Yazidis: identity, beliefs, history and contemporary issues
Yazidis are a Kurdish‑speaking ethno‑religious minority originating in northern Mesopotamia. Their syncretic monotheistic faith, strict endogamy and recent mass persecution make them a distinct and vulnerable community.
The Yazidis (also spelled Yezidis or Êzîdî) are an ethno‑religious minority whose historical homelands lie in parts of northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, with significant diasporas in the Caucasus and Europe. They primarily speak Kurmanji, a northern Kurdish dialect, and many Yazidis identify culturally with Kurds while maintaining a separate communal and religious identity. Today their population is difficult to estimate precisely but commonly cited figures place the community at roughly around one million worldwide, distributed between Iraq, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Syria and substantial migrant communities in Germany and elsewhere. 
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Beliefs and social structure
Yazidism is a monotheistic, syncretic religion that combines elements found in ancient Mesopotamian, Zoroastrian, Christian and Islamic traditions, reinterpreted within its own ritual and theological framework. Central to the faith is reverence for a single, supreme God and for a hierarchy of divine beings, chief among them Melek Taus, often translated as the "Peacock Angel." Another pivotal figure is the medieval reformer Shaykh ʿAdī ibn Musāfir, whose tomb in the Lalish valley in northern Iraq is the principal sacred site and the destination of an annual pilgrimage.
The Yazidi community is organized around hereditary religious roles and a system of strict endogamy. Membership is generally by birth: children of Yazidi parents are brought up within the faith, and formal conversion into the religion is rare and typically not accepted. Marriages outside the faith commonly result in social exclusion. Religious functionaries include sheikhs and pirs who perform rites, lead prayers and preserve oral traditions; much of Yazidi law and liturgy is transmitted orally rather than through a single written scripture.
History and geographic distribution
Yazidis trace their historical roots to the mountainous regions of northern Mesopotamia. Their beliefs evolved over centuries in a region characterized by overlapping cultural and religious currents. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, waves of violence, local persecution and population movements prompted many Yazidis to migrate to the Caucasus and other safer areas. In the 20th and 21st centuries, political upheaval, wars and economic migration produced further diasporas, with Germany hosting one of the largest contemporary Yazidi communities.
Persecution and recent crises
Throughout their history the Yazidis have been vulnerable to persecution for their distinct religious identity. In August 2014, the extremist group known as Islamic State (IS) attacked the Sinjar (Shingal) region of northern Iraq, committing mass killings, abductions, sexual slavery and forcing the displacement of tens of thousands of Yazidis. These atrocities drew international condemnation and have been described as genocidal by several governments and international organizations. The assault produced a major humanitarian crisis, long‑term trauma, and a continuing struggle over return, reconstruction and justice for survivors.
Cultural life and practices
Yazidi communal life centers on pilgrimage, seasonal festivals and family rites. The annual pilgrimage to Lalish is the most important religious observance, and other rituals mark births, marriages and funerals. Religious knowledge is preserved orally by designated families and clergy. Contemporary Yazidi culture blends traditional practices with influences from the societies where they live; music, hymns, and local customs remain important for identity transmission, especially in diaspora communities.
Recognition, legal status and notable distinctions
Legal recognition and minority rights for Yazidis vary by country. Iraq and Armenia officially recognize Yazidis as a distinct minority or ethnic group in different contexts, and international bodies have highlighted their need for protection. Distinguishing features of Yazidi identity include the use of Kurmanji Kurdish, a strong emphasis on endogamy and hereditary religious roles, and a faith that relies heavily on oral tradition rather than a single canonical text. Contemporary challenges include rebuilding communities after violence, seeking accountability for crimes committed against them, and maintaining cultural continuity across dispersed diaspora populations.
- Language: Primarily Kurmanji Kurdish.
- Faith: Monotheistic, syncretic, centered on reverence for Melek Taus and the teachings associated with Shaykh ʿAdī.
- Membership: Generally by birth; conversion uncommon and intermarriage often leads to exclusion.
- Contemporary issues: Displacement, recovery after 2014 atrocities, diaspora community cohesion.
Origin of the designation
Yezidis are also called Yezidis or Yezidis. The majority of Yezidis living in Germany use the ethnonym "Yezidis" or "Êzidis" as their own name and tend to avoid the foreign names "Yezidis", "Yazidis" or "Yezidis". The origin of the term Êzîdî is still unclear. Some scholars trace the name Yazidi back to the Umayyad caliph Yazid I ibn Muawiya (680-683). Yezidis reject a relationship between their names and the caliph. Instead, some Yezidis, like other scholars, often trace the designation to the Old Iranian word yazata for "divine being," thus at the same time establishing a connection with the Old Iranian god Ahura Mazda, which makes them "god-worshippers" by name. The religious scholar ash-Shahrastani (1076-1153) traced the name of the Yezidis to the Kharijite cleric Yazid bin Unaisa, whose followers they had been. Another derivation of the word's origin uses the reference to Ez dā ("create me"). Yazidis also refer to Xwedê ez dam ("God created me") and to Em miletê ezdaîn ("We are the Ezdayi nation").
Number and main settlement areas
→ Main article: Ezidchan
The original settlement areas of the Yazidis are located in northern Mesopotamia and are also referred to as Ezidchan (Land of the Yazidis). There is no official census of the Yazidis. Their number is estimated at over one million worldwide. The majority are the Yazidis living in Iraq with half a million members. In Germany live about 200,000, in the rest of Europe there are about 65,000 more. In the USA and Canada live a few thousand Yazidis, mostly from Iraq. More than 35,000 live in Armenia, and Yazidis also live in Georgia and Russia. In Syria live a few thousand and in Turkey over 2000 mostly in Southeast Anatolia. In the 1980s, there were about 60,000 Yazidis living in Turkey. The Yazidis are thus today a religious minority among the majority Muslim population of the Middle East.
The native language of the Yazidis is the northwestern Iranian language Kurmanji. Arabic is spoken only in the Yazidi villages of Baʿšiqa and Baḥzānē in the disputed areas of northern Iraq.
The largest number of Yazidis live in northern Iraq. The Yazidis are essentially spread over two areas here. One is the Shaykhān region northeast of the city of Mosul. Here are Lalish, the religious center of the Yazidis, the village of Baʿadhrā, where the Mīr of Shaykhān, the secular and spiritual leader of the Yazidis, resides, and the two villages of Baʿshīqa and Bahzānē, which are considered the scholarly centers of the Yazidis. The second main Yazidi settlement area is the mountain range of Jabal Sinjar west of Mosul on the border with Syria, but many Yazidis also live in the city itself. The Baath Party under Saddam Hussein declared the Yazidis in northern Iraq to be Arabs during its Arabization campaign in the 1970s and 1980s.
Due to the advance of the jihadist ISIS army (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) in July and August 2014, many Yazidis fled from Mosul and the surrounding area to the Kurdish area around the city of Erbil and to the Sinjar Mountains.
Censuses and estimates by the Turkish, British and Iraqi sides from the 1920s gave a Yazidi proportion of 4 to 7 per cent of the Iraqi Kurds, which today would correspond to 160,000 to 350,000 persons if the proportion remained the same. Some maximum estimates today put the number of Yazidi believers as high as 550,000. The Yazidis make up an estimated 1 percent of the Iraqi population. Since 1991, the Yazidi community in Iraq has been divided in two. 90 percent of Iraq's Yazidis live in Iraqi-administered territory and only about 10 percent in Kurdish-administered territory.
In northern Syria, Yazidis live primarily in Afrin and in northeastern Syria primarily in and around the city of Qamishli and in al-Hasakah governorate. However, their numbers declined considerably. One estimate puts their number at 12,256 in 1990, but only 3,357 at the end of 2008. Other estimates put their number at between 35,000 and 50,000. It is declining due to emigration to Europe.
In the 1830s, after the end of the Russo-Turkish War in 1828/29, the first Yazidis arrived from Anatolia to Eastern Armenia, which was part of the Russian Empire. In 1855, about 340 Yezidis were counted in the Sardarabad district (roughly present-day Armawir). Several thousand Anatolian Yazidis were settled in the late 19th century in Shirak province, among other places. In 1912, over 17,000 Yazidis lived in the territory of present-day Armenia. In the 2001 census, their number was 40,000. In 2011, they constituted the largest minority in the country, accounting for 1.1 percent of the total population. Their cultural centre in the province of Aragazotn was the village of Alagyaz during the Soviet period.
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AlegsaOnline.com Yazidis: identity, beliefs, history and contemporary issues Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/109710
Sources
- journalstar.com : "Lincoln Iraqis call for protection from terrorism"