entury, religious schisms within the Islam assumed greater political importance. The Fatimids, who seized control of Egypt in 969 were members of the Ismaili sect, a subdivision of the Shia who had split with the Sunnis after the death of the Prophet in 632 A.D. and the rejection by the dominant Quaraysh tribe of the claim of the Prophet's first cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib (Ali), to be the rightful imam or community leader. After Ali was assassinated in 661, the Shia and other Alid parties in Mesopotamia went underground in opposition to the Sunni Caliphates, the Ummayyads (660-749) and the Abbasids. The Ismailis claimed the right of succession through the Prophet's daughter and Ali's wife, Fatima, and a later imam named Ismail.
According to Hourani, Hamza believed that "the One Himself [God] was present to human beings and had been finally embodied in al-Hakim" (185). After al-Hakim's death in 1021, Hamza's followers were persecuted by the dominant Ismailis in Cairo. Their missionaries, one of whom, al-Darazi, was of Turkish origin, and rebellious remnants sought refuge in Lebanese and Syrian mountainous areas, where the teachings of Hamza took hold. According to Betts, the name Druze appears to be either a derivation of al-Darazi or the Arab word 'Durs,' meaning "clever, industrious" (25-27).
Hamza's teachings stressed absolute monotheism, tawhid, or oneness with God. Many of its roots came from Islam, but various Islamic beliefs and practices were rejected. The Ismailis held that
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