Iraqs obscure religious minority is another isis target. Nonetheless they do reflect authentic yazidi traditions. Yazidis are kurdish ethnoreligious community predominantly living in northern iraq with large communities in sinjar and shekhan, where a number of their holy sites are located, turkey, iran and some of them are scattered in the european w. Kurdish latin the yazidi also yezidi, ezidi, yazdani.
The oxford encyclopedia of the modern islamic world. Yazidis, a heterodox kurdish religious minority living predominantly in northern iraq, syria, and southeast turkey, with wellestablished communities in the caucasus and a growing european diaspora. The yazidi holy books are the kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res black book. In fact, their belief system incorporates visible elements from the three religions of the book judaism, christianity, and islam and traces of lesserknown religions. The yazidi are considered heretical devil worshippers by many muslims, and their beliefs have made them the target of hatred for thousands of years. Who are the yazidi people, and what are their beliefs. The black book also includes narratives of how the yazidi people have been targeted by jews, christians, persians, and muslims, who have tried to subdue the yazidi people, to no avail. After this incident, the internet was flooded with the blogs supporting the innocent dua khalil, and providing confusing information about the yezidi religion and their practices, their history and the felonies and hostilities of muslims against this helpless. The second part focussed mostly on arts and architecture surrounding the yazidi buildings and their faith. Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the wikipedia article.
The sacred scriptures of the yazidis are two short books written in arabic. Why some muslims want to kill the yazidis by genocide. The yazidis are a kurdish minority group who follow a syncretic religion that draws on aspects of ancient mesopotamian faiths, zoroastrianism, and the abrahamic faiths. Hunted by militants from the islamic state, thousands of people from the yazidi community have fled to the slopes of iraqs mount sinjar, where they are caught between the prospect of death by dehydration and murder at the hands of the group formerly called isis. Aug 20, 2014 who are the yazidi people, and what are their beliefs. The kurds are usually identified as an iranian ethnic group descended from the medes. The yazidi book of revelation is one of two books on the yazidi religion written in the style of a holy book in the kurmanji dialect of the kurdish language, the other being the yazidi black book mishefa res. Meefa res is one of two books written in the style of a holy book of the yazidis in northern kurdish, the other being the yazidi book of revelation kiteba jilwe. Other kinship groups who have special roles are the feqirsknown for their religious knowledge and ascetic lives, and recognizable by their sacred black cloak known as the xirqeand the qewwals, who learn and perform the qewls, or sacred hymns.
Yazidi refugees also live in europe specifically in germany and the united states. The rise of islamic fundamentalism more broadly has pushed thousands of yazidis to seek asylum in europe. The religious community professing yazidism consists of between 200,000 and 300,000 people. The yazidi black book is one of two books written in the style of a holy book of the yazidis in. The yazidi religion is monotheistic and can be traced back to ancient mesopotamian religions and it also has some similarities with abrahamic religions. Anecdotal evidence of the existence of yazidi groups in northwestern persia has not yet been proven. Because their religion venerates a peacock angel whose mythology is similar to that of iblis, the islamic satan, outside observers have long accused the yazidis of being devil worshipers. The holy book is clear about what to do when you capture a city. Calling genocide by its rightful name the washington times. A large number of iraqs tiny yazidi minority remains isolated on a remote mountain top, fearing the selfstyled islamic state and. The yazidis, isolated in a remote iraq region, are misunderstood and persecuted by their neighbours. This has been compiled into what is known as the black book. The name comes from the ancient city of yazd in iran, which still has an operating fire temple. A specialist in medieval islamic and ottoman art and architecture, and an expert on yezidi religion and.
Each yazidi is obliged to make a pilgrimage to lalesh at least once during his or her life. The holy scriptures of the yazidi religion consist of two short books in arabic. When isis rounded up yazidi women and girls in iraq to use as slaves, the captives drew on their collective memory of past oppressions. Kitab aljilwah book of revelation supposed to have been written by sheikh adi himself, and mishaf rash black. More recently the yezidi religious authorities have given permission for their people living abroad to write down and even to translate some of the stories and poetry of their people. The secular leader is a hereditary emir or prince, whereas a chief sheikh heads the religious hierarchy. Some yazidis also live in armenia, turkey, iran, georgia, and syria. Last august, the islamic state of iraq and syria isis trapped tens of thousands. In the book, the yazidis are portrayed as ancient guardians of the megalithic site, gobekli tepe, in kurdish turkey. Yazidi society is organized into three castelike social groups determined by birththe religious sheikhs and pirs and the lay murids.
Hugging a column, walking in circles and kissing a black snake. Oct 22, 2014 the most important ritual is the annual sevenday pilgrimage to the tomb of sheikh adi ibn musafir sex adi in lalis, north of mosul,iraq. Practice, in terms of careful adherence to rules governing all aspects of life, is more important than the role of scriptural text, dogma and professions of personal belief. Who are the yazidis and what do they believe about god, satan. The black book of the yezidis was first published in english over 120 years ago. Aug 08, 2014 yazidi book of revelation kiteba cilwe yazidi black book mishefa res languages. Religious narratives from the yezidi tradition iranica, 9.
The yezidis and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. Contrary to inaccurate reports, the yazidis are a kurdish religious group and not an ethnic group following the fall of saddam hussein in 2003, the kurds asked for the yazidis to be entirely recognise as belonging to their people. Aug 15, 2014 this confusion comes from religious tradition that claims malek taus fell from grace, but that he eventually regained good standing with yasdan. After this incident, the internet was flooded with the blogs supporting the innocent dua khalil, and providing confusing information about the yezidi religion and their practices, their history and the felonies and hostilities of muslims against this helpless community. King ahab and amran were of us, so that they used to call the god of ahab beelzebub, whom they call amongst us pirbub. Yazidis are sometimes classed with zoroastrians, as they have retained from ancient times or reborrowed some practices and concepts from the zoroastrians. Slavery in islam to have and to hold middle east and. Hunted by militants from the islamic state, thousands of people from the yazidi community have fled to the slopes of iraqs mount sinjar, where. Yazidism is the religion of a kurdish peoplegroup that lives primarily in iraq. The yazidi holy books were said to be the kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res black book.
My story of captivity, and my fight against the islamic state murad, nadia, clooney, amal on. The yezidi or yazidi religious minority has been lifted from obscurity for the very worst reason. We had a king in babel whose name was bukhtinossor nebuchadnezzer, and. Encyclopaedia iranica religious belief and practice. Religions of the world part 1 the yazidi branch of yazdnism. Yazidis are kurdish ethno religious community predominantly living in northern iraq with large communities in sinjar and shekhan, where a number of their holy sites are located, turkey, iran and some of them are scattered in the european w. Yazidi, also spelled yezidi, azidi, zedi, izadi, ezidi, or yazdani, member of a kurdish religious minority found primarily in northern iraq, southeastern turkey, northern syria, the caucasus region, and parts of iran. Given the yazidi belief in reincarnation, even moderate muslims have a difficult time accepting the faith of their compatriots. My story of captivity, and my fight against the islamic state. History, facts and traditions of iraqs persecuted minority by yasmine hafiz hunted by militants from the islamic state, thousands of people from the yazidi community have fled to the slopes of iraqs mount sinjar, where they are caught between the prospect of death by dehydration and murder at the hands of the group. Yezidism is passed on in an oral tradition by men of religion or qewwals. In south india specifically tamil and malayalee peoples are worshippers of lord murugan in yazidi words melek taus.
The yazidi religion is believed to be around 6,000 years old in fact. The yazidi religious centre and object of the annual pilgrimage is the tomb of sheikh. Yet throughout their long history they have faced 72 genocides and soon they may unfortunately be facing genocide number 73 at the hands of the group formerly known as isis which now calls itself the islamic state. After that he created a ship in which he rode thirty thousand years. The current religious leader of the yazidis, the baba sheikh, is khurto hajji ismail. The yazidis syncretic religion has a rich oral tradition mixing islamic mysticism with the dualism of.
Yezidi theology, oral tradition, rituals, and rites of passage. Who are the yazidis and what do they believe about god. The majority of yazidis remaining in the middle east today live in iraq, primarily in the nineveh and dohuk governorates. It is now widely suspected that both volumes were compiled by nonyazidis. Jews and christians are regarded as people of the book and thus could live among muslims. Yazidi, iraqs persecuted minority, religious beliefs. This narrative is similar to the jewish texts and christian old testament narratives of attempts by other tribes and religions to exterminate gods chosen people. In the months since its rise, the sunniidentified islamic state has gone after many religious and ethnic minorities in iraq and. Yezidi religious belief and practice peacock angel. The yazidi new year falls in spring, on the first wednesday of april somewhat later than the equinox. Two short books, kitab aljilwah book of revelation and maafrash black book, form the sacred scriptures of the yazidis. His tomb in the iraqi city of lalish is a site of yazidi pilgrimage, mirroring the sufi practices of millions of muslims elsewhere. Yazidis also have some distinct social norms around how communities are. The yazidi book of revelation kiteba cilwe in kurdish.
Yezidi religion multidisciplinary view of the religious. Oct 21, 2014 the yazidi holy books are claimed to be the kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res black book. Yazidis, a heterodox kurdish religious minority living predominantly in northern iraq, syria and southeast turkey, with wellestablished communities in the caucasus and a growing european diaspora. Who are the yazidis, the persecuted religious minority in. After that, the book seems similar to islamic accounts of the ancient world but diverges into a discussion of the ancient yazidi kings. Jan 29, 2016 contrary to inaccurate reports, the yazidis are a kurdish religious group and not an ethnic group following the fall of saddam hussein in 2003, the kurds asked for the yazidis to be entirely recognise as belonging to their people. One of the worlds most endangered religious minorities, the yazidis are a. While the yazidis see that as a sign of goodness, many muslims view the figure as a fallen angel and regard the yazidis as devilworshippers. Yazidi and christian women and girls are sold sidebyside as war booty to the isis sexslave trade. In the months since its rise, the sunniidentified islamic state has gone after many religious and ethnic minorities in iraq and syria, including christians, shiite muslims, shiite turkmen, shiite shabaks, and of course the yazidi. The video of her honor killing was posted on the internet in may 2007. Throughout the book, the yazidis learn religious practices like the five daily prayers as well as how to avoid sins against the earth. Radical islamic militants hold hundreds of yazidi women in.
Yazidis pray five times a day, facing the holy city of lalesh at the noon prayer. The first half of the book contains some of their creation mythology and other stories. Before the roles of the sexes were determined, adam and eve. According to some estimates, 70,000 people, or about 15% of the yazidi population in iraq. The yazidis syncretic religion has a rich oral tradition mixing islamic mysticism with the dualism of zoroastrianism, the ancient persian religion, elements of early, preislamic religions, including mithraism, a mystery religion originating in the eastern mediterranean, and some christian practices. However, scholars generally agree that the manuscripts of both books published in 1911 and 19 were forgeries written by nonyazidis in response to western travelers and scholars interest in the yazidi religion.
Yazidis project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. Others tie the name yazidi to an old avestan word yazata for angel. The yazidi religion includes elements of ancient iranian religions as well as elements of judaism, nestorian christianity, and islam. Satanism in islam and among the heretic yezidis in iran, gno. However, the yazidis in bashiqa and bahzani speak arabic as their mother language. Debate and misunderstanding over this theology has led to the groups persecution at the hands of muslims and christians alike, with isis believing that yazidis are satan worshipers who must convert or. He introduced himself as an entrepreneur, running a little oriental corner eatery in hannover. History, facts, and traditions hunted by militants from the islamic state, thousands of people from the yazidi community have fled to the slopes of iraqs mount sinjar, where they are caught between the prospect of death by dehydration and murder at the hands of the group formerly.
In addition, members of the three yazidi caste s, the murid s, sheikhs and pirs, marry only within their group. Jan 01, 2010 the book was well written, i enjoyed reading about dr. Yazidi, member of a kurdish religious minority found primarily in northern iraq. They have been brought to the attention of the international world because of the cruelty and slaughter that came upon them in the form of the islamic state. Theres a lot of mystery surrounding the yazidi, and a lot of contradictory information. Baghdad ap hundreds of women from the yazidi religious minority have been taken captive by sunni militants with vicious plans, an iraqi official said friday, further underscoring the dire plight of iraqs minorities at the hands of the islamic state group.
The history of a community, culture and religion library of modern religion acikyildiz, birgul on. When isis rounded up yazidi women and girls in iraq to use as slaves, the captives drew on their collective memory of past oppressions and a powerful will to survive. Yezidis believe the black book originated when the lord descended black mountain. The origin of the yazidi religion is now usually seen by scholars as a complex process of syncretism, whereby the beliefsystem and practices of a local faith had a profound influence on the religiosity of adherents of the. Who are the yazidi, and why is isis targeting them. The actual core texts of yazidi religion are hymns known as qawls. The current crisis in iraq has brought the plight of minority groups into the spotlight, with the mention of one religious cohort that many americans had likely never heard of before.
The tale of the yazidis origin found in the black book gives them a distinctive ancestry and expresses their feeling of difference from other races. There are probably some 200,000300,000 yazidis worldwide. The islamic state of iraq and syria is notoriously hostile to shiite muslims, kurds, christians and other groups. The muchderided yazidi caste system is actually about religious duties. Adawiyya sufi order living in the kurdish mountains, and caused it to deviate from islamic norms relatively soon after. Persians, and muslims, who have tried to subdue the yazidi people, to no avail. Since then it has garnered much critical attention by ethnologists and theologians, receiving condemnation in some quarters as a fake, and in others a nod of approval as being possibly the only legitimate text along with the book of the revelation that gives some insight into these remarkable people and their. Yazidi cultural practices are observed in kurmanji, which is also used by almost all the orally transmitted religious traditions of the yazidis.
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