HAMZAH IBN 'ALI

born 985 died after 1021 in full Hamzah Ibn 'ali Ibn Ahmad, also called Az-zuzani one of the founders of the Druze religion. Almost nothing is known of his life before he entered Egypt in 1017. He became a spokesman for the religious convictions of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim (the Fatimids were the ruling dynasty in Egypt), who was already accorded the position of imam, a divinely appointed and authoritative spokesman for Islam. Al-Hakim then claimed to be the embodiment of the Godheada state beyond name and beyond good and evil. Hamzah in turn assumed the position of imam. Considerable resistance to these doctrines appeared when they were first preached in 1017, and Hamzah went into hiding until 1019, when al-Hakim was able to move vigorously to support the new religious movement. Near Cairo, Hamzah began to build a strong missionary organization. Cosmic ranks were given to members of its hierarchy, and a class of missionaries was organized to spread the teachings. Hamzah claimed to be representing not just another sect but rather an independent religion, one that superseded traditional Islam. Al-Hakim disappeared in mysterious circumstances in 1021, and, much persecuted, the Druze cult all but ceased to exist in Egypt. Hamzah from hiding claimed that al-Hakim had only withdrawn to test the faith of his followers. Hamzah's teachings later provided the ideological foundation for many peasant revolts in Syria, which is the stronghold of the Druzes.