This view is based on the observation that as the number of his followers grew, he became obsessed with his leadership and gave himself the title “The Sword of the Faith” (Sayf ad-Dīn).
In the Epistles of Wisdom, Hamza ibn Ali warns al-Darazi, saying, “Faith does not need a sword to aid it.” ad-Dīn la yahtāj ilā sayf lī yansurāh.
By 1018, al-Darazi had gathered around him partisans – "Darazites" – who believed that universal reason became incarnated in Adam at the beginning of the world, was then passed from him to the prophets, then into Ali and hence into his descendants, the Fatimid Caliphs.
[5] It is believed that al-Darazi allowed wine, forbidden marriages and taught metempsychosis[7] although it has been argued that his actions might have been exaggerated by contemporary and later historians and polemicists.
[5] Even though the Druze do not consider al-Darazi the founder of their faith (rather, they refer to him as their "first heretic"[8]), rival groups probably attached the name of the controversial preacher to the new sect and it has stuck with them ever since.