Religion in Kurdistan

Short description: History and development of religion in the geo-cultural Kurdistan region

The main religions that exist or historically existed in Kurdistan are as follows: Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Yarsanism, Yazidism, Alevism and Judaism. Overall today, Sunni Islam is the most adhered to religion in Kurdistan.

## Contents

* 1 Islam
* 1.1 Self-identity as Muslim first
* 1.2 Sunni Islam
* 1.3 Shia Islam
* 1.4 Youth reliogisity and radicalization in Iraqi Kurdistan
* 2 Alevism
* 3 Yazidism
* 4 Yarsanism
* 5 Zoroastrianism
* 6 Christianity
* 7 Judaism
* 8 Secularism
* 9 References

## Islam

The great mosque in Mardin

The majority of Kurdish people are Muslim by religion.[1][2][3] While the relationship between religion and nationalism has usually been strained and ambivalent with the strong hold of the Islamic leaders in Kurdish society, it has generally been the conservative Muslim Kurds who formed the backbone of the Kurdish movements.[4]

In Iraqi Kurdistan, as of 2023, Nabaz Ismail, the spokesperson for the autonomous region's Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, estimates the total number of mosques to stand at 5820, 3380 of them offering Friday sermons, with 129 mosques opened in one year, including 56 in the regional capital Erbil. He further states that the ministry employs 2700 Islamic teachers and operates 100 Quran memorization centers as well 21 Islamic schools. Nabaz Ismail also says that 99% of the mosques have been built through philanthropy, relying on private donors and their charity in the form of zakat or sadaqah.[5]

### Self-identity as Muslim first

Based on cross-national comparative surveys conducted in 2011 and 2013, it has been found out that when asked about what constitute their most important identity ("above all"), among the Kurds of Turkey 66% chose Muslim, 20% chose the Kurdish identity and 11% the Turkish nation, while among the Kurds of Iraq, 59% chose Muslim, 27% went for their Kurdish identity and 13% chose the Iraqi nation.[6]

### Sunni Islam

The majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims. The exact proportion is uncertain but McDowall gives the percentage as 'approximately 75%',[7] while Martin van Bruinessen estimates around two thirds or three quarters at least. Most Sunni Kurds follow the Shafi‘i madhhab, which distinguishes them from Arab and Turkish neighbors who in general are Hanafi. This difference is identified by some Kurds as being essential to their ethnic identity and deliberately emphasized.[4]

During the last six centuries, the Kurdish ulama had an influential role in the Ottoman court and taught at important universities like Al-Azhar University and in the Holy Cities of Arabia. Moreover, due to the location of Kurdistan between the three major cultural Islamic regions, many Kurdish ulama not only knew Kurdish but also Arabic, Persian and Turkish giving them an important role in mediating between Indian Muslims who communicated in Persian and the Arabic– and Turkish– speaking world. Kurdish teaching also had a lasting impact in Indonesia.[8]

Sunni Islam among Kurds is characterized by a strong overtone of mysticism and its scholars’ affiliation with Sufi orders.[2] In Kurdish society these constitute a hierarchical system, in which the leaders (sheikh) deploy their influence onto the localities through their deputies (khalifa), who mediate between sheikhs and common people. Today, Naqshbandiya and Qadiriyya are the most active tariqas. These tariqas had produced numbers of significant figures in the early history of Kurdish nationalist movement, including Mahmud Barzanji of Qadiriyyah, and Sheikh Said and Sheikh Ubeydullah of Naqshbandiyyah. Strong influences of sheikhs in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries were attributed to the Ottoman administrative reforms and the defense against the intrusion of Christian missionaries.[8]

Modern political development among Sunni Muslim Kurds varies throughout the state to which they belong. In Turkey, Said Nursi exerted major influence. Nursi devoted himself to intellectual development. This became the basis of the Nur Movement which espoused Islamic Modernism, mysticism, compatibility with modern science and tolerance. The Nur movement garnered several million followings in the mid 20th century.[9] The group fragmented substantially in the 1970s and 1980s, resulting in offshoots such as the Gülen movement.[10]

### Shia Islam

There is a minority of Twelver Shi'i Muslims in southern parts of Kurdistan in Kermanshah province, Khanaqin, Mandali,[11] and Ilam province. The proportion of Kurds who ascribe to Twelverism is potentially up to 15%.[7]

### Youth reliogisity and radicalization in Iraqi Kurdistan

While studying youth religiosity in Iraqi Kurdistan, Kurdish sociologist Ibrahim Sadiq Malazada through his 2021 empirical research estimates the religious youth to stand at around 50%, or roughly half, noting that the rise of ISIS has had no real impact (with 8-9% decreasing their religiosity but 7% increasing due to ISIS) while COVID-19 instead strengthened religiosity (as 29% consider it "a divine test for society"), Malazada concluding that the "religious identity among youth in Kurdistan tended to be stable and that there has been no significant change in the religious tendencies of young people."[12] As per the same research, 30% of the young Kurds consider their religious identity as being as important as their national identity, 29% consider their religious identity to be more important while 7% consider religion as "the only remaining source of pride."[13]

There are also concerns about youth radicalization because of the worsening socio-economic conditions in Iraqi Kurdistan, even though they go for a quietist form of Salafism, often favored by the local parties in order to reduce the influence of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups, instead of the more violent and revolutionary Salafi jihadism.[14] Salafism among Kurds is a phenomenon going beyond the youth in Iraqi Kurdistan.

## Alevism

An Alevi community mostly live in north western parts of Kurdistan. They are mostly concentrated in Tunceli Province.

## Yazidism

Lalish is the holy place of Yazidis.

Yazidism is a monotheistic ethnic religion with roots in a western branch of an Iranic pre-Zoroastrian religion.[15][16][17][18] It is based on the belief of one God who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings.[19][20] The leader of this heptad is Tawûsê Melek, who is symbolized with a peacock.[19][21] Its adherents number from 700,000 to 1 million worldwide[22] and are indigenous to the Kurdish regions of Iraq, Syria and Turkey, with some significant, more recent communities in Russia , Georgia and Armenia established by refugees fleeing Muslim persecution in Ottoman Empire.[20] Yazidism shares with Kurdish Alevism and Yarsanism a lot of similarities that date back to pre-Islam.[23][24][25]

## Yarsanism

Main page: Unsolved:Yarsanism

Yarsanism (also known as Ahl-I-Haqq, Ahl-e-Hagh or Kakai) is also one of the religions that are associated with Kurdistan.

Although most of the sacred Yarsan texts are in the Gorani and all of the Yarsan holy places are located in Kurdistan, followers of this religion are also found in other regions.[26] For example, while there are more than 300,000 Yarsani in Iraqi Kurdistan, there are more than 2 million Yarsani in Iran.[27] However, the Yarsani lack political rights in both countries.

During the war with ISIL, many Yarsani people were persecuted by the Islamic State, being considered as “heretics” and being driven away from their villages.[28] However, Peshmerga offensives have driven the Islamic State out, and the Yarsani people now enjoy relative safety.[29]

## Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism was one of the dominant religions in Kurdistan before the Islamic era. Currently, Zoroastrianism is an officially recognized religion in Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran and three Zoroastrian temples have opened in Iraqi Kurdistan after the official recognition of Zoroastrianism in the region in 2015.[30] On 21 September 2016, the first official Zoroastrian fire temple of Iraqi Kurdistan opened in Sulaymaniyah. Attendees celebrated the occasion by lighting a ritual fire and beating the frame drum or 'daf'.[31][32]

The Zoroastrian community in Iraqi Kurdistan has claimed that thousands of people have recently converted to Zoroastrianism in the region; however, this has not been confirmed by independent sources and there are no official figures on the Zoroastrian population in the region.[33][31] In 2020, it was reported there were 60 Zoroastrian families in Iraqi Kurdistan.[34] At the same time, Reuters claimed many new predominantly Kurdish converts to Zoroastrianism in the Kurdistan Region are not officially registered as such, but some 15,000 members are counted by the Yasna association, which represents Zoroastrians.[35]

## Christianity

Christianity is present in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq through the presence of several distinct communities, Kurdish Christians and non-Kurdish Chaldeans, Syriacs and Assyrians. The Chaldean, Syriac and Assyrian communities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq live primarily in the Erbil and Dohuk Governorates.[36]

## Judaism

There used to be a Jewish minority in most parts of Kurdistan, but most of them were forced to flee to Israel in the mid-20th century. In the beginning of 20 century, the cities of Kermanshah, Orumieh, Piranshahr and Mahabad had the largest Jewish populations in Iranian Kurdistan.

According to recent reports, there were between 400 and 730 Jewish families living in the Kurdish region. However, Dr. Mordechai Zaken, an Israeli expert on Kurdish affairs, told the Jerusalem Post in November 2015 interview that the media reports on 430 Jewish families in Iraqi Kurdistan were false: "There were several dozen families that had some distant family connection to Judaism and most of them immigrated to Israel in the aftermath of the Gulf War...".[37]

On October 18, 2015, the Kurdistan Regional Government named Sherzad Omar Mamsani, a Kurdish Jew, as the Jewish representative of the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs.[38] In 2017 Rabbi Daniel Edri, a Chief rabbi of rabbinical coury of Haifa in Israel, claimed he was appointed the chief Rabbi of Kurdistan by the Kurdish Region's Minister of Endowment and Religious Affairs.[39] In 2018, Sherzad Memsani was removed from his position.[39]

## Secularism

Kurdistan has been referred to as "the last safe haven for secularism" in a region rife with religious extremism. In 2012, the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region declared that public schools were to be religiously neutral and that all major religions of the world are taught on an equal basis. As of 2012, KRG and Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan), are the only administrations in the entire region that do not openly endorse a single religion in public schools.[40]

## References

1. ↑ Ali, Othman (1997-10-01). "Southern Kurdistan during the last phase of Ottoman control: 1839–1914". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 17 (2): 283–291. doi:10.1080/13602009708716377. ISSN 1360-2004. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602009708716377. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bruinessen, Martin van (1992). Agha, shaikh, and state : the social and political structures of Kurdistan. London: Zed Books. ISBN 1-85649-018-1. OCLC 24009664. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/24009664. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
3. ↑ Szanto, Edith (2020), Lukens-Bull, Ronald; Woodward, Mark, eds., "Islam in Kurdistan: Religious Communities and Their Practices in Contemporary Northern Iraq" (in en), Handbook of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Lives (Cham: Springer International Publishing): pp. 1–16, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_88-1, ISBN 978-3-319-73653-2, http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_88-1, retrieved 2020-12-09
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 van Bruinessen, Martin (2000). Mullas, Sufis and Heretics: The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society. Collected articles. The Isis Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9789754281620. "The relationship of religion and nationalism has often been strained and ambivalent in Kurdistan. Many leading nationalists were irreligious or at least dissatisfied with the strong hold of mullas and shaikhs on the people. It has, on the other hand, usually been the orthodox Muslims who formed the backbone of the Kurdish movement."
5. ↑ "129 more mosques built in Iraqi Kurdistan in one year: Ministry of Endowments". 28 March 2023. https://ekurd.net/mosques-built-iraqi-kurdistan-2023-03-28.
6. ↑ Moaddel, Mansoor (2020). The Clash of Values: Islamic Fundamentalism Versus Liberal Nationalism. Columbia University Press. pp. Table 3.10. ISBN 9780231550529.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 McDowall, David (1997). A Modern History of the Kurds. Bloomsbury, London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 10.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 van Bruinessen, Martin (2000). Mullas, Sufis and Heretics: The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society. Collected articles. The Isis Press. p. 24. ISBN 9789754281620.
9. ↑ Paul Dumont "Disciples of the Light: The Nurju Movement in Turkey," Central Asian Survey 5:2 (1986): 330.
10. ↑ Annika Rabo; Bo Utas (2005). The Role of the State in West Asia. Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul. pp. 53–. ISBN 978-91-86884-13-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=rkRC5G2qMzMC&pg=PA53.
11. ↑ van Bruinessen, Martin (2000). Mullas, Sufis and Heretics: The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society. Collected articles. The Isis Press. p. 15. ISBN 9789754281620.
12. ↑ Sadiq, Ibrahim (2021). "Kurdish Youth and Religious Identity : Between Religious and National Tensions". in Fazil, Shivan. Youth Identity, Politics and Change in Contemporary Kurdistan. Transnational Press London. pp. 220.
13. ↑ Sadiq, Ibrahim (2021). "Kurdish Youth and Religious Identity : Between Religious and National Tensions". in Fazil, Shivan. Youth Identity, Politics and Change in Contemporary Kurdistan. Transnational Press London. pp. 212.
14. ↑ Schaer, Cathrin (27 November 2021). "Will Iraqi Kurds turn to religious extremism?". https://www.dw.com/en/discontent-in-iraqi-kurdistan/a-59949609.
15. ↑ Turgut, Lokman. Ancient rites and old religions in Kurdistan. OCLC 879288867.
16. ↑ Foltz, Richard (2017-06-01). "The "Original" Kurdish Religion? Kurdish Nationalism and the False Conflation of the Yezidi and Zoroastrian Traditions". Journal of Persianate Studies 10 (1): 87–106. doi:10.1163/18747167-12341309. ISSN 1874-7094. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18747167-12341309. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
17. ↑ Omarkhali, Khanna (2011). The status and role of the Yezidi legends and myths : to the question of comparative analysis of Yezidism, Yārisān (Ahl-e Haqq) and Zoroastrianism: a common substratum?. OCLC 999248462.
18. ↑ Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (1995) (in en). Yezidism--its Background, Observances, and Textual Tradition. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-7734-9004-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=OTQqAQAAMAAJ&q=Ancient+iranian. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "The Yazidis". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 25 January 2017. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.254. ISBN 9780199340378. https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-254. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Açıkyıldız, Birgül. (2010). The Yezidis : the History of a Community, Culture and Religion.. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-0-85772-061-0. OCLC 772844849. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/772844849.
21. ↑ Maisel, Sebastian (2016-12-24) (in en). Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority. Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739177754. https://books.google.com/books?id=EFgIDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44.
22. ↑ Rowe, Paul S. (2018-09-20) (in en). Routledge Handbook of Minorities in the Middle East. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-23378-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=bOF1DwAAQBAJ&dq=yezidis+number&pg=PT807. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
23. ↑ Bozarslan, Hamit; Gunes, Cengiz; Yadirgi, Veli (2021-04-22) (in en). The Cambridge History of the Kurds. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-58301-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=IXgnEAAAQBAJ. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
24. ↑ Omarkhali, Khanna (January 2009). The status and role of the Yezidi legends and myths. To the question of comparative analysis of Yezidism, Yārisān (Ahl-e Haqq) and Zoroastrianism: a common substratum?. https://www.academia.edu/7918305. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
25. ↑ Turgut, Lokman (2013) (in English). Ancient rites and old religions in Kurdistan. OCLC 879288867. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/879288867.
26. ↑ "Martin van Bruinessen, When Haji Bektash Still Bore the Name of Sultan Sahak:Notes on the Ahl-i Haqq of the Guran district". http://www.hum.uu.nl/medewerkers/m.vanbruinessen/publications/Bruinessen_Haji_Bektash_Soltan_Sahak.pdf.
27. ↑ "About Yarsan, a religious minority in Iran and Yarsani asylum seekers – Yarsanmedia" (in fa-IR). http://www.yarsanmedia.org/ku/?p=10565.
28. ↑ (in en) IS Attacks Drive Members of Iraqi Kakai Minority From Their Villages, 2018-06-26, https://www.voanews.com/a/iraq-islamic-state-kakai-minority/4455712.html, retrieved 2023-10-04
29. ↑ Al-Mathfari, Nabil Akeed Mahmoud. "The Kaka'is of Iraq, from US-Invasion to Confronting the ISIS Invasion" (in en). https://cfri-irak.com/en/article/the-kakai-of-iraq-from-us-invasion-to-confronting-the-isis-invasion-2023-06-08.
30. ↑ Szanto, Edith (2018-05-15). ""Zoroaster was a Kurd!": Neo-Zoroastrianism among the Iraqi Kurds". Iran and the Caucasus 22 (1): 96–110. doi:10.1163/1573384X-20180108. ISSN 1609-8498. https://brill.com/view/journals/ic/22/1/article-p96_8.xml. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Iraqi Kurds turn to Zoroastrianism as faith, identity entwine". France 24. 23 October 2019. https://www.france24.com/en/20191023-iraqi-kurds-turn-to-zoroastrianism-as-faith-identity-entwine.
32. ↑ "Hopes for Zoroastrianism revival in Kurdistan as first temple opens its doors". Rudaw. 2016-09-21. http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/210920163.
33. ↑ "Zoroastrian faith returns to Kurdistan in response to ISIL violence". Rudaw. http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/020620153.
34. ↑ "Kurdistan welcomes US State Department report on religious freedom". https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/22656-Kurdistan-welcomes-US-State-Department-report-on-religious-freedom.
35. ↑ "Zoroastrians make a comeback in northern Iraq, but still face stigma". Reuters. 30 September 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-religion-zoroastrianism-idUSKBN26L336.
36. ↑ Iraqi Kurdistan: Political Development and Emergent Democracy. Google Play. 29 August 2003. ISBN 9781134414161. https://books.google.com/books?id=FB4ErXPRRd0C&q=hawraman+kurdistan+assyrians&pg=PA214. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
37. ↑ "So are there Jews in Kurdistan?". 12 November 2015. https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/So-are-there-Jews-in-Kurdistan-432756.
38. ↑ Sokol, Sam (18 October 2015). "Jew appointed to official position in Iraqi Kurdistan". Jerusalem Post. http://www.jpost.com/page.aspx?pageid=7&articleid=426320.
39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 [timesofisrael.com/kurdistan-sacks-jewish-community-representative-to-appease-baghdad/]
40. ↑ "Secularism: essential to Kurdish identity". Kurdistan 24 News. http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/828209b9-b737-4253-88b2-af0e4e53dba1/Secularism--essential-to-Kurdish-identity.

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