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Yazdânism is a neologism (derived from Kurdish yazdān "worthy of worship", a cognate of Avestan Yazata) introduced by Mehrdad Izady in 1992 to denote a group of native Kurdish monotheistic religions: Yârsân, Yazidi, and Chinarism/Ishikism (Ishik Alevism). The Yazdâni faiths were the primary religion of the inhabitants of the Zagros Mountains, including Kurds, until their progressive Islamization in the 10th century. The three traditions subsumed under the term Yazdânism are primarily practiced in relatively isolated communities, from Khurasan to Anatolia and southern Iran.

Principal beliefs

Yazdânism believes in the cyclic nature of the world with reincarnation of deity and people being a common feature, traversing incarnation of the soul of a man into human form or an animal or even a plant. There are seven cycles to the life of this universe. Six of these have already happened, while the seventh one is to yet unfold. In each cycle, there is a set of six reincarnated persons (one female, five male) who will herald the new cycle and preside over it (the seventh one in the set being the ever-lasting, the ever-present Almighty). The reincarnation of the deity could be in one of the three forms: a "reflection incarnation", a "guest incarnation", or the highest form, an "embodiment incarnation". Jesus, Ali and the three leaders of the three primary branches of Yazdânism are all embodiment incarnations, meaning Godhead actually born in a human body, not different from the Christian belief in the divine birth of Jesus as "God the Son."

The term haqq (as in Ahl-i Haqq) is often misrepresented and misinterpreted as the Arabic term for Truth. Instead, its true meaning is clearly explained by the contemporary Avatar of the Spirit in the Ahl-i Haqq/Yârsânism branch of the religion - Nur Ali Elahi (died 1975) - as being "distinct from the Arabic term and in fact, should be written as "Hâq" ("Hâq-i wâqi'") instead of "Haqq" and should be understood to be different in meaning, connotation and essence."

Yazdânis do not maintain any of the requisite five pillars of Islam; nor do they have mosques or frequent them. The Quran to them is as respectable as is the Bible, and yet each denomination of this religion has its own scriptures that the adherents hold in a higher esteem than any one of the former or others.

The principal feature of the Yazdani faiths is the belief in seven benevolent divine beings that defend the world from an equal number of malign entities. While this concept exist in its purest form in Yârsânism and Yazidism, in Chinarism (Ishik Alevism) it evolves into seven "saints"/spiritual persons, which are called Ulu Ozan. Another important feature of the religions is a doctrine of reincarnation. The belief in reincarnation has been documented among the Nusayri (Shamsi Alawites) as well.

Adherents

The adherents of Chinarism/Ishikism (Ishik Alevism), Yârsânism and Yazidism are estimated to constitute about one-third of the Kurds. The main body of the followers of Chinarism/Ishikism, however, are the Anatolian Turkmens and Turks, while in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, they are Arabs. In Iran, the followers of the Yârsân can be as often the Azeris, Persians, and Mazandaranis as Kurds.

The adherents of these faiths were referred to as the Sabians of Harran (of Carrhae) in Maimonides Guide for the Perplexed. The Sabians are also mentioned in the Qur'an and in Bahá'í writings.

The distribution of these three beliefs follows geographic boundaries:

• The Ishik Alevis may be found in central and eastern Turkey and northwestern Syria.
• The Yârsâni or Ahl-e Haqq are located in the eastern (and northeastern) part of Iraq and in western Iran.
• The Yazidis come from the Turkish-Iraqi border region, and many of them reside in Armenia.

Mutual exchange and contacts between these branches are infrequent.

Criticism

Izady proposes the term as denoting a belief system which "predates Islam by millennia" which is in its character "Aryan" rather than "Semitic".

Many Kurds insist that they are in fact Muslim, in spite of being classified as "Yazdanist" by Izady. But Izady, of course, does not suggest that the 'Muslim' Kurds are Yazdanis, rather that Yazdani Kurds are not Muslim, and would identify themselves as such only to avoid harm and discrimination. (Izady 1992, 172, passim)

The concept of Yazdanism is thus a product of Kurdish ethnic nationalism rather than a religious self-designation, and the validity of the term is not recognized by other authors. Ziba Mir-Hosseini, evaluating Izady's work, states:

The most notable case is that of Izady (1992) who, in his eagerness to distance the Ahl-e Haqq from Islam and to give it a purely Kurdish pedigree, asserts their independence from Islam. He fails, however, to produce any evidence at all in support of his theory, and some of his assertions can only be called preposterous.

The view on non-Islamic identity of the Yazdanis is shared by Mohammad Mokri, the well-known Kurdish folklorist and historian, who states this religion to be "ess Islamic than Baha'ism, which everybody is agreed to be non-Islamic."

See also

• Alians
• Bābā’ī
• Bábism
• Bektaşi
• Druze
• Ghulat
• Gnosticism
• Ḥurūfiyyah
• Ismā'īlī
• Luwian mythology
• Mandaeism
• Manicheism
• Mazdakism
• Nizārī Ismā'īlī
• Nuqtavi
• Proto-Indo-Iranian religion
• Proto-Indo-European religion
• Zoroastrianism
• Zurvanism

References

1. ^ Izady, Mehrdad R. (1992), The Kurds : a concise handbook, Washington & London: Taylor & Francis, pp. 170 passim, ISBN 0-8448-1727-9
2. Ilahi, Nurali (1975), Buhan-i Haq (in Persian), Teheran, pp. anecdote 487{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
3. Ilahi, Nurali (1975), Buhan-i Haq (in Persian), Teheran, pp. anecdote 1098{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
4. Ilahi, Nurali (1975), Buhan-i Haq (in Persian), Teheran, pp. anecdote 1143{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
5. "a belief system of great antiquity that is fundamentally a non-Semitic religion, with an Aryan superstructure overlaying a religious foundation indigenous to the Zagros. To identify the Cult or any of its denominations as Islamic is simply a mistake born of a lack of knowledge of the religion, which pre-dates Islam by millennia." Izady, Mehrdad R. (1992), The Kurds : a concise handbook, Washington: Taylor & Francis, pp. 172 passim, ISBN 0-8448-1727-9
6. See for example, Mir-Hosseini, Ziba (1992), "Kurdish costume", in Kreyenbroek, Philip G.; Allison, Christine (eds.), Kurdish culture and identity, London: Zed Books, ISBN 1-85649-330-X
7. "a belief system of great antiquity that is fundamentally a non-Semitic religion, with an Aryan superstructure overlaying a religious foundation indigenous to the Zagros. To identify the Cult or any of its denominations as Islamic is simply a mistake born of a lack of knowledge of the religion, which pre-dates Islam by millennia." Mukri, Muhammad. (1966), L'Esotrérism kurde (2nd (20020 ed.), Paris, p. 92{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

• Kjeilen, Tore (2007), "Yazdanism", Encyclopaedia of the Orient, lexicorient.com

• Iranian religions
• Kurdish culture
• Monotheistic religions
• Religion in Kurdistan
• Kurdish nationalism
• Fringe theory