Yazidi black book religious practices of islam

Yazidis on the mountain of regions with significant populations iraq 650,000, germany armenia 35,272, georgia denmark 500, yazidi book of revelation yazidi black book the yazidis also yazidi, ezidi, yazdani community whose syncretic but ancient religion yazidism a kind of zoroastrianism and ancient mesop. Modern yezidis are mainly of kurdish origin whose ancestors practiced a proto indoiranian religion. 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. One of the worlds most endangered religious minorities, the yazidis are a. The majority o f yazidis remaining in the middle east today live in iraq, primarily in the nineveh and dohuk governorates. Yazidi, iraqs persecuted minority, religious beliefs. Some have estimated that they have existed since 2000 bce, about the time when the bible implies that abraham lived. Among the many victims of the advance of the islamic state is in the middle east are a group of up to 50,000 yazidis, who. I exercise dominion over all creatures and over the affairs of all who are under the protection of my image.

The yazidis, who were recently the target of massacre, rape and sex slavery by isis, are now facing forcible conversion to islam under the threat of. The yazidi black book is one of two books written in the style of a holy book of the yazidis in. There are probably some 200,000300,000 yazidis worldwide. Yezidism did not have liturgical or historical writing before 12th century, but the contemporary religious practices and hymns orally transmitted over generations hint at various layers of development. The emir, who lives in baadra 65 km north of mosul, is the yazidis representative to the iraqi public authorities. Who are the yazidi, and why is isis targeting them. Everything you need to know about the yazidis, the iraqi. The religious minority is once again threatened by genocide in iraq. Theres a lot of mystery surrounding the yazidi, and a lot of contradictory information. Who are the yazidis, the ancient, persecuted religious. 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. This is one of the only public domain sources of information on the religious beliefs of the yezidi, a small group originally from the northern region of iraq.

The book of revelation and black book remain, however, the most prominent texts associated with the socalled devil worshipers of mesopotamia. Who are the yazidis, the persecuted religious minority in. Last august, the islamic state of iraq and syria isis trapped tens of thousands. Religious narratives from the yezidi tradition iranica, 9.

I am ever present to help all who trust in me and call upon me in time of need. They differ from literary texts by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual practices, commandments or laws, ethical conduct, spiritual aspirations, and for creating or fostering a religious community. Yazidism is the religion of a kurdish peoplegroup that lives primarily in iraq. In addition, members of the three yazidi caste s, the murid s, sheikhs and pirs, marry only within their group.

Yazidis, the persecuted religious minority in west asia. The sacred scriptures of the yazidis are two short books written in arabic. It should be kept in mind that, when this book was written, the gnostics were virtually unknown, save from opposing views in early christian writings. 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.

These are probably the three most unclear religions in the world and what is strangely ironic enough is their massive popularity. Satanism in islam and among the heretic yezidis in iran, gno. The yazidi new year falls in spring, on the first wednesday of april somewhat later than the equinox. 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. The yezidis and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. The yazidi religion includes elements of ancient iranian religions as well as elements of judaism, nestorian christianity, and islam. A specialist in medieval islamic and ottoman art and architecture, and an expert on yezidi religion and culture, birgul acikyildiz is professor of the history of art at mardin artuklu university. Religious text wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. 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 were said to be the kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res black book. Who are the yazidis and what do they believe about god, satan. 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 name comes from the ancient city of yazd in iran, which still has an operating fire temple. The secular leader is a hereditary emir or prince, whereas a chief sheikh heads the religious hierarchy. Yazidi, member of a kurdish religious minority found primarily in northern iraq. The black book of the yezidis was first published in english over 120 years ago. Yazidis, the persecuted religious minority in west asia for their beliefs, they have been the target of hatred for centuries. Some yazidis also live in armenia, turkey, iran, georgia, and syria. He introduced himself as an entrepreneur, running a little oriental corner eatery in hannover. Throughout the book, the yazidis learn religious practices like the five daily prayers as well as how to avoid sins against the earth. Practice, in terms of careful adherence to rules governing all aspects of life, is more important than the role of. Meefa res is one of two book s written in the style of a holy boo k of the yazidi s in northern kurdish, the other being the yazidi book of revelatio n kiteba jilwe. Yazidi refugees also live in europe specifically in germany and the united states. The origin of the yazidi religion is now usually seen by scholars as a complex process of syncretism, whereby the belief system and practices of a local faith had a profound influence on the religiosity of adherents of the adawiyya sufi order living in the yezidi mountains, and caused it to deviate from islamic norms relatively soon after the death of its founder, shaykh adi ibn musafir.

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. Everything you need to know about the yazidis, the iraqi ethnic group targeted by isis. Therefore, the history of the yazidi is an oral history kizilhan, 2014. The current religious leader of the yazidis, the baba sheikh, is khurto hajji ismail.

There are very few written documents by the yazidi about the yazidi and this has only changed in the last. The yazidi religio n is monotheistic and can be traced. They shared the same fate as the kurds when the areas were islamized in the 7th century. Who are the yazidis and what do they believe about god. Hugging a column, walking in circles and kissing a black snake. 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. According to some estimates, 70,000 people, or about 15% of the yazidi population in iraq. Kitab aljilwah book of revelation supposed to have been written by sheikh adi himself, and mishaf rash black. The history of a community, culture and religion library of. 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. The holy book is clear about what to do when you capture a city.

The yazidi religion is not wellknown and has some problems when it comes to religious texts. 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 mashaf res, or black book, one of yazidis two main holy books, teaches that the most important of the holy angels, malak taus, refused to bow down to adam making him an infidel in the. The book covers the history, beliefs, practices, and material culture of the yezidis.

The commission is mandated to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law since march 2011 in syria as well as, where possible, identify those responsible with a view to ensuring that perpetrators are held. Yezidi religious belief and practice peacock angel. The yazidis also yezidi, ezidi, yazdani are a kurdish ethnoreligious community whose syncretic but ancient religion yazidism, a kind of yazdanism, is linked to zoroastrianism and ancient mesopotamian religions. Although some yazidi religious practices found in the black book are similar to islam. Devil worship the sacred books and traditions of the yezidiz by isya joseph 1919 contents start reading. Their religion was passed on orally by the priests. Religious texts are texts related to a religious tradition. The yazidis syncretic religion has a rich oral tradition mixing islamic mysticism with the dualism of. 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. The yazidi holy books are claimed to be the kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res. This is why many yazidi families cut short their childrens education, fearing they are being converted to islam. Slavery in islam to have and to hold middle east and. Another source suggests that their religion dates back to the time of the umayyad caliphate, 661 to 750 ce.

Yazidism has until recently been a religion of orthodox practice and right living, rather than of dogma. Before the roles of the sexes were determined, adam and eve. 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. 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. Anecdotal evidence of the existence of yazidi groups in northwestern persia has not yet been proven. 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.

Yazidis project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. 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. Religions of the world part 1 the yazidi branch of yazdnism. Hunted by militants from the islamic state, thousands of people from the yazidi community have fled to the slopes of iraqs mount sinjar, where. Islamic and ottoman art and architecture, and an expert on yezidi religion and. The two alleged yazidi holy books translated below are in fact forgeries, produced at an uncertain date by outsiders, incorporating genuine yazidi material but mixed in with outside elements. Islam, the eretreated to the hills and had only limited contact to the other groups. Pir mamo othman, a consultant at the yazidi regional council, told almonitor, in the past, there were no governmental schools but just religious ones. The black book acts as a codification of the religion that describes yazidi religious beliefs and traditions. Jan 29, 2016 yazidi society has a hierarchical organisation, rather like islam after the initial, turbulent centuries of expansion, and has a secular leader called the emir amir, and a religious leader called sheik shaykh. The yazidi live predominantly in present day northern iraq. The yazidi holy books are the kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res black book. What happens to a faith when its forged in persecution. Yazidi cultural practices are observed in kurmanji, which is also used by almost all the orally transmitted religious traditions of the yazidis.

However, the yazidis in bashiqa and bahzani speak arabic as their mother language. Others tie the name yazidi to an old avestan word yazata for angel. The holy scriptures of the yazidi religion consist of two short books in arabic. According to the content of the book, which is believed to have been written by sheikh adi, creation occurred when god creates a white pearl from his. Each yazidi is obliged to make a pilgrimage to lalesh at least once during his or her life.

Jul 18, 2017 a brief summary of this book is as follows. Considered heretical devil worshippers by many muslimsincluding the advancing militants overrunning iraqthe yazidis have faced the possibility of genocide many times over. The abrahamic religions include judaism, christianity, and islam. His tomb in the iraqi city of lalish is a site of yazidi pilgrimage, mirroring the sufi practices of millions of muslims elsewhere. Yazidis are sometimes classed with zoroastrians, as they have retained from ancient times or reborrowed some practices and concepts from the zoroastrians. Encyclopaedia iranica religious belief and practice. While some yazidi practices resemble those of islamrefraining from eating pork, for examplemany yazidi practices appear to be unique in the region. It is now widely suspected that both volumes were compiled by. It is now generally accepted that the manuscripts of the yazidi sacred book s. The yezidi have a strong ethical code and customs like those of many other agricultural tribal people, as is apparent from the ethnological sketch which rounds out this book. It has been suggested that these come from a time when the divide between yazidism and islam was not yet absolute. Like the ahle haqq, the yazidis use the metaphor of a change of garment to describe the process, which they call kiras guhorin in kurdish changing the garment.

The actual core texts of yazidi religion are hymns known as qawls. Islamic militants have reportedly executed 300 families from the minority yazidi group. My story of captivity, and my fight against the islamic state. Religious practices prayers yazidis have five daily prayers. Although they speak kurdish, they are a distinct population from the kurds. Also called yezidi, daasin, or ezidi, the yazidi are a kurdishspeaking ethnoreligious community based in northern iraq who practice a syncretic religion influenced by preislamic assyrian traditions, sufi and shiite islam, nestorian christianity, and zoroastrianism. Although scattered and probably numbering only between 200,000 and 1,000,000, the yazidis have a wellorganized society, with a chief sheikh as the supreme religious head and an emir, or prince, as the secular head. Before taking this post she was research fellow in the faculty of oriental studies, university of oxford.

In the months since its rise, the sunniidentified islamic state has gone after many religious and ethnic minorities in iraq and. The cosmogonic myth is described in the mishefa resh, the black book, which contains the laws and religious precepts of the yazidis and is one of their holy books ac. Yazidi accounts of creation differ from that of judaism, christianity and islam, and are closer to those of zoroastrianism. The yazidi religious centre and object of the annual pilgrimage is the tomb of sheikh. Yazidi society is organized into three castelike social groups determined by birththe religious sheikhs and pirs and the lay murids. The history of a community, culture and religion library of modern religion. There is no place in the universe that knows not my presence. Kurdish latin the yazidi also yezidi, ezidi, yazdani. History, facts, and traditions of iraqs persecuted minority by yasmine hafiz. 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. Yezidi religion multidisciplinary view of the religious. Two short books, kitab aljilwah book of revelation and maafrash black book, form the sacred scriptures of the yazidis. Sacred hymns and religious narratives of the yezidis,in the series iranica, ed.

A sacred microcosm of the world, as it were, it contains not only many shrines dedicated to the koasasa, but a number of other landmarks corresponding to other sites or symbols of significance in other faiths, including pirra selat serat bridge. The rise of islamic fundamentalism more broadly has pushed thousands of yazidis to seek asylum in europe. In addition, members of the three yazidi castes, the murids, sheikhs and pirs, marry only within their group. My story of captivity, and my fight against the islamic state murad, nadia, clooney, amal on. Yazidis who suffered under isis face forced conversion to.

Aug 15, 2014 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 yazidis fled to a remote area in northern iraq after they became targets of the hypermilitant group. It is now widely suspected that both volumes were compiled by nonyazidis. A belief in the reincarnation of lesser yazidi souls also exists. Yezidism is passed on in an oral tradition by men of religion or qewwals. The yazidis, isolated in a remote iraq region, are misunderstood and persecuted by their neighbours. Yazidi are a religious group, now a tiny minority in sharia nations where they and zoroastrians, along with christians and jews were once the majority populations. In the book, the yazidis are portrayed as ancient guardians of the megalithic site, gobekli tepe, in kurdish turkey. The yazidi are kurdish speakers who have lived for centuries as farmers and cattle breeders, scattered about in turkey, syria, iraq and the former soviet union. Yazidis pray five times a day, facing the holy city of lalesh at the noon prayer.