Who Are the Yazidi?
The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking ethnoreligious group primarily from the Sinjar region of northern Iraq, with communities in Syria, Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia. Before the 2014 ISIS genocide, they numbered approximately 700,000 worldwide; now approximately 500,000-600,000 remain, with large numbers displaced or resettled as refugees in Germany and elsewhere. They speak Kurmanji Kurdish and practice Yazidism, an ancient syncretic religion blending elements of pre-Islamic Mesopotamian religions, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Sufi Islam. The Yazidis have faced centuries of persecution, labeled "devil worshippers" due to misunderstanding of their veneration of Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. The 2014 ISIS attack on Sinjar, recognized as genocide, killed thousands and enslaved thousands more.
Yazidi Religion
Yazidism centers on belief in one God who created the world and then entrusted it to seven Holy Beings (heft sirr), chief among them Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. Melek Taus was the first angel and refused to bow to Adam, being loyal only to God—this refusal is seen as righteous, not rebellion. However, outsiders misidentified Melek Taus with Satan, leading to persecution. Yazidism is non-proselytizing and endogamous—one must be born Yazidi to two Yazidi parents. Society is divided into three castes: sheikhs, pirs (priests), and murids (laypeople), with marriage restricted within caste. Oral tradition transmits sacred hymns (qewls) and stories. The holiest site is Lalish, a valley temple in Iraqi Kurdistan where Sheikh Adi, a 12th-century mystic revered as an incarnation of Melek Taus, is buried. Annual pilgrimage to Lalish is obligatory.
Persecution and Genocide
The Yazidis count 72 (or 74) genocides (firman) against them throughout history. Ottoman rulers conducted multiple massacres; Kurdish neighbors often persecuted them. The 2014 ISIS attack on Sinjar was the most recent and devastating. ISIS killed thousands of men, captured thousands of women and girls as sex slaves, and forced tens of thousands onto Mount Sinjar without food or water. The UN recognized these acts as genocide. Nadia Murad, a survivor who escaped ISIS captivity, won the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating for Yazidi victims. Many enslaved women remain missing. The trauma has scattered the community—half of Iraq's Yazidis have fled the country. Those remaining face difficult conditions, with Sinjar still unstable and infrastructure destroyed. The genocide threatened Yazidi survival as a people.
Contemporary Yazidi
Modern Yazidis face an uncertain future. In Iraq, Sinjar remains contested between multiple armed forces; reconstruction is slow; many displaced Yazidis live in camps with no prospect of return. Germany hosts the largest diaspora (over 200,000), with legal cases prosecuting returning ISIS members for Yazidi enslavement. The community struggles to maintain religion and culture in dispersal—Lalish remains in Iraq, but many Yazidis are now far from their sacred homeland. Young Yazidis in Europe face assimilation pressures. Traditional caste endogamy is challenged by small diaspora populations. Some Yazidis advocate for recognized political territory or international protection. The recognition of the genocide has brought unprecedented international attention, but translation into concrete support has been limited. The Yazidi future depends on security, justice for victims, and whether scattered communities can maintain their distinctive religious tradition across continents.
References
- Allison, C. (2017). The Yazidis: The History of a Community, Culture, and Religion
- Murad, N. (2017). The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State
- Kreyenbroek, P. G. (1995). Yezidism: Its Background, Observances, and Textual Tradition