Yezidi
Some consider the Yezidi faith as a variant form of the Sufi movement. However, it is much more complicated than that.
The Yazidi religion today is a combination of Zoroastrian, Manichaean, Jewish, Nestorian Christian and Islamic elements. The Yazidi themselves are thought to be descended from supporters of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid . They themselves believe that they are created quite separately from the rest of mankind, not even being descended from Adam, and they have kept themselves strictly segregated from the people among whom they live. Although scattered and probably numbering fewer than 1,000,000, they have a well-organized society, with a chief Shaykh as the supreme religious head and an Amir, or prince, as the secular head.
The chief divine figure of the Yazidi is Malak Taus ('Peacock Angel'), worshipped in the form of a peacock. He rules the universe with six other angels, but all seven are subordinate to the supreme God, who has had no direct interest in the universe since he created it. The seven angels are worshipped by the Yazidi in the form of seven bronze or iron peacock figures called sanjaq, the largest of which weighs nearly 700 pounds.
Yazidi are anti-dualists; they deny the existence of evil and therefore also reject sin, the devil, and hell. The breaking of divine laws is expiated by way of metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, which allows for progressive purification of the spirit. The Yazidi relate that when the devil repented of his sin of pride before God, he was pardoned and replaced in his previous position as chief of the angels; this myth has earned the Yazidl an undeserved reputation as devil worshippers. Shaykh Adi, the chief Yazidi saint, was a 12th century Muslim mystic believed to have achieved divinity through metempsychosis.
The Yazidi religious center and object of the annual pilgrimage is the tomb of Shaykh 'Adi, located at a former Christian monastery in the town of Ash-Shaykh 'Adi, north of Mosul. Two short books written in Arabic, Kitab al-jilwah ('Book of Revelation') and Mashaf rash ('Black Writing'), form the sacred scriptures of the Yazidi, and an Arabic hymn praise of Shaykh 'Adi is held in great esteem.
At the head of the community is a Khalifah, who is a descendant of Shaikh Adi. Under him are Shaikhs, Kavvals, and Faqirs. Priesthood is hereditary. Morality is above the average in that part of the world. They are brave and shrewd. Their temperament is cheerful but calm. They have cleanly habits. Their women are not veiled and may receive strangers. They feel great repulsion for the color blue. Being completely illiterate, they handed down their traditions orally. Their greatest festival is on 10th Aug., when a procession of flagellants takes place in the village of Ba'adri. There is the grave of their great saint, Shaikh Adi ben Musafir, who died in A.D. 1155. All around fires of naphtha and bitumen are kept burning.
The origin of the word Yezidi is most likely related to Av. Yazata, “deity,”, Pers. Yazdan, “God.
It was given to them in contrast either to the Zoroastrians or to the Muslims. Although their priesthood is of the Islamic type and they recognize Muhammad and Abraham as prophets, they are far from being a Muslim sect. Neither are they Nestorians, although they have baptism and regard Christ as an angel in human form.
Their cult of fire is Iranian. They profess that the devil is a creative agent of the supreme God, inasmuch as he produced evil. Hence he deserves adoration. The Yezidis say that God made the world beautiful. Then Malik-Taus appeared before him and said that there could be no light without darkness, no day without night, and accordingly he caused night to follow day.
They seem to belong to a Kurdish stock, and speak Kurdish as well as Arabic. There are probably some forty thousand Yezidees in Mesopotamia and six thousand in the Caucasus. Their headquarters are at Sheikh Adi, a weird place North-East of ancient Nineveh. They have many excellent characteristics, although they are thought of by their neighbors as profoundly ignorant and superstitious.
They all believe in a great God who created the universe; but they pay deference to the “Prince of this world”, lest they should suffer his vengeance. They avoid the use of words that begin with the same letter as Satan's name, and instead of using the common Arabic words for the devil, they speak of him as the “Prince of Darkness”, “Lord of the Evening” or the “Exalted Chief”. Many of the Yezidees practice baptisms; they make the sign of the cross, and kiss the threshold of Christian Churches.
The Yezidis or “Devil Worshippers” congregate principally in Mosul. Theirs is a religion of faith, not of works. The Yezidis form one of the recognized “millets” or subject religious sects, existing in the former Turkish Empire.
They are universally abhorred as outcasts - almost as untouchables... the Yezidis possess no systematized religion woven by some great teacher into one harmonious whole. They make shift instead with a bewildering agglomeration of superstitions pieced together into an amazing patchwork.... The Yezidis believe in a Supreme Being - Yazdan, the most high. But to him, they pay no worship. He is the Lord of Heaven and takes no account of earth.
According to Yezidi belief, from Yazdan emanated 7 great spirits, of whom Malek Taus was the first and most powerful. To him was committed the creation of the world, and the governance of it for 10,000 years of which 4,000 still remain to run. Malek Taus is an evil and a fallen spirit; but not fallen beyond redemption. He is a sort of celestial Absalom - vicious, tyrannical, rebellious, but secure of ultimate pardon and rehabilitation.
The Yezidis have a regular hierarchy of seven orders of Priesthood. They hold a great annual feast at Sheikh Adi in October; which is continued for eight days, and is attended by all the faithful who can come. Pilgrimage to Sheikh Adi is incumbent on every Yezidi, but he is not commanded to pray, and he leaves that duty to his priests. Fasting can also be performed by deputy, and a group of Yezidis will select one of their number to do all their fasting for them, confessing to him the acts which need expiation and paying him a capitation fee for carrying out the corresponding penances.
The shrine of “Sheikh Adi’ (the holiest place of worship for the Yezidis).
Some consider the Yezidi faith as a variant form of the Sufi movement. However, it is much more complicated than that.
The Yazidi religion today is a combination of Zoroastrian, Manichaean, Jewish, Nestorian Christian and Islamic elements. The Yazidi themselves are thought to be descended from supporters of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid . They themselves believe that they are created quite separately from the rest of mankind, not even being descended from Adam, and they have kept themselves strictly segregated from the people among whom they live. Although scattered and probably numbering fewer than 1,000,000, they have a well-organized society, with a chief Shaykh as the supreme religious head and an Amir, or prince, as the secular head.
The chief divine figure of the Yazidi is Malak Taus ('Peacock Angel'), worshipped in the form of a peacock. He rules the universe with six other angels, but all seven are subordinate to the supreme God, who has had no direct interest in the universe since he created it. The seven angels are worshipped by the Yazidi in the form of seven bronze or iron peacock figures called sanjaq, the largest of which weighs nearly 700 pounds.
Yazidi are anti-dualists; they deny the existence of evil and therefore also reject sin, the devil, and hell. The breaking of divine laws is expiated by way of metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, which allows for progressive purification of the spirit. The Yazidi relate that when the devil repented of his sin of pride before God, he was pardoned and replaced in his previous position as chief of the angels; this myth has earned the Yazidl an undeserved reputation as devil worshippers. Shaykh Adi, the chief Yazidi saint, was a 12th century Muslim mystic believed to have achieved divinity through metempsychosis.
The Yazidi religious center and object of the annual pilgrimage is the tomb of Shaykh 'Adi, located at a former Christian monastery in the town of Ash-Shaykh 'Adi, north of Mosul. Two short books written in Arabic, Kitab al-jilwah ('Book of Revelation') and Mashaf rash ('Black Writing'), form the sacred scriptures of the Yazidi, and an Arabic hymn praise of Shaykh 'Adi is held in great esteem.
At the head of the community is a Khalifah, who is a descendant of Shaikh Adi. Under him are Shaikhs, Kavvals, and Faqirs. Priesthood is hereditary. Morality is above the average in that part of the world. They are brave and shrewd. Their temperament is cheerful but calm. They have cleanly habits. Their women are not veiled and may receive strangers. They feel great repulsion for the color blue. Being completely illiterate, they handed down their traditions orally. Their greatest festival is on 10th Aug., when a procession of flagellants takes place in the village of Ba'adri. There is the grave of their great saint, Shaikh Adi ben Musafir, who died in A.D. 1155. All around fires of naphtha and bitumen are kept burning.
The origin of the word Yezidi is most likely related to Av. Yazata, “deity,”, Pers. Yazdan, “God.
It was given to them in contrast either to the Zoroastrians or to the Muslims. Although their priesthood is of the Islamic type and they recognize Muhammad and Abraham as prophets, they are far from being a Muslim sect. Neither are they Nestorians, although they have baptism and regard Christ as an angel in human form.
Their cult of fire is Iranian. They profess that the devil is a creative agent of the supreme God, inasmuch as he produced evil. Hence he deserves adoration. The Yezidis say that God made the world beautiful. Then Malik-Taus appeared before him and said that there could be no light without darkness, no day without night, and accordingly he caused night to follow day.
They seem to belong to a Kurdish stock, and speak Kurdish as well as Arabic. There are probably some forty thousand Yezidees in Mesopotamia and six thousand in the Caucasus. Their headquarters are at Sheikh Adi, a weird place North-East of ancient Nineveh. They have many excellent characteristics, although they are thought of by their neighbors as profoundly ignorant and superstitious.
They all believe in a great God who created the universe; but they pay deference to the “Prince of this world”, lest they should suffer his vengeance. They avoid the use of words that begin with the same letter as Satan's name, and instead of using the common Arabic words for the devil, they speak of him as the “Prince of Darkness”, “Lord of the Evening” or the “Exalted Chief”. Many of the Yezidees practice baptisms; they make the sign of the cross, and kiss the threshold of Christian Churches.
The Yezidis or “Devil Worshippers” congregate principally in Mosul. Theirs is a religion of faith, not of works. The Yezidis form one of the recognized “millets” or subject religious sects, existing in the former Turkish Empire.
They are universally abhorred as outcasts - almost as untouchables... the Yezidis possess no systematized religion woven by some great teacher into one harmonious whole. They make shift instead with a bewildering agglomeration of superstitions pieced together into an amazing patchwork.... The Yezidis believe in a Supreme Being - Yazdan, the most high. But to him, they pay no worship. He is the Lord of Heaven and takes no account of earth.
According to Yezidi belief, from Yazdan emanated 7 great spirits, of whom Malek Taus was the first and most powerful. To him was committed the creation of the world, and the governance of it for 10,000 years of which 4,000 still remain to run. Malek Taus is an evil and a fallen spirit; but not fallen beyond redemption. He is a sort of celestial Absalom - vicious, tyrannical, rebellious, but secure of ultimate pardon and rehabilitation.
The Yezidis have a regular hierarchy of seven orders of Priesthood. They hold a great annual feast at Sheikh Adi in October; which is continued for eight days, and is attended by all the faithful who can come. Pilgrimage to Sheikh Adi is incumbent on every Yezidi, but he is not commanded to pray, and he leaves that duty to his priests. Fasting can also be performed by deputy, and a group of Yezidis will select one of their number to do all their fasting for them, confessing to him the acts which need expiation and paying him a capitation fee for carrying out the corresponding penances.
The shrine of “Sheikh Adi’ (the holiest place of worship for the Yezidis).