The Druze are a religious sect. Here's a look at their beliefs and history

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The Druze are a religious sect. Here's a look at their beliefs and history

2025-07-19 04:52 Last Updated At：05:01

The Druze religious sect, enmeshed in an outbreak of tit-for-tat violence in Syria, began roughly 1,000 years ago as an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam.

Most Druze religious practices are shrouded in secrecy, with outsiders not allowed to convert and intermarriage strongly discouraged.

More than half the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

Here's a look at the Druze sect:

A core social doctrine for Druze is defending their brothers, meaning defending one another, said Makram Rabah, assistant professor of history at the American University of Beirut.

“If a Druze person anywhere in the world needed the help of another Druze person, he would automatically get it,” said Rabah. “You’re part of a bigger community.”

He stressed how social and cultural rituals keep the community together. “They’re a big tribe,” he said.

Intermarriage is not encouraged. Rabah said mainstream Druze would shun people who marry outside the sect. “You are under the risk of being isolated socially and community wise,” he said.

Syria’s Druze have a long history of cutting their own path to survive among the country’s powerhouses. They were heavily involved in revolts against Ottoman and French colonial rule to establish the modern Syrian state.

The Druze largely celebrated the downfall in December of Syrian autocrat Bashar Assad but were divided over interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s rule.

The latest violence has left the community more skeptical of Syria’s new leadership and doubtful of peaceful coexistence.

In Israel, members of the Druze community had called for intervention to protect the Druze in Syria. But elsewhere in the region, Druze leaders have rejected Israeli intervention.

Multiple Druze armed militias have existed for years, originally set up to protect their communities against Islamic State group fighters and drug smugglers coming in from the eastern desert.

Assad reluctantly gave Druze a degree of autonomy, as they wanted to avoid being involved on the front lines. The Druze were exempted from conscription into the Syrian army and instead set up local armed factions made of workers and farmers to patrol their areas.

Since Assad’s ouster, the Druze have been reluctant to lay down their arms. The result is a cycle of mistrust, where government supporters paint Druze factions as potential separatists or tools of Israel, while government hostility only deepens Druze worries.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Panthers win the NFC South. Broncos clinch AFC's No. 1 seed. Jaguars secure the AFC South

The Carolina Panthers are NFC South champions for the first time in 10 years. The Denver Broncos are the AFC's No. 1 seed. And all but one playoff matchup is locked in.

The Panthers (8-9) clinched the division title when the Falcons beat the Saints 19-17 on Sunday to eliminate the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Broncos (14-3) secured a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 19-3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Seattle earned the NFC's No. 1 seed on Saturday night, defeating San Francisco 13-3.

The Jaguars won the AFC South with a 41-7 rout of Tennessee. Rookie coach Liam Coen and Trevor Lawrence led the Jaguars to a major turnaround after going 4-13 in 2024.

The AFC North is still up for grabs with a winner-take-all game Sunday night between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Wild-card weekend will feature these matchups:

In the AFC, it'll be the Chargers (11-6) at the New England Patriots (14-3); the Buffalo Bills (12-5) at the Jacksonville Jaguars (13-4); and the Houston Texans (12-5) at the AFC North winner.

In the NFC, it'll be the Green Bay Packers (9-6-1) at the Chicago Bears (11-6); the San Francisco 49ers (12-5) at the Philadelphia Eagles (11-6); and the Los Angeles Rams (12-5) at the Panthers.

Led by second-year coach Dave Canales and third-year quarterback Bryce Young, the Panthers are making their first playoff appearance under owner David Tepper and first since 2017, when they lost a wild-card game two years after they went 15-1 and lost the Super Bowl.

“I’m so grateful to have one more opportunity to get back to work where we can get on the grass, go through the preparation and have our meetings,” Canales said Sunday. “Once we are in cleats and on that grass it’s like the next thing becomes clear, the focus of what we are doing. ... It’s like here we go, we get one opportunity and let’s make this statement true: 1-0 with a chance to win a championship. How long can we keep that statement true?”

The Buccaneers (8-9) beat Carolina on Saturday to stay alive for an extra day but lost a three-team tiebreaker with the Falcons also finishing 8-9. Tampa Bay started 6-2 before losing seven of nine, failing to win its fifth straight division title.

While Sam Darnold and the Seahawks (14-3) earned a first-round bye, Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and the injury-depleted 49ers missed an opportunity to play at home the rest of the way. Levi's Stadium, which is San Francisco's home field, hosts the Super Bowl on Feb. 8.

New England won its first division title since Tom Brady led the franchise to 11 straight from 2009-19.

Buffalo’s run of five consecutive division crowns ended, and the Bills will go on the road in the playoffs.

The Steelers beat the Ravens 27-22 at Baltimore on Dec. 7. They have to beat them again or tie them on Sunday night without wide receiver DK Metcalf to get into the playoffs.

Derrick Henry and backup quarterback Tyler Huntley led the Ravens to a win at Green Bay last Saturday night that kept Baltimore in the race and made Pittsburgh’s loss to Cleveland the next day matter. Lamar Jackson returned from a back injury to start for the Ravens, who were 3 1/2-point favorites on the road, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

Jacksonville won the division for the first time since 2022, when first-year coach Doug Pederson guided them to a 9-8 record and a wild-card playoff victory over the Chargers, overcoming a 27-0 deficit.

The Texans secured the No. 5 seed with a 38-30 victory over Indianapolis. Houston is in the playoffs for the third straight season under coach DeMeco Ryans and QB C.J. Stroud.

The Broncos ended Kansas City’s nine-year run. Denver hasn't been the No. 1 seed since Peyton Manning and a stifling defense beat Carolina in the Super Bowl 10 years ago.

The Chargers are in the playoffs for the second straight season under Jim Harbaugh.

The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles became the first team to win this division in consecutive seasons in two decades. They missed a chance to be the No. 2 seed when they rested starters and lost 24-17 to Washington.

The Bears clinched their first division championship since 2018. They lost 19-16 to Detroit but secured the No. 2 seed because the Eagles lost.

The Packers were locked into the No. 7 seed after Week 17.

The Panthers backed into a division title but are ahead of schedule in their rebuilding process.

The Seahawks earned the No. 1 seed for the fourth time in team history. They reached the Super Bowl the first three, winning once.

The Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals 37-20 to secure the No. 5 seed and a rematch at Carolina. The Panthers beat them 31-28 on Nov. 30.

After falling to secure a bye, the 49ers dropped to the No. 6 seed and will face Philadelphia in a rematch of the NFC championship game following the 2022 season.

AP Sports Writer Steve Reed contributed to this report.

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