Ad-Darazi

Muhammad bin Ismail Nashtakin ad-Darazi (Arabic: محمد بن اسماعيل نشتاكين الدرازي‎‎) was an 11th-century Ismaili preacher and early leader of the Druze faith who was labeled a heretic in 1016 and subsequently executed in 1018 by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

Little information is known about the early life of Ad-Darazi. According to most sources, he was born in Bukhara. He is believed to have been of Persian origins and his title ad-Darazi is Persian - meaning 'the tailor'. He arrived in Cairo in 1015, or 1017, after which he joined the newly emerged Druze movement.

He was the leader of an army that was sent from Cairo to put down the up-rising of the Unity movement that started in the mountains of Lebanon to unite Christian and Muslim Sunni and Shiah under one God. Ad-Darazi's army was around 200,000 men while the Unity movement that started in the Choufe Mountains of Lebanon and the Houran Mountains of Syria had less than 10,000 men. The two sides met in battle north of Jerusalem. Ad-Darazi army was destroyed and he was captured. As a result of the victory, the Unity movement was called at that time the movement that destroyed the army of the Darazi.

After the battle, Ad-Darazi was converted to be one of the early preachers of the Unity faith (which became known as the Druze faith). At that time, the movement enlisted a large number of adherents. However, he was later considered a renegade and is usually described by the Druze as following the traits of satan, in particular, arrogance.

This view is based on the observation that as the number of his followers grew, he became obsessed with his leadership and gave himself the title “The Sword of the Faith”. In the Epistles of Wisdom, Hamza ibn-'Ali ibn-Ahmad warns Ad-Darazi, saying, “Faith does not need a sword to aid it.” However, Ad-Darazi ignored Hamza’s warnings and continued to challenge the Imam. This attitude led to disputes between Ad-Darazi and Hamza ibn-'Ali ibn-Ahmad, who disliked his behaviour. Ad-Darazi argued that he should be the leader of the Da’wa rather than Hamza ibn Ali and gave himself the title “Lord of the Guides”, because Caliph al-Hakim referred to Hamza as “Guide of the Consented”.

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Wikipedia