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Khalwat al-Bayada

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Khalwat al-Bayada, in the early 1850s, by van de Velde

The Khalwat al-Bayada' ('White Khalwat'; also romanized Khalwet el Biyad, Khalwat al-Biyyada) is the central sanctuary, and theological school of the Druze, located in Lebanon and founded in the 19th century by El Sheikh Hamad Kais. Located near Hasbaya, the khalwat is the location where Ad-Darazi is supposed to have settled and taught from during the first Druze call.

It features a large, circular, stone bench next to an ancient oak tree known as Areopagus of the Elders that is secluded amongst nature and trees. The Kalwaat provides around forty hermitages for Al-ʻuqqāl (the initiated) at various times of the year. In 1838, copies of the Epistles of Wisdom were taken from the site by invading Egyptians. Visitors are politely requested to seek permission from the resident sheikh before entering the site and female visitors are requested to cover their heads as a courtesy.

See also

References

  1. Khalwat is the name of the prayer-houses of the Druze.
  2. Mordechai Nisan (2002). Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-Expression. McFarland. pp. 98–. ISBN 978-0-7864-1375-1. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  3. Nissîm Dānā (2003). The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status. Sussex Academic Press. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-1-903900-36-9. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  4. ^ Laurence Oliphant (28 May 2010). The Land of Gilead - With Excursions in the Lebanon. Read Books Design. ISBN 978-1-4460-0407-4. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  5. Karl Baedeker (Firm); Albert Socin; Immanuel Benzinger; John Punnett Peters (1912). Palestine and Syria, with routes through Mesopotamia and Babylonia and the island of Cyprus: handbook for travellers. K. Baedeker. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  6. Robert Boulanger (1966). The Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran. Hachette. Retrieved 11 September 2012.

External links

33°23′11.33″N 35°40′45.47″E / 33.3864806°N 35.6792972°E / 33.3864806; 35.6792972

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