Druze as a distinct ethnic community in Israel. They are located in the Northern part of the country, mainly in the hilltops. According to the 2008 National Resilience Survey, more than 94% of Druze classified themselves as “Druze-Israelis” in a religious and national context. The faith of the Druze creates a loyalty between them and the country that they reside in and in Israel they have a lot of patriotism for the country.

Making Kube for a Druze Wedding

The Druze have extreme joy in the most significant of all the life-cycle events, which is a wedding.  Weddings not only provides another opportunity to bond with the community, but it is also one of those rare occasions in which young men and women get to socialize and eye one another as potential marriage partners. A traditional Druze wedding is prepared days beforehand and many members of the community join the celebration by helping out. The weddings can be quite elaborate and extensive, so the guests expect copious amounts of food and drink, which they too help make. It can be said that of all the ethnic group and religious groups, the Druze are the ones who dine better and more festively. Even though it is frowned upon, weddings are a time when wine and other alcohols are almost approved of.

Marriage is expected of all Druze woman at a very early age, unlike Israeli’s, between the ages of 17 and 21. This marriage is usually preceded by a two year engagement and both the bride and groom are expected to be virgins the night of their wedding. These marriages are often chosen for the young people. Who do they marry though? It is against the Druze faith and is strictly forbidden to marry anyone outside of the religion. “If you marry out, you convert out,” said Haeyl Azaam, a 30-year-old Israeli Druze who was quoted in The Jewish Bulletin of Northern California. “You're excommunicated. There's just no place for you in the community anymore.”   No one can convert to the religion because they believe they are born into it, so converting out is a huge deal and can place shame on the family. The Druze take this very seriously. In the Rosenthal book, the reader learns of a Druze woman Ibtihaj Hassan. She divorced and moved away like she was supposed to. But she committed the ultimate sin; she married outside of her religion, a Bedouin. Her family was shamed and asked her to come visit them. Her brother slaughtered her in the middle of the town square, while people called him a hero and a real man.  

A Druze Bride waving goodbye to join new husband

The Druze may marry within their families though, which includes parallel cousins. More than a third of marriages are to close marriages. But Rosenthal tells us that now they recognize that this can case deformations and genetic problems for the children, so this is not practice as much anymore and are more careful with whom they marry.  A Druze can also marry a spouse from another country in order to keep the marriage ties strong. The main negative thing about marrying outside their borders is that once the bride leaves her country and her family, she is not allowed to go back. Arwad Abushanhen, an Israeli Druze, tells us how she had to bid farewell to her home country once she married her husband. Her wedding took place in no-mans –land so that both families could take part in this wondrous event. “I am so happy to be married today,” Abushahen said. “But I am so sad to leave my family.”

The Druze live in secret truly and we do not know much about their religion. Marriage is a celebration for the Druze because it means that they will continue on in secret, passing their knowledge from son to son and daughter to daughter.