The rise of IS in 2014 saw the persecution of religious minorities in their occupied regions with some of their worst crimes committed against the followers of the Yazidi faith, most notably those living in the region around the Sinjar Mountain. The news, of what was later labelled a genocide, gathered much international attention to the Yazidi faith, leading to many questions about who they are and what the religion is all about.
Yazidis are a predominantly Kurmanji-speaking religious majority belonging to Yazidism, a faith with its roots in ancient Mesopotamian religions. They are considered an ethno-religious community, which means that their religion and ethnicity are so strongly intertwined with one another that it is not possible to separate them. For this reason, followers of the Yazidi faith are primarily found or have links to the Kurdish people of northern Iraq in regions like Sheikhan, the Sinjar Mountains, and in the region of Lalish.
While the origins of its name are disputed, some believe that it may stem from the Middle Persian word ‘Yazad’ which means ‘divine being’. Other people, however, believe that it could stem from ‘Yazid ibn Mu’awiya’, the name given to the second Umayyad caliph, which is a group the Yazidis are said to have supported before officially becoming known as ‘Yazidis’.
The religion combines elements of many of religions, but the majority of its teachings incorporate those from Christianity and Islam.
Despite sharing many similarities with Christianity and Islam, there is a fundamental difference between these two religions and Yazidism in the sense that the Yazidi faith has remained an oral tradition throughout its history. This means that it doesn’t have any sacred texts that form the basis of their beliefs and practices.
The way in which Yazidisim has been passed down throughout the centuries is through these beliefs and practices being orally transmitted by religious leaders. As a result, many elements of the religion differ from one another as each religious leader interprets them differently. While there are many religions in the world that follow the oral tradition, it is particularly the case for Yazidisim due to its complete lack of texts and its very strong commitment to maintaining its practice of the oral tradition.
There is no proclamation of faith that Yazidis have to affirm, and no universal way of performing rites or prayers.