Never Again? The ISIS Genocide of Yazidis
14th June 2015
Until the tragedy that came early in August 2014, the people who call themselves the Dâseni were little known to Westerners. These are the Yezidis, who mainly live in Iraq. Reviled as “devil worshippers” for centuries by their Muslim and Christian neighbors, they have endured 72 attempted genocides since 630 CE. After the predations of the “Islamic State” that number has increased to 74.
A Kurdish people in ethnicity, the Yezidis practice a distinctive religion that is neither Christian nor Muslim. Tradition states that it is one of the oldest in the world, and that they have been a presence in Mesopotamia “for more than 6,700 years.” During that long span of time Yezidism has incorporated elements of other faiths: Christian, Jewish, Muslim (Sufism), Zoroastrian, and Mandaean Gnostic. Like Hindus, the Yezidis have a caste system. Their tradition is hereditary and does not allow converts.
Most Muslims do not regard them as “People of the Book” since their traditions are oral, although some Iranians describe them as such based on their link to Zoroastrianism. Their apparent non-scriptural status is changing, however, as their core oral ‘texts’ (hymns or qawls) are written down “effectively transforming Yezidism into a scriptural religion,” according to a Yezidi source.