Source: Los Angeles Times
Reem Kaedbey was never very religious. She’s not even sure there is a God.
But when it came to marriage, she never had any doubt she would choose within her family’s sect, a tiny offshoot of Shiite Islam known as the Druze faith.
“It’s a requirement for my parents,” said 28-year-old Kaedbey, who lives near Beirut and works for the United Nations. “I didn’t want to get into problems.”
Finding a life partner is hard enough for anybody. Members of the Druze faith face an added pressure: keeping the religion alive.
The faith is thought to have about 1.5 million members, with most living in Lebanon, where they make up 5% of the population, and Syria, where they make up 3%. But an exodus of people fleeing wars in those countries has fueled a small but growing diaspora. There are about 30,000 in the United States, with the largest concentration in Southern California.
Categories: America, Faith, Lebanon, Marriage, Middle East, Syria, The Muslim Times, USA