How to Become Druze

The Druze religion is one of the most secretive and closed religions in the world. While there are some ties between Islamic and Druze belief, they differ on conversion: while Islam encourages conversion, the Druze have not had a public convert in more than a thousand years. While it is not possible to convert to the Druze faith, it is possible to attain a Druze lifestyle.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

1. Educate yourself about Druze history, culture and belief. While the Druze guard the specifics of their religion carefully and don't allow people to convert, they are very proud of their community and culture. The more information you have about Druze history and sensibilities the closer you can get to the religion.

2. Locate a Druze community you can get access to. Most Druze live in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. However, there are expatriate Druze communities all over the world, including the U.S., Canada and Europe. Find a Druze community that you can interact with in order to learn about daily Druze lifestyle and culture.

3. Integrate into a Druze community. While you will not be accepted as a convert, most Druze communities will readily accept you as a foreigner living among them and will treat you with respect and civility. The Druze have a very strong sense of loyalty to the countries in which they reside so it is very possible to get close to Druze life without converting to the religion.

4. Learn Arabic. If you really want to take plunge to become Druze, it is essential to know Arabic. Druze culture, daily life and religion operate in Arabic so there is no substitute for knowing the language. While learning Arabic will not enable you to convert, it will let you more comfortably access the Druze lifestyle.