Ziyara (Druze)

Ziyara, in the Druze religious context, denotes a purposeful visit to a shrine or sacred site—not casual tourism but an act of devotion.[1][2] Visitors may pray for needs such as healing or success, seek forgiveness, fulfill a vow, receive a blessing associated with the place, or seek spiritual guidance when facing difficult decisions.[6]

Shrines visited in the Druze tradition are called mazar or maqam and are commonly situated on hillsides or mountaintops.[2] At the tombs of holy men or women, visitors may pray quietly, leave small gifts of food or money, and take pieces of colored cloth home as tokens of divine blessing. Some families remain longer to fulfill vows by sacrificing animals, while others picnic or spend time quietly at the shrine.[2]

Shrine buildings are generally simple structures, typically including a shrine room and spaces for sitting and worship.[6] Visitors are expected to remove their shoes outside the shrine room, enter silently and reverently without stepping on the threshold, and refrain from sleeping, smoking, consuming alcohol, making noise, or writing on the walls.[6] A customary greeting is "Ziara Makbula"—"may your pilgrimage be accepted."[1]

The Druze faith formally imposes no pilgrimage obligation. Druze have no set holy days, regular liturgy, or obligations for pilgrimage, reflecting the understanding that they should be connected with God at all times.[7] The faith also includes "purification from heresy" as a precept in place of pilgrimage and does not formally sanctify physical places.[8] Nevertheless, gatherings at significant sites developed over generations into events resembling religious holidays and often became occasions for discussing community affairs.[8]

One account attributes the beginning of the continuing pilgrimage tradition to 1880, while another dates the shrine's opening to regional pilgrimage and the formal designation of April 25 as the official pilgrimage date to 1885. The sources present these as distinct but proximate moments in the tradition's development.[9][10]

The shrine's status was contested in the 1940s. A Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs account reports that in 1942 the Muslim Wakf sought control of Jethro's Tomb, prompting protests and a prolonged legal dispute.[11] Druze leaders from Syria, Lebanon, and Mandatory Palestine petitioned Muslim and Arab leaders as well as British officials; the account says a court ruled in 1945 that the site should remain under Druze control.[11] Encyclopaedia Britannica also records that the Sunni leadership in Jerusalem threatened to take control of the tomb in 1942.[12]

The holiday's public character has also had a political dimension within Israel. A Druze resident quoted in 2004 said that before 1974 the shrine visit had become an occasion for governing figures to give speeches praising Israel, and that a protest by the Druze Initiative Committee that year made the event less overtly political.[13] A later account says neutral, conciliatory speeches subsequently became customary.[10]

The most sacred site in the Druze faith is the tomb of Nabi Shu'ayb, located at Hittin in the Galilee, west of Tiberias and above the Sea of Galilee near the Horns of Hittin.[1][5] The shrine is administered by the Druze community and is visited throughout the year, with the largest annual gathering taking place during the Nabi Shu'ayb holiday each April.[3][1]

In Druze tradition, Nabi Shu'ayb is the chief prophet, the father of the prophets, and a divine messenger who gave the community its religion.[5][14] Druze and Jewish traditions associate Shu'ayb with Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, though the identification is presented as tradition rather than independently established historical fact.[8][10] Another tradition holds that a nearby rock bears a footprint believed to belong to the prophet.[8] The Jewish Virtual Library recounts a tradition connected with Saladin: after the Battle of Hittin in 1187, an angel promised him victory if he rode west, and where his horse stopped, he would find Nabi Shu'eib's burial place; a tomb was subsequently built at that location.[8]

Construction of the older section of the existing shrine structure dates to the 1880s.[8] Sheikh Mahna Tarif of Julis convened an assembly about its construction, after which a delegation of uqqal traveled to Syria and Lebanon to collect funds; local Druze also contributed.[8] The National Library of Israel's Arabic account separately traces an earlier shrine at the site to the rule of Salah al-Din following his victory over the Crusaders in 1187 and says it was restored in the late nineteenth century.[4] Renovations and additions continued during the British Mandate period and more intensively after 1948.[8]

The Nabi Shu'ayb holiday is an annual four-day religious observance held from April 25 through April 28.[1][5] The first day begins with prayers and supplication at the shrine.[4] The National Library of Israel's Arabic account says the holiday was officially recognized in 1969 as a Druze community holiday under the leadership of Sheikh Amin Tarif, then the community's spiritual leader.[4]

The four days follow a structured pattern. The first day is reserved for prayers by religious Druze, who pray in an upper hall of the shrine.[9][14] Subsequent days include congratulations, official visits by delegations from different communities, and family visits.[4] Nonreligious visitors receive a blessing in a lower area of the shrine, where families also gather and meet.[9] Processions to the shrine and through nearby villages are also part of the observance.[9]

In the week before the holiday, community outreach takes place in schools about Nabi Shu'ayb and the shrine's history, while Scouts prepare to visit towns and villages as part of the celebrations.[4] Prayers for peace at the shrine begin the evening before the main holiday gathering, and the observance has historically included study of the community's social condition and religious principles.[13]

Participation in the pilgrimage has grown and broadened over time. Historically, Druze delegations made arduous journeys on foot and held mass prayers; the gathering also served as an occasion for consultation about community affairs.[10] The religious ceremony at the shrine has been limited to Druze, while the larger gathering has included leaders of other faiths, public officials, and Arab public figures.[10] Over time, secular Druze joined in, and annual attendance reached thousands.[10] More than 10,000 people visit the shrine each year, seeking blessing and fulfilling vows, in a gathering characterized as both religious and communal.[4]

The holiday is observed by Druze in Israel, Syria, and Lebanon.[4] The shrine manager has described the Nabi Shu'ayb holiday as the community's most important festival.[9]

The Nabi Shu'ayb shrine is one of approximately 130 Druze sacred places and shrines across the Middle East, with estimated totals of 70 in Israel, 40 in Lebanon, 16 in Syria, and one in Jordan.[6] Each site has its own character and, in many cases, an annual visit date.

Druze gather at the tomb of Nabi al-Khadr in Kafr Yasif on January 25.[8] The tomb of Sabalan above Hurfeish is the site of an annual festive pilgrimage that includes visits by people who have taken a vow, with a festival observed in the village on September 10.[8] The tomb of Abu Ibrahim in Daliyat el-Carmel attracts visitors fulfilling vows and seeking a blessing.[8] Sit Sha'wana in Ein Qiniyye, with an annual visit on May 30, is another recognized shrine.[6] An Encyclopedia.com entry on holy places also identifies Nabi Sabalan—associated in that source with Zebulun, one of Jacob's sons—as another grave revered by the Druze in the Galilee.[15]

In March 2025, dozens of Syrian Druze clerics crossed into Israel and prayed at the Nabi Shu'ayb shrine in a rare cross-border pilgrimage described by reports as the first such visit in decades.[16][14] The visit was made at the invitation of Israel's Druze community and with Israeli government approval.[17] The clerics met Sheikh Muafak Tarif, spiritual leader of Israel's Druze community, before reaching the shrine, and thousands of Israeli Druze in the Golan Heights greeted them on their arrival.[17]

For the April 2025 Nabi Shu'ayb festival, approximately 650 religious figures from Syria were allowed into Israel, enabling relatives from Syria and Israel to reunite at the shrine.[5] The visitors came from communities including Suwayda, Jaramana, and Hadar.[14] Sheikh Muafak Tarif characterized the gathering as a historic visit by religious leaders from across Syria.[5]

The visit drew differing responses within the broader Druze world. Israel's Druze leaders welcomed it, while some spiritual leaders in Syria and Lebanon counseled against participation, citing concerns about political exploitation of the event, and some publicly rejected Israel's offer of protection.[17] The gathering nonetheless enabled family reunions across the Israel-Syria divide, including meetings described as unprecedented since Israel's establishment.[14] The reunions illustrated the pilgrimage's role as a transnational communal gathering as well as a religious observance.[5][14]

Several aspects of the Nabi Shu'ayb ziyara rest on tradition or are subject to interpretive differences among sources. The identification of Nabi Shu'ayb with the biblical Jethro is shared by Druze belief and Jewish tradition but is presented as a devotional identification rather than independently established historical fact.[8][10] Similarly, the footprint associated with the shrine is reported as a religious tradition.[8]

Sources differ on the precise dates associated with the annual observance. Ministry of Education material designates April 25 as the shrine visit date, while the Jerusalem Post and Ynetnews describe the festival as running from April 25 through April 28.[1][5] The Times of Israel reports that April 24–28 became the official holiday after 1948.[18] Sources also give differing dates for the pilgrimage tradition's formal establishment, with accounts placing relevant developments in either 1880 or 1885.[9][10]

There is also a broader interpretive tension concerning the religious status of Druze shrine visitation. The Jewish Virtual Library emphasizes that the Druze faith has no pilgrimage obligation and does not formally sanctify physical places, while Encyclopedia.com and other sources describe annual shrine festivals attracting thousands and characterize the visit to Nabi Shu'ayb as a pilgrimage.[2][8] These accounts describe different aspects of the same practice: the absence of formal religious obligation on one hand and the deep communal and devotional significance of shrine visitation on the other.