Being Ezidi in the Middle East

Suvari, Çakır Ceyhan

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-00284-8_8

Çakır Ceyhan Suvari³

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Abstract

The Sinjar/Sṃingal massacre carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in August 2014 meant the killing of thousands of Ezidis in Iraq. In addition, thousands of Ezidi women were made slaves in the Nineveh Governorate of Iraq. This was not the first Ezidi massacre in the Middle East as 72 previous massacres of Ezidis have been recorded in history. This last one is called “the 73rd Ezidi massacre”. But why are Ezidis killed by the ISIL, and why do they become targets? The reasons for this are discussed in this study based on fieldwork conducted in North Iraq and Turkey with Ezidis.

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Notes

1.
See this news at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11160906/Isil-carried-out-massacres-and-mass-sexual-enslavement-of-Yazidis-UN-confirms.html.
2.
Dialogical approach implies an interaction between the interviewer and the researcher. It is a qualitative research technique and involves mutual conversation. Recently the dialogical approach has become a very common research technique in social anthropology.
3.
The name was given after Sheikh Adiy Bin Musafir by his followers (the al-Adawiya). Sheikh Adiy was born in 1075 in Lebanon. According to Ezidis, he was a prophet. The Ezidis consider him an “avatar” of Malak Tawus (also spelt Malik Tous, transl. in English as Peacock Angel, being a central figure in Ezidi religion). His tomb at Lalish, Iraq, is a focal point of Ezidi pilgrimage. He lived in the mountains, alongside the Hakkari Kurds in the region north of Mosul, and died at the age of 90 (see also Arakelova 2001, 2004, 2010; Guest 2001; Suvari 2002).
4.
The leaders of this sect are called Sheikh.
5.
Selahedînê, known as Saladin (1137–93), was the first sultan of Egypt and Syria and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. He was a Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin. Saladin led the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in the Levant.
6.
Lalish is a small mountain valley village situated in the Shekhan District in northern Iraq, near the border with Iraqi Kurdistan. It contains the holiest temple in the Ezidi religion.
7.
The Ezidi people have two written sources: Mushaf-ı Reş (The Black Book) and Kitab el-Cilve. Kitab el-Cilve contains the address of the holy God to his souls (Turan 1993: 72). Kitab el-Cilve, is a small book, made up of 8 pages, 109 lines, and 5 sections (Tori 2000: 134).
8.
A city in contemporary Turkey.
9.
A city in contemporary Turkey.
10.
A town in the contemporary Turkish province of Erzincan.
11.
A town in contemporary northern Iraq.
12.
A river in contemporary Turkey.
13.
A city in contemporary Turkey.
14.
A city in contemporary Turkey.
15.
A city in contemporary Iran.
16.
Muhammad al-Maqrizi (1364–1442) was an Egyptian historian, also known as al-Maqrizi or Makrizi.
17.
Sheikh Adiy was a radical Sunni Muslim and established his sect on this basis.
18.
Most of them were Zoroastrian practices.
19.
Bedreddin Lulu, who succeeded the Zangid rulers of Mosul.
20.
They were very impressed by rhetoric, especially those of the secular Ezidis living in Europe.
21.
Gnosticism was a dualistic heresy, which proclaimed salvation through gnosis or esoteric knowledge. It was a heresy, which flourished in the second century AD. The name comes from the Greek word gnosis, which literally means knowledge. Gnostics believe that they have a secret knowledge about God, humanity, and the rest of the universe of which the general population is unaware (Williams 1996).
22.
Zoroastrianism is the ancient religion of Iran. Zoroastrianism flourished during three great Persian Empires (Achaemenian, Parthian, and the Sasanian). In Zoroastrian cosmology, the head of the manifested universe is Ahura Mazda, the “Wise Lord”. He is the universal and pervasive source and fountain of all life (Suvari 2002).
23.
Two castes of Ezidi religion. The social structure of the Ezidis is made up of various castes. The caste system is then divided into eight categories in terms of their functions. According to this, the following hierarchical system can be defined as 1-Mirs; 2-Sheikhs; 3-Pirs; 4-Kavals; 5-Fakirs; 6-Koçeks; 7-Fakriyats; and 8-Mürits/Followers (Suvari 2002: 108).
24.
I interviewed him in 2001, 2002, and 2004.
25.
Babylon was a major city of ancient Mesopotamia in the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
26.
Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located on the outskirts of Mosul in modern-day northern Iraq.
27.
Zoroaster, also known as Zarathustra [Zarathushtra Spitama or Ashu Zarathushtra], was the religious founder of Ancient Iran. His transformation of his inherited religion, Zoroastrianism, inaugurated a movement that eventually became the dominant religion in Ancient Iran (see Suvari 2002).
28.
Nebuchadnezzar was the fourth king of the Second Dynasty of Isin and Fourth Dynasty of Babylon. He is known for his victory over Elam and the recovery of the cultic idol of Marduk (see Harris 1995).
29.
The empire of David crumbled in a short period after his death. The Empire was demolished for a temporary period when Nebukhadnetzor conquered Jerusalem (586 BC) and exiled many Jewish people to Babel (Harris 1995: 136). My key informant Veysi Bulut also gave me an explanation about this historical event.
30.
The relationship between the Ezidis and Zoroastrianism is manifold. They share many rites, including daily Sun worship, and the premier saviour-deity of both traditions is a solar god possessing the peacock as a sacred animal. Peacock Angel’s most salient Zoroastrianism counterpart is the primal bird of paradise, the Simurgh, who possesses a dog or a dragon’s head and a huge peacock tail. The Simurgh lives on Mount Elbourz, the primal sacred mountain at the centre of the Earth that serves as an axis mundi uniting Heaven and Earth. On the other hand, fire and sun are sacred to both religions. In both, worship is done by turning to the fire or the sun. As in Islam, fire is not a divine punishment, but rather a part of the god (for more on Zoroastrianism, see Stausberg 2004).
31.
Sheikh Adiy was a Sunni Islamic Sufi, so many Sufi teachings and practices were passed on to the Ezidi religion. A clergyman I interviewed in Iraq (2014) told me the caste system in their religion originated from Sheikh Adiy’s sectarian order.
32.
It is possible to be Zoroastrian by changing religion just as in Christianity and Islam. However, it is absolutely not possible to be Ezidi by changing one’s religion. Only those born of an Ezidi mother and father are considered an Ezidi. For this reason, Ezidism is a closed religion.
33.
Their belief, which explains that they are coming from a category which is different from all other humans, lies at the basis of this idea. This situation is explained in the creation myth in the 21st verse of Mushaf-ı Reş as follows:

A discussion appeared between Adam and Eve considering whether the child was born from mother and father. Because, each one of them wanted to be the only source of the next generations. This discussion appeared when Adam and Eve saw the animals copulate with each other in order to create a child, which resembled themselves and their common relationships. After long lasting discussions, each one of them poured their seeds to a jug and sealed with their own seals and they waited for nine months. After this time, they opened their jugs and there was Şahit bin Car in the jug of Adam. The Ezidis are the descendants of Şahit bin Car. After that, Adam and Eve had sexual intercourse. Eve gave birth to a girl and a boy. Jews, Muslims, Christians and other nations and cults are the descendants of these.
34.
Ezidis speak Kurdish, which is related to the Iranian language. Historical Iranian languages are grouped in three periods: Old Iranian (until 400 BC), Middle Iranian (400 BC–AD 900), and New Iranian (since AD 900). Of the Old Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are Old Persian (a language of Achaemenid Iran) and Avestan (the language of the Avesta). Middle Iranian languages included Middle Persian (a language of Sassanid Iran), Parthian, and Bactrian.
35.
Dasnai is the name of a great Ezidi tribe who migrated from the regions of Hakkari.
36.
Thondraki is a Christian cult which emerged amongst the Armenians during the Byzantium period (Khenchelaoui 1999: 21).
37.
Non-Muslim countries/territories.
38.
Muslim countries/territories.
39.
It is seen by Islamists as a holy war or struggle against non-Muslims. The etymology of the concept is to fight for religion (for more on jihad, see Knapp 2003).
40.
He was a famous Turkish traveller in Ottoman times.
41.
Bedirhan or Badr Khan Beg (1803–68) was the last Kurdish emir (local ruler of some Kurdish tribes) of the Bohtan Emirate (Cizre).
42.
In Islamic theology, Iblis/Satan/Shaytan/Devil is a being created from fire who was allowed to mingle with Angels in the heavens until he rejected the command of God/Allah to bow before Adam. When Allah created Adam, the first human, He said to the angels: “I will create a vicegerent on earth.” The angels responded: “Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?” Allah affirmed and all the angels prostrated themselves, but Iblis did not. Iblis justified his decision, because he claimed to be better than a human: “I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay” (see Qur’an 2:30 and 2:34).
43.
There are many reasons for giving such an importance to Malak Tawus in the Ezidi belief system. The first and most important of these reasons is the fact that God has left the responsibility of all earthly work as the responsibility of other angels to him. The interpretation of Malak Azazil (Malak Tawus), who is believed to be damned for not grovelling before Adam, and for making Adam eat the forbidden fruit in other religions, is totally different from what the Ezidis believe. It is said that, in the Ezidi mythology, Azazil loves God so much that he does not grovel to anyone apart from God as God is the only creator. Ezidi people respect this behaviour of Malak Tawus and they think that God did not damn Malak Tawus after he was examined at his trial for not grovelling. The fact that Malak Tawus made Adam eat the forbidden fruit is interpreted as the will of God in Ezidi belief.
44.
Footnote 23.
45.
The Ezidi religion has four holy festivals: the New Year; the Feast of Sacrifice; the Feast of Seven Days (September 23–30); the first Friday of December feast, following three days of fasting (Suvari 2002).
46.
For full text of Qur’an/Koran in English and Arabic, see https://quran.com/.
47.
“The 18th and 19th centuries saw Ezidi influence and numbers decline. The end of the semi-autonomous Kurdish principalities and the series of Ottoman Tanzimat reforms from the mid-19th century onward made the region more vulnerable to localised political instabilities. The 1832 massacre by ‘the Blind Prince’ of Rawanduz of the Ezidi Prince Ali Beg, along with many of his followers in the valley that still bears his name, left a deep scar on the Ezidis of Sheikhan. Religious tensions inherent in the Ottoman millet system, whereby legal status was attributed according to religious identity, became more evident, with attacks on Ezidis and other minorities by chieftains such as Bedirhan Beg of Cezîrȇ Botan” (see more at http://religion.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-254?mediaType=Article).
48.
There were many Ezidis whom I interviewed such as priests, lawyers, students, refugees, and artisans.
49.
Peshmerga are the military forces of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. The Barzanis are the leading clan in western Kurdistan.
50.
For more, see http://ezidipress.com/en/the-betrayal-of-shingal/.
51.
In this respect, a speech of Prince Anvar Muaviye İsmail, Ezidi Religious Centre Chairman, which is referred to in Sever’s book (1996: 127, Ezidis and Origin of the Ezidis), reflects the views of the Ezidis in denying any Kurdish identity:

Both the Ezidis and Assyrian[s] were founded with a common history, on common lands and with the principle of a single flag and by sharing the same fate. The history has taught us that the Assyrian[s] and the Ezidis are the real descendants of the great Assyrian Empire. They have a common nationality. These two societies have been connected to each other with strong fraternity links during the different ages of their history especially in the times of massacre and disaster. They survived next to each other against attacks. Fortunately, the protection of common nationalities are as permanent as solid rocks. I would like to define once more in front of all related international organisations; the Assyrian[s] and Ezidis have the same fate and single nationality and they are hoping to live in peace under the same flag. With this announcement, we warn all Kurdish parties especially Mesut Barzani and Celal Talabani to stop representing the Ezidis at all international levels and stop their unfounded lies saying that the Ezidis belong to the Kurdish nation and to stop their demands in Sinjar and Şekhan under the authority of their administrative regions.
52.
For example, there is a caste system in the Ezidis but not in the Kurds. This caste system is based on religion. But they abandoned the caste system when they became Muslims (see also footnote 23).
53.
Footnote 33.
54.
For example, Ezidis have a belief in reincarnation and they do not believe in heaven and hell, whilst Melek Tawus is cursed by Muslims as Satan.
55.
Footnote 41.

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Istanbul, Turkey
Çakır Ceyhan Suvari

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Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK
James Dingley
University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Marcello Mollica

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Suvari, Ç.C. (2018). Being Ezidi in the Middle East. In: Dingley, J., Mollica, M. (eds) Understanding Religious Violence. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00284-8_8

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