Many thanks to A Burjus for answering my questions and being prepared
to share his personal view of his religion with me. In an effort to retain his voice I have
largely posted his replies unadulterated.
Disclaimer: Please
understand that this blog interview is a very subjective, personal view of the
Ezidi faith and does not claim to be an exhaustive, academic account. Neither
does it claim to represent the views of all Ezidi people.
Q: Welcome and many thanks for
agreeing to share your religion with us. How do you like to be called? I've
seen your religion written Yezidi, or Ezidi- what do you like it to be called?
How did your religion come about?
A: Before I answer your question, I would like to mention that there is
very little true information about the religion because Ezidis have faced 74
genocides and hundreds of ethnic cleansings in their history. In addition, the Ezidi
were not permitted to write about their religion in Iraq and Syria, where the
majority of Ezidis are living, until 2003. In addition, Ezidi people were
forced to live in villages and rural area where very little or no education was
available. As a result, the Ezidi couldn't write information about their
religion, traditions and so on during the computer or electronic era. At the
same time, many Muslim writers especially Iraqi-Arabs have written much
incorrect information about Ezidis and their religion and until now there are
hundreds of books and electronic pages filled with wrong information about
Ezidis and their religion.
The correct name is Ezidi ( Ezi = God in our language) and the whole
word means ‘God followers’, but, Yazidi or Yezidi is also true and is used more
than Ezidi in the press and media. Quote: (Since their founding many thousands
of years ago in India, these people have always been known as the Yezidis or
Yazidis. According to Eszter Spat in The Yezidis, the name is derived from ez
Xwede dam, meaning “I was created by God.” Some Yezidis maintain that it
translates as “Followers of the true path.” The term Yezidi or Yazidi is also
very close to the Persion/Zoroastrian word Yazdan, meaning “God“, and Yazata,
meaning “divine” or “angelic being“.
For this reason some scholars have theorized a Persian origin for the
Yezidis. Other scholars have associated the name Yazidi with Yazid bin
Muawiyah, a Moslem Caliph of the early Umayyad Dynasty. According to the
current Yezidi belief, however, the Yazidi religion has nothing at all to do with Yazidi bin Muawiyah, the Amoy leader
and we believe that the Caliph Yazid
was a Moslem ruler who eventually became disenchanted with his religion and
converted to Yezidism). Source http://www.yeziditruth.org/the_yezidis
Q: I’ve heard that it is linked to
Zoroastrianism. Is this true? Can you give me a brief history?
A:
We believe and also many historic researchers believe that Yazidism is the
first and very ancient religion on the earth. This means Yazidism is even older
than Zoroastrianism. Yazidism and Zoroastrianism have many common links as both
sanctify the four elements which are water, soil, wind and fire.
Q: What are the main ideas in your
religion? Who do you worship?
A: We believe in One God and 7 angels. We call the head of the Angels
Taws Malak or Peacock Angel. Many people
believe that the Yazidi worship the Peacock Angel without God!!! And they
thought that Peacock Angel is the devil! That's why they called us Devil Worshippers.
Please read in this website more about peacock angel http://www.yeziditruth.org/the_peacock_angel
Q: What
are the main festivals?
A: The Yezidi religious year
includes four main holy festivals: The New Year, The Feast of Sacrifice, The
Feast of Seven Days, Sept 23-30, The first Friday of December feast following
three days of fasting.
Q:
What is the role of women - are they considered equal? Do they have any
religious roles?
A: Women and men are equal in
Yezidism...They have the same religious role as men.
Q:
What religious artifacts do you like to have in your homes?
A: We have special shape of temple for all our
religious places and I would like to have this artifact in my home...If you
googled Lalish Yazidi temple you will see the shape
Q: Do
you have any holy texts/ books and what are they called?
A: Our religious texts are
memorised or save by heart by special religious groups and they transfer from
one person to another(like school). This happens because in our history we
believe that the enemy burned all our text and books and the only way to save
the religious text was by memorizing by group of special people. We say that we
have 2 books but we don't have them in our hand and we don't know what they
contain!!! Here is some information about those books http://www.yeziditruth.org/yezidi_scriptures
Q: I've
heard that your religion is very much supportive of wildlife and nature? Is
this true and where does it come from? What is the relationship between
Yezidism and nature?
A: Yezidism is very
supportive to nature. We believe that the all universe and all organisms are made
from nature and then we sanctify four natural elements, water, soil, wind and
fire. In addition, we sanctify the sun and the moon too because we believe that
they are the only source of the energy that the universe and organisms rely on.
Also we see the greatness of God from the sun and the natural elements as we
say if you think God is not found then think about the power of sun and the
nature and you will see the God. I recommend you to read this http://www.yeziditruth.org/yezidi_religious_tradition But even in this website there’s some
incorrect information so please be aware…
Q:
Thank you. That is a lot of very interesting information. I have learnt a lot
more about the Ezidi faith. Just a few more queries. The special people who
memorise the holy stories- can they be women too? I have seen pictures of
Sheikhs on facebook, blessing people. Do these exist in your form of faith,
who/ what are they and what is their role?
A: Yes they can be women and
we have women who tell religious stories or text but the number of men are much
more especially within Qawal categories...The Qawels
The Qawels are the bards and sacred
singers. They bring forth religious knowledge, sacred hymns, songs and stories
at special Yezidi gatherings and ceremonies, and they do so to the
accompaniment of flutes, tambourines and other sacred instruments. Their roles
are hereditary, and their wisdom is normally passed from parent to child. They
reside principally in the Beshiqe-Behzani region of northen Iraq.
Sheikhs, who memorise religious texts,
are mainly from the Qawal category as mentioned above however, other people can
do that if they want and this is totally dependent on the person him/herself
again...for example, my grandfather knows all most all religious text and role
in Yazidism but he is not a formal religious leader.
We have also Kochek ...The Kocheks,
or “seers,” are servants of the Sanctuary of Lalish. Because they are blessed
with spiritual gifts, such as clairvoyance, they can psychically diagnose
illness and they even know the fate of a soul after leaving the body of the
deceased. There are only a few Kocheks left, and they mostly reside in the
Sinjar Mountains of northern Iraq. The female counterpart of Kocheks are known
as Faqras. They are recognized as holy women with supernatural power. Kocheks
and Faqras can come from any of the three main castes.
In the Kochek category we have
woman....IN conclusion, any Yazidi woman or man can do religious services and
it totally depends on person...for example, if my wife tried to save our
religious text and teach people and serve people in religious matters I can’t tell
her not to do that and no Yazidi can stop her being a religious leader...it
totally depends on the person regardless of the gender.
Q: Is
anybody writing down any of the information they have memorised?
A: Recently, in 2005, the Ministry
of higher Education in Kurdistan-Iraq finally agreed that Yazidi people can
study and learn from a religious book called EZIDIATI...This book contains all
prayers, traditional, many but not all religious texts and roles...This book is
at many levels from primary school to middle school to secondary school...and
now the Yazidi children are learning it.
Q: Why
is there a preference for white clothing?
A: WHITE CLOTHES are a
symbol of peace in our religion so almost all Yazidis
wear white clothes... We mean by that
the human heart must be white, and we must act as a peaceful and truthful
person.
Q:
Does the faith have any formal organisation? Is there any idea yet of the
amount of loss to the religion from the Daesh genocide in terms of the people
holding the information in their memories?
A: Yazidi have a high
spiritual religious committee that runs everything about the religion
Yes, Yazidis have lost some of the
religious leaders during Daesh attacks.
Q: And
finally what does your religion mean to you? How has it helped you in your
life?
A: For me personally, I am
not such a religious person but I believe in God and my religion but I am not
doing all religious roles such as prayer and so on...My religion means for me a
peace. I and all Yazidi people learn how to be a very peaceful people. For
example, in one of our prayer we say '''God please save all people on the earth
and all organisms including Yazidis'. This means we are pray for everyone before
praying for ourselves as Yazidis. My religion teaches me how to respect other
people from different religions on the basis of humanity not religion...This
point makes Yazidis a target because we
never ever had targeted any people even when we were powerful historically and we always forgave those who
were killing us.
In conclusion, Yezidism and its roles
and traditions are not something obligational for the believer. I mean our religious people do not force us
to pray or carry out religious roles and so on and it totally depends on person
and that is the best part about my religion.
Wow,
what an interesting and inspiring religion. Thank you so much for sharing this
with me and for answering all my questions.
