Sufi influence and imagery can be seen in the religious vocabulary, especially in the terminology of the yazidis esoteric literature, but much of the theology is nonislamic. In the months since its rise, the sunniidentified islamic state has gone after many religious and ethnic minorities in iraq and. The book covers the history, beliefs, practices, and material culture of the yezidis. Researchers believe that the yazidi creed has elements from zoroastrianism, manicheism, judaism, christianity, and islam. With her new book, the last girl, nadia murad has assumed the stature of an elie wiesel for her people. Yezidism is passed on in an oral tradition by men of religion or qewwals. Most of the rest of the black book deals with some of the traditions we have covered elsewhere, such as marriage, baptism, and taboos. The basis of the yazidis holy scriptures are two books the book of revelation not to be confused by the christian text with the same name and the black book. Yezidi theology recognizes a fundamental distinction between two principles. Yazidiedit yazidi black book yazidi book of revelation the true core texts of the yazidi religion that exist today are the hymns, known as qawls. The second book was egyptian belief and modern thought 1878, which attempted to seek out the religious practices of ancient egypt and relate them to modern religious and philosophical beliefs, especially as they could be seen as prefiguring christianity. The yazidi holy books are claimed to be the kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res black book. This article was most recently revised and updated by noah tesch, associate. The majority of yazidis live in the northwest of iraq, in areas surrounding shingal7 mountain and shekhan district.
The yazidi black book is one of two books written in the style of a holy book of the yazidis in. Aug 09, 2014 they took with them the early religious practices, connected with fire, offerings and ablution, some of which the yazidis still follow. 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. Yezidi religious belief and practice peacock angel. After that he created a ship in which he rode thirty thousand years. Yazidi, member of a kurdish religious minority found primarily in northern iraq. Religion with near 800,000 members world wide other estimates set this as low as 100,000, but the higher figures are more likely. Religious text wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. Review of expedition unknown s04e06 hunt for the metal library. Yazidis believe in one god who is represented by seven angels. Religious texts are texts related to a religious tradition. The abrahamic religions include judaism, christianity, and islam. It blends elements of ancient mesopotamian religions, zoroastrianism, islam, christianity and judaism and is a religion specifically tied to the yazidis, who are an ethnoreligious group with roo.
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 yazidis follow a unique religion other than islam, and live in a predominately muslim area. Kitba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res black book. It is also commonly regarded as consisting of the way people deal with ultimate concerns about their lives and their fate after death. Recently, this idea was invoked by isis, who began targeting the secretive community as part of a genocide campaign that has included mass murder and. The actual core texts of yazidi religion are hymns known as qawls. Some yezidi mythology has been translated into english and other languages. The yazidi mausoleum mir ali beg in baadre mesopotamia. These are probably the three most unclear religions in the world and what is strangely ironic enough is their massive popularity. The yazidis revere a principal archangel called melek taus a.
It is now widely suspected that both volumes were compiled by nonyazidis in the 19th century and then were passed off as ancient. May 02, 2015 isis militants slaughter more than 300 yazidi captives in northern iraq after thousands were taken captive from villages. Fears grow for the 300 women kidnapped from sinjar. A follower of the ancient yazidi religion prays at the holy lalish temple. Parts of the tradition have now been transcribed as two holy books called the kitab aljilwa book of revelation and the mishefa res black book. Early indian religion was based around these concepts, revolving around the central tenet of dharma, and one of the main deities was dharma raja or yama, or otherwise melek taus in yazidi. Jun 09, 2018 one of the oldest known religious texts is the kesh temple hymn of ancient sumer, a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 bce. Yazidi cultural practices are observed in kurmanji, which is also used by almost all the orally transmitted religious traditions of the yazidis. Two short books, kitab aljilwah book of revelation and maafrash black book, form the sacred scriptures of the yazidis. Yezidis believe the black book originated when the lord descended black mountain.
Human rights in isilcontrolled territory wikipedia. Rasail alhikmah epistles of wisdom indian hinduism. The first half of the book contains some of their creation mythology and other stories. Yazidism is the religion of a kurdish peoplegroup that lives primarily in iraq.
The rise of islamic fundamentalism more broadly has pushed thousands of yazidis to seek asylum in europe. In many traditions, this relation and these concerns are expressed in. 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. Like almost all christians, yezidis practice the rite of baptism.
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 it is now generally accepted that the manuscripts of the yazidi sacred books, the mas. Yazidi society is organized into three castelike social groups determined by birththe religious sheikhs and pirs and the lay murids. Yazidis do not believe in heaven or hell, but in reincarnation, which they call the soul changing its clothes. The kurds are usually identified as an iranian ethnic group descended from the medes. Who are the yazidis and what do they believe about god. Religious texts also known as scripture, or scriptures, from the latin scriptura, meaning writing are texts which religious traditions consider to be central to their practice or beliefs.
However, scholars generally agree that the manuscripts of both books published in 1911 and 19 were forgeries written by non yazidis in response to western travelers and scholars interest in the yazidi religion. 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. Yezidi theology, oral tradition, and ritual 1 yezidi mystery religions in the middle east. The yazidis perceptions of reconciliation and conflict yazidis are one of the oldest ethnic and religious communities indigenous to the middle east. 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 adawiyya sufi order living in the kurdish mountains, and caused it to deviate from islamic norms relatively soon after the. The majority of yazidis remaining in the middle east today live in iraq, primarily in the nineveh and dohuk governorates. Nonetheless they do reflect authentic yazidi traditions.
The kurdish yazidi community in northern iraq has long been the target of religious persecution. Unfortunately, this is the same name as is used for satan in the quran the muslim holy book. History of the yezidi the ultimate history project. But the origins of the religion are found in the complex, syncretic teachings of their founder, sheikh adi ibn musafir, a sufi mystic who claimed.
Who are the yazidi people, and what are their beliefs. Mashaf res the black book mashaf res the black book appendix to part i the poem in praise of sei. The religious practices of the yazidi community are some of the oldest in the world, and with so many members of the community leaving the country, traditions like this are in danger of dying out. Although some yazidi religious practices found in the black book are similar to islam, the book also describes a detailed caste system and includes doctrines. Yazidi refugees also live in europe specifically in germany and the united states. Religious texts may be used to provide meaning and purpose, evoke a deeper connection with the divine, convey religious truths, promote religious experience, foster communal identity, and guide individual and communal religious practice. The origin of yazidism 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, who is said. Jaap verduijns odu ifa collection zoroastrianismedit yasna 28. 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. The yazidi holy books are claimed to be the kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res.
Religious texts often communicate the practices or values of a religious traditions and can be looked to as. Sheikh shams is one of the most popular yazidi saints and was one of the companions of sheikh adi. Yazidi, iraqs persecuted minority, religious beliefs. Barber, who is is currently in dohuk conducting research and is involved with refugees from mosul and sinjar, added, that yazidi religion is based on oral traditions rather than written scripture, that their conception of divinity contains polytheistic elements, and that they have long been maligned as devil worshippers, disqualifies them from being one of islams protected people of the book. 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. Religious texts may be used to provide meaning and purpose, evoke a deeper connection with the divine, convey religious truths, promote religious experience, foster communal identity, and guide individual. The true core texts of the yazidi religion that exist today are the hymns, known as qawls. 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. The source of this hatred comes from the widely held belief that the yazidis are devil worshipers. 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. Religion, human beings relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence. Yezidi mythology creation, floods, and a large black snake. The black book of the yezidis was first published in english over 120 years ago.
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. We had a king in babel whose name was bukhtinossor nebuchadnezzer, and. The first and leader of the seven great angels is tawsi melek, the peacock king or peacock angel. He is associated with one of the seven yazidi angels and is the divinity of the sun in the yazidi faith. In its digital magazine dabiq, isil explicitly claimed religious justification for enslaving yazidi women. 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 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. So far there are two parts roughly translated the revelation and the black book. 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. Oct 21, 2014 the yazidi holy books are claimed to be the kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res black book. It is now widely suspected that both volumes were compiled by nonyazidis. The yezidi yazidi cosmology and religion is nondual. Theres also the fact that malek taus other name shaytan means devil in arabic, leading to additional assumptions that yazidis worship satan, according to time. In the second half of the twentieth century, most of turkeys yazidis, who still lived in fear of religious persecution, emigrated to germany, and in the 1990s many of iraqs yazidi intelligentsia arrived there, where they play an active role in diaspora affairs, maintaining contact with coreligionists in iraq and the caucasus guest, pp.
Orthodox christians tend not to marry in the spring as no marriage can be performed in the fifty days of lent that precede the easter celebration. The complex, secret beliefs of yazidis, their legends and their social structures, including their caste system, set them apart from other religions in the region. Adi himself, and would accordingly date from the twelfth century a. The yazidis have their own religion called yazidism. King ahab and amran were of us, so that they used to call the god of ahab beelzebub, whom they call amongst us pirbub. Score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. The branding of the yezidis as devil worshipers has, in fact, a basis in their religious practices, although they are nothing at all like the satanic cults one associates with this label.
Situated in the north of the nineveh province, baadre is a plain village attached to the spiritual and adminsitrative centre of shekhan ain sifni the yazidi communitys most ancient heritage site. Christianity, integral philosophy, and politics yazidis and the original religion of the near east the horrific bombing in the kurdish regions around kirkuk death toll estimates currently at 400 targeted the yazidis, a smallish kurdish but nonmuslim sect. The sacred books and traditions of the yezidiz, by isya joseph 1919 mehrdad izadi wikipedia yazidi encyclopedia britannica yazidi religious tolerance yazidi wikipedia yazidi joshua project yazidi videos many topics, including the legend of the peacock angel. 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. The yazidi branch of yaxdnism ontario consultants on. The revelation mainly consists of god speaking to the yezidi about who he is and who they are in relation to him. This book presents itself as a scholarly account of the saga and religious culture of the yezidi faithful.
As much as it is an account of the yazidi genocide, the book is also a loving ode to a way of life that has now been all but obliterated. Kiteba cilwe book of revelation and the mishefa res black book. Sheikh hasan, the nephew of adi, is held to be the author of the second sacred yazidi book, the black book meshaf resh. Minority and mystery religious groups like the yezidi are particularly. 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.
The current religious leader of the yazidis, the baba sheikh, is khurto hajji ismail. 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. The yazidi mausoleum mir ali beg in baadre is located at 3643. Spurious examples of socalled yazidi religious texts include the yazidi black book and the yazidi book of revelation, which were forged in the early 20th century. Expedition unknown s04e06 hunt for the metal library took the recently confessed ancient astronaut theorist josh gates to ecuador in search of the metal library. Other content include illustrations, photos, maps, notes, a glossary, a bibliography and appendices filled with invaluable information like yezidi saints and genealogies of influential families. The manuscripts of both books were published in 1911 and 19 were forgeries written by nonyezidis in response to western travelers and scholars interest in the yazidi religion. Yezidi theology, oral tradition, rituals, and rites of passage. Some yazidis also live in armenia, turkey, iran, georgia, and syria. The yezidi or yazidi religious minority has been lifted from obscurity for the very worst reason. I sometimes get enquiries concerning the yezidi people, associated with the kurds in most sources waned current commentaries. 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. The sacred books comprise kitab aljilwah book of revelation, and maaf res black book so named because in it mention made of the descent of p. Yazidis project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read.
The epic of gilgamesh from sumer, although only considered by some scholars as a religious text, has origins as early as 21502000 bce, and stands as one of the earliest literary works that includes various mythological figures and. However, the yazidis in bashiqa and bahzani speak arabic as their mother language. The largest group of yazidis live in iraq, near mosul, but there are small communities in syria, turkey, georgia, and armenia. Throughout the book, the yazidis learn religious practices like the five daily prayers as well as how to avoid sins against the earth. Aug 14, 2014 isis want to impregnate yazidi women and smash our blond bloodline. There are traditional communities in transcaucasia, armenia, turkey, and syria, but these have declined since the 1990s, their. For most of its history, yazidism has passed on its sacred and secular texts orally, with a taboo against reading and writing for all but adani sheikhs. Some are puzzled when they cannot find the name yezidi on a list of peoples. According to yazidi lore, one of the angels, malak tawous, was sent to earth after refusing to. Yazidi women struggle to return to daily life after. 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.
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. Jihadist troops bolster forces further south in apparent bid to broaden. And wouldnt you know iteileen hall was right there with him, getting her 15 minutes of basic cable fame and auditioning for her own series. The history of a community, culture and religion library of modern religion acikyildiz, birgul on. The secular leader is a hereditary emir or prince, whereas a chief sheikh heads the religious hierarchy. This has been compiled into what is known as the black book. The book of revelation and black book remain, however, the most prominent texts associated with the socalled devil worshipers of mesopotamia. Isis militants slaughter over 300 yazidi captives in northern. However, scholars generally agree that the manuscripts of both books published in 1911 and 19 were forgeries written by nonyazidis in response to western travellers and scholars interest in the yazidi religion.
Because yezidis in the middle east had been attacked on account of their religion, it gave yezidis around the world a stronger sense of religious. Yazidis are primarily kurdish speaking, and most live in the mosul region of northern iraq. The yazidi religious centre and object of the annual pilgrimage is the tomb of sheikh. Pdf protecting yazidi cultural heritage through women. Scholars generally agree that the manuscripts of both books published in 1911 and 19 were forgeries written by nonyazidis in response to western travellers and scholars interest in the yazidi religion. The book introduces a new dataset on peace agreements that provides important comprehensive evidence on the extent to which resolution 25 and other subsequent.
Next comes a statement of food taboos of the yazidis, prohibitions connected with. Wikisource has original text related to this article. They acknowledge an inactive, static and transcendental god, the supreme being, who created, emanated, or became the seven great angels. In practice, there were some instances of literacy in yazidi life.