ME political groups

Folling LAT’s recent posts explaining some of the finer points of Hizb’allah and Hizb Al-Wasat Al-Gedid I would like to point out this interesting Slate article on the Druze:

A religious group that split from a sect of Shiite Islam a thousand years ago. The split originated with a caliph named Hakim, a religious reformer who ruled from Cairo at the turn of the 11th century. During his reign, some of his subjects began to believe he was an incarnation of God. After Hakim vanished in 1021 (his followers believe he disappeared; others say he died), a preacher named Hamza continued to disseminate his ideas. Today, the faith rejects major principles of mainstream Islam in favor of an eclectic mix of Islam, Christianity, Platonic philosophy, and Gnosticism.