Yazidism

Yazidism
  • Êzdiyetî
  • ئێزدیتی or ئێزیدی
Quba Mêrê Dîwanê is the largest temple of the Yazidis in the world, located at the village of Aknalich in Armenia
TypeEthnic religion
ClassificationIranian religions[1][2]
ScriptureYazidi Book of Revelation, Yazidi Black Book
TheologyMonotheistic
MirHazim Tahsin or Naif Dawud[3]
Baba SheikhSheikh Ali Ilyas
LanguageKurdish (Kurmanji)
HeadquartersLalish, Iraqi Kurdistan
Origin12th century
Kurdistan
MembersReferred to as Yazidis: c. 200,000–1,000,000 (Encyclopædia Britannica est.[4])
c. 200,000–300,000 (Encyclopædia Iranica, 2004 est.[1])
Other name(s)Sharfadin

Yazidism,[a] also known as Sharfadin,[b] is a monotheistic ethnic religion[c] that originated in Kurdistan[9] and has roots in pre-Zoroastrian Iranian religion, directly derived from the Indo-Iranian tradition.[d] Its followers, called Yazidis, are a Kurdish-speaking community.[e]

Yazidism includes elements of ancient Iranian religions, as well as elements of Judaism, Church of the East, and Islam.[4] Yazidism is based on belief in one God who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings, known as Angels.[5][10][11] Preeminent among these Angels is Tawûsî Melek (lit.'Peacock Angel', also spelled as Melek Taûs), who is the leader of the Angels and who has authority over the world.[5][11][12] The religion of the Yazidis is a highly syncretistic one: Sufi influence and imagery can be seen in their religious vocabulary, especially in the terminology of their esoteric literature, but much of the mythology is non-Islamic, and their cosmogonies apparently have many points in common with those of ancient Iranian religions.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d Allison, Christine (20 September 2016) [20 July 2004]. "YAZIDIS i. GENERAL". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Columbia University. doi:10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_1252. ISSN 2330-4804. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Yezidis divided on spiritual leader's successor elect rival Mir".
  4. ^ a b "Yazīdī". Encyclopædia Britannica. (2024) [1998].
  5. ^ a b c Asatrian, Garnik S.; Arakelova, Victoria (2014). "Part I: The One God - Malak-Tāwūs: The Leader of the Triad". The Religion of the Peacock Angel: The Yezidis and Their Spirit World. Gnostica. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge. pp. 1–28. doi:10.4324/9781315728896. ISBN 978-1-84465-761-2. OCLC 931029996.
  6. ^ Rodziewicz, Artur (2018). "The Nation of the Sur: The Yezidi Identity Between Modern and Ancient Myth". In Bocheńska, Joanna (ed.). Rediscovering Kurdistan's Cultures and Identities. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 272. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93088-6_7. ISBN 978-0-415-07265-6.
  7. ^ "مه‌زارگه‌هێ شه‌رفه‌دین هێشتا ژ ئالیێ هێزێن پێشمه‌رگه‌ی ڤه ‌دهێته‌ پاراستن" (in Kurdish). Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Omarkhali, Khanna; Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (2016). "Yezidism and Yezidi Studies in the early 21st century". Kurdish Studies. 4 (2): 122. doi:10.33182/ks.v4i2.424.
  10. ^ Açikyildiz, Birgül (2014-12-23). The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857720610.
  11. ^ a b Allison, Christine (25 January 2017). "The Yazidis". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.254. ISBN 9780199340378. Archived from the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  12. ^ Maisel, Sebastian (2016-12-24). Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority. Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739177754.


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