Welcome to our second “Interfaith Insights” conversation.
Here Anthony MacIsaac is in conversation with fellow Yazidi students…
The Yazidis are an ethno-religious group found in Kurdistan (northern Iraq), Armenia, Georgia, and Iran. Their religion is founded upon ancient beliefs and practices, and was informed by the medieval Sufis, especially by one of their major religious figures: Shaykh Adi ibn Musafir.
Yazidis have been persecuted over the centuries and most recently were targeted by Islamic State (ISIS). As a result, many Yazidis no longer live in their traditional homeland area but now form a diaspora in several countries across the globe.
Dialogue between Anthony MacIsaac and two Yazidis – Kalash Tamoyan, and Samo Bakoyan. Many thanks to the Institut Kurde for helping facilitate this initial dialogue:
Anthony: It’s great to meet with you! Are you from Kurdistan, or elsewhere?
Samo: We are both from Armenia. There are also Yazidis in Georgia.
Kalash: There are 11-13 villages with Yazidis in Armenia, they are concentrated in these areas.
Anthony: I read that Lalash (Kurdistan) is the most sacred place for Yazidis, have you been?
Samo: Of course! We try to go when we can, usually once a year, but the situation with getting the necessary visas is complicated.
Kalash showed us video footage and photographs of Lalash.
Anthony: So, you go there on pilgrimage? Are there many feasts among the Yazidis?
Samo: Yes. There are three major feasts, and also many others. Of course, we also celebrate our birthdays and our marriages. Marriage is the most important celebration for us, it is something sacred.
With another video, Kalash showed us a traditional Yazidi marriage, in which a green branch must be prepared, symbolising life. This branch is central to the ceremony, without it the marriage cannot be accomplished.
Anthony: What about initiation? Is there something analogous to Baptism, with Christianity, or to circumcision?
Samo: Initiation is important. There are no ritual requirements for girls, but for boys their hair must be cut ceremonially. This can only be performed by a Shaykh, each family has a Shaykh, who is like their family patriarch.
Kalash: The boys’ hair must be cut at the age of one, we try not to wait longer than that.
Anthony: What happens if you are in the diaspora, and can’t access the Shaykh? I imagine there aren’t many Shaykhs in France?
Samo: That’s right, there aren’t many here. Many live in Lalash, dedicating their lives to prayer, and they are our religious authorities. If they are not here to cut the boys’ hair, for initiation, we cut it ourselves, but we must send it to them in the post.
Anthony: That’s very interesting!
Samo: The Shaykh treats the hair ceremonially, when he receives it, and this validates the initiation of our sons.
Anthony: On the level of belief, how do you understand God and His work? I read that you believe in seven major Angels?
Samo: Yes, there are seven. The most important is Melek Taus.
Anthony: Am I right in thinking he is represented as a peacock?
Samo: This is just representation! It shows his beauty, he is not a bird himself, but angels have wings…
Anthony: The other six angels – what is their function?
Samo: We’d need to ask one of the Shaykhs, our faith is passed on by oral tradition!
Anthony: And God always speaks via Melek Taus, or can God speak in His own ways?
Kalash: Oh yes, God can speak for Himself! But Melek Taus is very important in our faith.
Samo: Melek Taus was with Adam and Eva in the Garden of Eden.
Anthony: What of people? Are the Judeo-Christian Patriarchs and Prophets considered significant by the Yazidis? What of Jesus Christ and Mary?
Samo: They are certainly important, and we have heard their names. There are many stories, which our Shaykhs know better. For us, they are all people of God, but we also venerate Shaykh Adi ibn Musafir, whose tomb is in Lalash.
Anthony: What about Muhammad, as Shaykh Musafir was Sufi? There must be some Islamic influence.
Samo: The simple answer is no, for us Muhammad is not considered one of God’s chosen prophets. We have been very persecuted over the years. In 2015 we suffered from a genocide, and many of our people were kidnapped by Daesh (ISIS). The Ottoman Empire also persecuted our people. Islam and the Yazidis struggle to exist together.
Kalash: But the Christians in Armenia have been excellent to us, they have helped us, and made us very welcome. We live side-by-side, in peace.
Kalash showed us another video, of a new Yazidi place of worship, in Armenia. The building looked impressive, and had seven towers, with the central tower being the largest. On each spire was one of the seven Angels of God. God is known as Xwedê .
Anthony: What about more spiritual questions? How do you pray? And what do you believe about death and the meaning of life?
Samo: We can pray three times a day (sunrise, noon, sundown) and we usually wash our hands, and our faces before prayer. Life is a mystery, and I can’t say what happens after death! For funeral services, we do pray, and we always insist on burial, never cremation.
Anthony: How do you understand the presence of evil, especially in the context of suffering, which seems to have really affected your own community, tragically?
Samo: It is tragic, but we can’t understand it completely. All is good. We don’t believe in any devil. God is good, the world is good.
Anthony: I suppose the only other thing I was going to ask was whether you have any prohibitions in your religious beliefs?
Samo: Yes, Yazidis can only marry Yazidis. But the Yazidi identity is always passed by the girls – which is why we must initiate the boys by cutting their hair.
Anthony: That parallels with the Jewish belief, of identity passing via the mother?
Samo: Yes, it does! And we don’t eat pork. We do drink alcohol however.
Kalash: In Armenia we like to drink vodka. Sometimes we drink vodka in ritual celebrations, with two hands, and saying a prayer of thanksgiving. In Scotland, you have good whisky?
Anthony: Yes, we do! Thank you so much for your time, and it has been remarkably interesting for me.
Kalash: You must visit Lalash, it is very welcoming to everyone.
Samo: I hope we can meet again, and we can discuss more of your questions. Until next time, and I hope you have a nice Christmas. We celebrate it by giving presents to the children, but we don’t have any religious dimension attached to it.