Adawiyya

Adawiyya (Arabic: العدوية; Kurdish: عدویتی), also pejoratively known as Yazidiyya (Arabic: اليزيدية; Kurdish: یزیدیتی), was a Sunni Sufi order founded by Adi ibn Musafir in Kurdistan. Adawiyya was a syncretic and heterodox sect, heavily influenced by Pre-Islamic religions. It later evolved into Yazidism.^[1]

Origins

The Adawiyya order was founded by Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir. Adi ibn Musafir was of an Arab descent from the Umayyad dynasty, born around 1075 in a village known as Bait Far, near Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. From his remote village, he travelled to Baghdad to study Sufism. Later, in the 11th century, he moved to a valley in Lalish, inhabited mainly by the Hakkari and Dasini tribes. Sheikh Adi later changed his nisba from "al-Shami" to "al-Hakkari". The region was very dangerous and isolated at the time, as many Kurds had not converted to Islam and were hostile to outsiders. He then established the Adawiyya order.^[2][3][4][5] Sheikh Adi chose Kurdistan for several reasons. He was very disliked by the people of Baghdad for his rejection of orthodox Islam. While living in Baghdad, he visited Lalish and established connections with Kurds who lived in both Baghdad and Kurdistan. Marwan II, who was half Kurdish, had ascended to the throne with the help of Kurds. Sheikh Adi, as a direct descendant of Marwan II, was thus welcomed by the Kurds. Abdulqadir Gilani had studied with Sheikh Adi in Baghdad, and worked with Kurdish Sufi sheikhs to settle Sheikh Adi in Kurdistan. Abdulqadir Gilani continued to be venerated in Yazidism.^[6] The region had already sheltered other famous Sufis, such as Abu al-Hassan Ali, an Umayyad who died in 1093, Uqayl al-Manbiji, who gave Sheikh Adi his first cloak, and Abu al-Wafa al-Hulwani, whose corpse Sheikh Adi washed. Sheikh Adi never left the valley, except for a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1116 with Abdulqadir Gilani. He would sometimes come out of the valley to preach to people in the plains. In a visit to Mosul in 1160, he was observed by Muzaffar al-Din, who grew up to be governor of Erbil and remembered Sheikh Adi as being of medium height with a tawny skin color. He was also described as having eyes like those of a gazelle, and being so slim that people heard his brain move around in his skull when he bowed his head for prayer.^[7]

Sheikh Adi was influenced by various Sufi sheikhs, including Abdulqadir Gilani, al-Ghazali, Hasan al-Basri, al-Hallaj, Qadib al-Ban and Fakhr al-Din al-Tabaristani, all of whom were venerated as Yazidi saints.^[8]

Sheikh Adi was especially influenced by al-Hallaj, who likely was the origin of the Adawi and later Yazidi views of Iblis. Sheikh Adi settling in Kurdistan to convert local tribes may have also been an intentional imitation of al-Hallaj, who settled in Khorasan to convert local populations. There were several Yazidi hymns dedicated to al-Hallaj, an important Yazidi saint.^[9]

There was a monastery belonging to the Church of the East located in a valley in Lalish, which Sheikh Adi remodeled and opened the first zawiya of Adawiyya. The monastery was built in the 10th century and functioned for two centuries until it became an Adawi zawiya in the 12th century. All Christian symbolism was removed from the monastery. After the death of Sheikh Adi, the zawiya was remodeled again as the shrine of Sheikh Adi and became one of the holiest Yazidi sites. The entire valley was named after Sheikh Adi. Some historians claimed that Sheikh Adi and his Kurdish followers raided the monastery and violently seized it, while others claimed that it was abandoned much earlier. Syriac tradition claimed that the monastery was dedicated to Mar Addai and ran by two Assyrian brothers, and that Sheikh Adi had violently seized the monastery and founded the Yazidi religion. In 1452, a Nestorian monk wrote that Sheikh Adi was not an Arab but a local Kurd who worked as a caretaker at the monastery with his sons. The monk claimed that when the patriarch was on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Sheikh Adi and his sons seized the monastery and took the monks as slaves, but later decided to kill them all. While the source was verified as authentic, the claims were historically inaccurate and incorrect, as Sheikh Adi was known to be an Arab with no children who died two centuries before the source was written. However, it was still possible that Sheikh Adi violently seized the monastery during his time. There were strong historical tensions between Yazidis and Syriacs, although by the 16th century, it had subdued as both groups became common targets of Islamic extremism. However, it was generally a toleration for each other rather than positive relations. Western travelogues noted that Assyrians in Mandatory Iraq generally believed that Sheikh Adi violently seized the monastery.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]}

Belief system

Sheikh Adi settled among a group of Kurds who practiced a syncretism of Ancient Iranian religion and Ancient Mesopotamian religion.^[18][19] They accepted Islam, but they mixed it with the local beliefs. Adawiyya was led by Arabs, who comprised the clerical class. The vast majority of adherents were Kurmanji Kurds, with few Arabs, Turks, Persians, and others. As Adawiyya was very isolated and most of its adherents were Kurds, the other ethnicities gradually assimilated. By the time that Adawiyya split from Islam and stopped accepting religious converts, virtually all of its adherents were Kurdish.^{[20][21][22][23]} For this reason, Islamic literature generally considered Adawiyya synonymous with Kurds.^[24]

Sheikh Adi claimed that Muslims must be guided by the Quran and Sunnah, and follow the examples of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. He highly respected Ali, although he hated Shia Islam. Sheikh Adi advocated for Fanaa, and told his followers "You should know that saints did not become saints by eating, drinking, sleeping, striking and beating, but that they rose until their state thanks to their religious zeal and their austere practices. The one who perishes for the love of God becomes a dress of honour for the Divinity and who comes closer to God by annihilating his own life, God gives him this life."^[25] The Adawis believed in Allah, who they referred to as Xwedê, Ellah, Reb, Heq, and Yazdan.^[26] Yazdan was an Iranic term for God. Adawis started some prayers with "Bismi Yazdan al-Ali al-Adhim al-Rahim al-Karim", meaning "in the name of Yazdan, the high, the great, the merciful, the generous."^[27] However, they mostly used the term Xwedê, which became more dominant.^[28]

The poetry of Sheikh Adi was similar to the poetry of Shah Ismail, often highlighting his heterodox views. The Adawis were partially a militant sect, and had similarities with the earlier Khurramites and the later Qizilbash.^[29] Sheikh Adi was believed to have supernatural powers and perform miracles. He was heavily influenced by Al-Hallaj, and also made statements in which he stated that he was one with God.^[25] Al-Hallaj, before his execution, made statements which many saw as his claim to divinity, while he claimed it was actually unity with God.^[30][31]

History

Adi ibn Musafir died in January 1162, and his tomb in Lalish became a shrine for his followers. As he had no children, his nephew, Sakhr Abu al-Barakat, succeeded him as the leader of Adawiyya. Sakhr Abu al-Barakat had rapidly grown Adawiyya. He also died at an old age and was buried near Adi ibn Musafir. He was succeeded by his son, Sheikh Adi II, who was the first Adawi leader born in Kurdistan, and known as "Adi the Kurd", to distinguish him from Adi ibn Musafir.^[32]

Adi the Kurd died and was succeeded by his son, Sheikh Hasan ibn Adi II. Under Sheikh Hasan, Adawiyya began to shift more towards the heterodox practices and diverge from Islam, although Adawis continued to identify as Sunni Muslims. Due to the Adawi veneration of Yazid ibn Muawiya, as well as the shared Umayyad lineage of Yazid and the Adawi sheikhs, many began to pejoratively refer to Adawis as "Yazidis", and Adawiyya as Yazidiyya. The terms became synonymous. Adi ibn Musafir held both Yazid and Hussein in a very high regard, and strongly denied that Yazid had killed Hussein.^[33][34][35] Under Sheikh Hasan, the adherents of Adawiyya became mostly Kurds. Although Sheikh Adi had very heterodox views and established Adawiyya with heavy influence from Kurdish beliefs, it was primarily organized based on Sufism. However, under Sheikh Hasan, the Kurdish beliefs began to form the basis of Adawiyya. Sheikh Hasan was born in 1195, and was described as very intelligent. Before becoming leader of Adawiyya, he spent six years in isolation, where he studied religion. Sheikh Hasan introduced many new beliefs to Adawiyya, including strict veneration of Sheikh Adi and total obedience from his disciples. Unlike previous Adawi leaders, Sheikh Hasan actively engaged in religious debates. On one occasion, he was so affected by the words of another preacher that he began sobbing and eventually fainted, while the Adawis killed the preacher for causing Sheikh Hasan to lose his composure.^[36][37]

Ibn al-Sam'ani wrote that the Yazidis were extremely isolated and lived ascetic lives where they believed in Yazid ibn Muawiyah. Ibn Khallikan wrote about the life of Sheikh Adi and Adawiyya.^[38]

Ibn Taymiyya wrote a critique of Adawiyya called "Risala al-Adawiyya". Ibn Taymiyya praised Sheikh Adi as a rightful and pious sheikh. Ibn Taymiyya criticized Sheikh Hasan, claiming that he introduced the extreme veneration of Sheikh Adi and Yazid ibn Muawiyah into Adawiyya. He referred to the Adawiyya as "ignorant Kurds", but claimed that they were still Muslims and refused to takfir them, claiming that their problem was ghulat rather than disbelief.^[5][39][40]

The term "Yazidi", was given to Adawis by Shias and some Sunnis. In turn, Adawis referred to Shias as "the rafida", and to their Sunni opponents as "the sharia", claiming that their Sunni opponents were not Muslims, but merely citizens of land ruled by Sharia, and blindly depended on Sharia whereas the Adawis were the followers of Sheikh Adi, the "sheikh of the Sunnah". Adawis referred to themselves as "the sunna" or "ahl al sunnah wal jamaah", and to Adawiyya as "the sunna" or "the tariqa".^[41][42]

Other than Kurdistan, the Adawis were also present in Syria and Egypt as they had fled there during the Mongol invasions and conquests.^[43] Adawis also had good relations with Salahuddin and had a significant presence in his army.^[44] Adawis were very active in fighting the Crusaders.^[45] Many of the Adawis in Syria and Egypt were originally Ayyubid soldiers stationed there.^[46]

As the Adawiyya, which were also a militant sect, were becoming increasingly powerful, Badr al-Din Lu'lu', an Armenian slave who became Zengid ruler of Mosul, had worried of a possible Adawi uprising and arrested Sheikh Hasan in 1246. In 1254, Badr al-Din Lu'lu' began a campaign against Adawiyya, and killed Sheikh Hasan. A contemporary noted that "after a bitter struggle, the Adawi Kurds were routed, some killed, others taken prisoner. Lulu crucified a hundred and executed a hundred more. He ordered their emir's arms and legs to be chopped off and displayed above the gates of Mosul. He also sent men to dig up Sheikh Adi's bones and burn them."^[47] Adawis were unaffected by the heavy losses and continued to launch revolts against the Zengids.^[48] Sheikh Hasan was succeeded by his son, Sharafuddin ibn al-Hasan. Under Sharafuddin, the Adawi revolts resulted in a victory, having successfully captured their native lands and dealing significant damage to the Zengids.^[49] However, their success was short-lived, as the Mongols invaded in 1258 and killed Sharafuddin.^[44] Sharafuddin later became the namesake of Yazidism.^[50] Badr al-Din Lu'lu' was very tolerant of other religions. He gave Christians freedom and even participated in Christian festivities. He was also either a Shia Muslim or a Sunni with heavy Shia influence. His love of Shia Islam may have came from the policies of Al-Nasir, although Al-Nasir advocated for Sufi mysticism centered around Ali, while Badr al-Din Lu'lu' was known for hating Sufism. It was most likely that Badr al-Din Lu'lu' turned to Shia Islam due to his hatred of the Adawiyya, who were very vocal about their opposition to Shia Islam. He pledged his allegiance to ahl al-bayt and spread Shia Islam in Mosul. He also adopted the epithet of "waliyy al Muhammad" (ولي آل محمد), and proceeded to build Shia shrines all over Mosul, Sinjar, and Tikrit while converting Sunni structures into Shia ones.^[51]

The Adawi victory over the Zengids, was mentioned in Yazidi holy scriptures, but with some differences. Badr al-Din Lulu's father was said to have attacked Lalish, but his plans were thwarted by Sheikh Adi, who sent a man to eat all the food that the Zengids brought to sustain their army. The Zengids were forced to accept the defeat, although Badr al-Din Lulu's father pleaded that his name would not disappear from the world, so Sheikh Adi threw him into a valley. Badr al-Din Lu'lu' was hiding behind Sheikh Hasan while the Zengids were defeated, so Sheikh Adi let him live. Sheikh Adi then sent all Yazidi saints to different places, Sheikh Mend went to Aleppo, Sheikh Abu Bakr (Sêxûbekir) went to Diyarbakir, Nasiruddin went to Nasiriya, Sijadin went to the mountain pastures, and Mir Hesilmeman went to the plain of Harir. Only Sheikh Adi, his mother Sitya Êz, Sheikh Hasan, and a few servants remained in Lalish. Badr al-Din Lu'lu' complained to Sheikh Hasan that he had stopped the pilgrimage to Mecca and made Lalish the new site of pilgrimage. Sheikh Hasan vowed to continue speaking the truth, after which he was imprisoned in Mosul. Sharafuddin then appeared and asked all the regional rulers to help liberate Sheikh Hasan, but they all refused. He then asked Sheikh Mend, who instantly transformed into a black star and landed on Mosul, turning the whole city upside down. According to historical sources, Badr al-Din Lu'lu' had killed Sheikh Hasan, after which fighting continued between the Zengids and Adawiyya until Sharafuddin led the Adawiyya to victory. However, in Yazidi religious tradition, Sheikh Hasan had only been imprisoned before freed by Sharafuddin and Sheikh Mend.^[52] When Sheikh Hasan was killed in 1254, the Adawiyya refused to believe he died, and believed that he was only waiting to return. His son Sharafuddin, who was killed in 1258, was venerated in Yazidism as the Mehdi. The belief that Sheikh Hasan was going to return may have influenced similar beliefs about his son.^[53]

Sharafuddin had entered an alliance with Kaykaus II against the Mongols and was appointed as the general of a Seljuk army consisting of Kurds and Turkomans. As a reward, Sharafuddin was given the city of Kharput, which he ruled over. The Mongols entered the city and there was a fierce battle, while Sharafuddin left the city to meet with Keykaus II, although the Mongols caught him near the Jazira and killed him in 1258. When the Mongols entered Mosul, they did not harm its population, as Saleh, the son of Badr al-Din Lu'lu', made an agreement fight in the service of the Mongols. When Hulagu remembered Sharafuddin collaborating with the Seljuks, he ordered the massacre of Adawis, and destroyed the Adawi settlement of Sinjar in 1261.^[44]

Zaynuddin, the son of Sharafuddin, refused to lead the Adawis due to Mongol hostility, and instead settled in Damascus before moving to his ancestral Beqaa Valley, and later Cairo, Egypt, where he died. Zaynuddin gave the leadership of Adawiyya to his uncle Fakhruddin, who was the final leader of Adawiyya before it split from Islam. He had been married to a Mongol woman and was on good terms with the Mongols.^[54][44] Izzuddin, the son of Zaynuddin, remained in Syria, first living in Damascus, and then in Shafad. He was famous among the Adawiyya in Syria, although he relinquished his leadership and moved to Mezze near Damascus where he organized groups of Kurds with whom he planned to revolt against the Mamluk Sultan Nasir Muhammad, after which he was captured in Damascus and died in prison in 1330. At the same time, Adawiyya began to decline in Egypt.^[55] Izzuddin was known to Syrian locals as "the Kurd".^[56] While Adawiyya disappeared from Syria and Egypt, it continued to thrive in Kurdistan, while growing increasingly distant from Islam.^[57] The heterodox nature of Adawiyya, the tensions between Adawis and other Muslims, and the refusal of other Muslims to view the Adawiyya as Muslims eventually led to a religious schism.^[58]

Schism

In the 13th century, Adawiyya gradually split from Islam and evolved into Yazidism.^[59] In 1324, Abu Firas Ubaydullah ibn Shibl wrote that Yazidism had emerged as a religion independent from Islam. He claimed that Yazidism was Adawiyya after it became its own religion, and that Yazidis retained Adawi doctrines. He claimed that Adawis had never been Muslims but "Yazidis", who followed a religion centered around Yazid ibn Muawiyah. He claimed Sheikh Hasan would dispatch Adawi missionaries, who would go as far as Hit, and preach to the locals to kill anyone who disrespected Yazid ibn Muawiyah. He stated that the "Adawi Yazidis" had been "misled by Satan who whispered to them that they must love Yazid, to such an extent that they say 'we are justified in killing and taking the property of whoever does not love Yazid.' They ceased to join Friday prayer, but the most deviant one of them was Hasan bin Adi."^{[33][34][60][61]}

In 1415, a large army of Kurdish Muslims led by Izzuddin al-Hulwani began a devastating attack on Yazidis and sacked the Shrine of Sheikh Adi. While Yazidis initially claimed to be Muslims only opposed to the outdated Islamic orthodoxy, and Muslims saw Yazidis as Muslims but slightly misguided, the Yazidis and Muslims began to regard their religions as completely unrelated after the 1415 attack. Yazidis rebuilt the shrine instantly after the attack.^[62][63][64]

Yazidis believed in a trinity appointed by God to handle the worldly affairs. The first emanation was Melek Tawus, the second was Sheikh Adi, and third was Sultan Ezid.^[65][66][67] They also believed that Melek Tawus, Fakhruddin, Sheikh Shams, Nasiruddin, Sijadin, Sheikh Abu Bakr (Şêxûbekir), and Hasan ibn Adi (Şêxsin), were avatars of the angels Azazil, Nura'il, Israfil, Shemna'il, Jibra'il, Mika'il, and Darda'il, respectively.^[68][69] Yazidis did not have the same concept of Satan as the Abrahamic religions did. Sheikh Adi defended Iblis, like his main influence Al-Hallaj, who claimed that Iblis did not prostrate to Adam because of how much he loved God. Muslims and Christians accused Yazidis of devil worship, due to Melek Tawus being the avatar of Azazil. However, Yazidis claimed that he was neither the devil, nor a fallen angel, nor a source of evil.^[70]

Sheikh Fakhruddin, the final leader of Adawiyya, along with his brothers Nasiruddin, Sheikh Shams, and Sijadin, were venerated in Yazidism as the four sons of Ezdina Mir.^[71][72][73] In Yazidi tradition, Ezdina Mir was the leader of the religion, before having passed his position to Sheikh Adi when he settled in Lalish in the 11th century.^[74][72] The Yazidi text "Hymn of Ezdina Mir" was strongly mystical, alluding to the relations between Ezdina Mir, Sultan Ezid, and Yazid ibn Muawiyah.^[75]

Despite their origin in Adawiyya, Yazidis did not identify as Muslims.^[76] Yazidis claimed that they were never Muslim, and that Sheikh Adi was not a Muslim but a Yazidi sent by God to renew the faith, and that Sheikh Adi merely adopted some Islamic elements to protect and develop the faith, which had always been a distinct faith much older than Islam.^[77][78] Before the arrival of Sheikh Adi, the Yazidis had no organized religion or belief system, and their beliefs were very diverse. When Sheikh Adi arrived, he had organized and standardized their beliefs while he introduced Islam, and began regulating the faith within the Islamic framework. Pre-Islamic beliefs continued to dominate Adawiyya, which was the main reason it eventually split from Islam and became Yazidism in the 12th century. Yazidism had the structure and framework of Islam, and while many of its beliefs were rooted from Sufism, the vast majority rooted from Pre-Islamic Kurdish beliefs.^{[79][80][81][5]} Yazidi religious texts were mostly in Kurmanji, with some in Arabic, and few in Turkish. Historically, many Yazidi religious texts were lost due to persecution.^[82]

During the early period of Yazidism in the 13th century, Sheikh Mand, the son of Fakhruddin, also emerged as the ruler of the Emirate of Kilis, and an Ayyubid military commander. His sister, Khatuna Fekhra, was also revered as an important Yazidi female saint.^[83][74][72] Sufi sheikh Ahmad al-Badawi also visited the tomb of Sheikh Adi.^[84]

Yazidi sheikhs were divided into three lineages, the Shamsani, the Adani, and the Qatani. Within the lineages, there were more lineages. The Shamsani were of Kurdish origin and claimed descent from the four sons of Êzdîna Mir, the Adani were of Arab origin and claimed descent from Hasan ibn Adi (Şêxsin), and the Qatani were also of Arab origin and claimed descent from Sheikh Abu Bakr (Şêxûbekir), a family member of Sheikh Adi.^[85][86] Hasan ibn Adi was the father of Sharafuddin, Sheikh Shams, and Fakhruddin. However, Yazidi tradition claimed that Sheikh Shams and Fakhruddin were the sons of Ezdina Mir, and that they were the grandchildren of Sharafuddin, meanwhile Sheikh Hasan was the ancestor of a different lineage.^[87]

In Yazidism, there was also a holy figure known as Mullah Abu Bakr of Jazira. There was a scripture dedicated to Mullah Abu Bakr of Jazira, stating that he lived in a Muslim community but was eventually questioned by a group of Muslims about his religion, after which he revealed to them he was a Yazidi and taught them of his religion. Many believed that Mullah Abu Bakr of Jazira was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, as the term "Jazira" could have referenced the Arabian Peninsula, and both figures belonged to the Quraysh tribe, among many other parallels. Mullah Abu Bakr of Jazira resembled Sheikh Abu Bakr (Şêxûbekir) in some ways, but was far more similar to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. In Yazidism, Mullah Abu Bakr of Jazira carried the essence of Sheikh Adi and was a manifestation of Yazidi holy beings.^[88] Sheikh Abu Bakr (Şêxûbekir) was considered by Yazidis as a manifestation of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.^[89]

Sharafuddin ibn al-Hasan was also the Mehdi in Yazidism. According to Yazidi tradition, at the end of time, the Dajjal would come and deceive the Muslims, after which Jesus would come back and kill the Dajjal and rule over Egypt, until Sharafuddin comes back to earth and rule over it, bringing stability back. Later, Gog and Magog would appear and kill Sharafuddin, after which Sultan Ezid would come and assemble an army of believers between Damascus and Jerusalem, and unite the world in one religion.^[90]

The reverence of Yazid ibn Muawiyah in Adawiyya persisted even after Yazidism became an independent religion. Yazid ibn Muawiyah was an incarnation of the divine spirit and his birthday was one of the most important Yazidi feasts. Yazidis credited Yazid ibn Muawiya with permitting the consumption of liquor, which was previously forbidden for the Yazidis. Yazidis denied that their name came from Yazid ibn Muawiyah and claimed that it came from Sultan Ezid. Most historians sought a less controversial origin for their name, and agreed that it likely originated from Yazata, which most Yazidis supported. However, it was also likely that the term "Yazidi", initially used as a slur towards the community by Shias, was reappropriated by the Yazidis and gradually became their official designation.^[91][92][93] Even Yazidi tradition sometimes identified Sultan Ezid with Yazid ibn Muawiyah, and in some texts, Sultan Ezid was a clear reference to Yazid ibn Muawiyah. In Yazidi scripture, Muhammad had foretold Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan that he would inevitably have a son who would challenge and defeat Islam, after which Muawiyah swore not to marry. Later, Muawiyah was stung by a scorpion, and the doctors said the only way he would be healed is if he gets married. He then married the elderly sister of Umar ibn al-Khattab, as she was past the age of childbearing. However, the next day he woke up and found her to be in her late teens and already pregnant. He told his servants to take her anywhere as long as it was secret, after which two of his servants agreed to leave her in the desert to be eaten by wolves. When they told Muawiyah, he was shocked and sent more servants to look for her and take her somewhere safer, after which she was found and taken to Basra. She was taken and given a place to stay by the daughter of the top Sharia judge of Basra. She then gave birth to Sultan Ezid. Later, Sultan Ezid learned of who his father was, so he travelled to Damascus to meet Muawiyah, who initially tried to avoid his son as he knew what would happen after. Sultan Ezid claimed he fully knew Islam and had even more advanced knowledge, and claimed that wine was permissible. Muawiyah's aides began teasing him, claiming that his son was an alcoholic. Sultan Ezid was taken to a Sharia judge, who tasted the wine and instantly submitted to Sultan Ezid. In an act of rebellion, Sultan Ezid placed grapes in the rivers of Damascus and turned all of the water into wine. Muawiyah then accepted Sultan Ezid as his son and pleaded with him to restore the rivers. Muawiyah then gave his position of authority to Sultan Ezid. The Yazidi scripture had summarized the relationship of Yazidism to Islam, as well as the end of the Islamic tradition and beginning of Yazidi tradition according to Yazidis. Yazidis claimed that they followed the religion of Sultan Ezid.^[94] Many historians believed that Sultan Ezid was Yazid ibn Muawiyah but Kurdified and modified to disassociate from the controversies of Yazid ibn Muawiyah, although Yazidis denied it. The connection between Sultan Ezid and Yazid ibn Muawiyah could have been substantiated as the result of a secondary development. According to the Yezidi tradition, Sultan Ezid broke away from Islam and adopted the religion of Shahid bin Jarr, and spread it everywhere in Syria until the arrival of Sheikh Adi, the founder of the first Yazidi community. Yazid ibn Muawiyah, having already been venerated by the followers of Sheikh Adi as another Umayyad offspring, was incorporated into the newly forming Yazidi tradition together with a religious-political movement of the supporters of the Umayyad dynasty. Before the creation of Adawiyya, there were small groups of Umayyad loyalists who had extreme devotion to Yazid ibn Muawiyah, who had joined Sheikh Adi when be established Adawiyya. Sultan Ezid and Yazid were both the son and successor of Muawiyah, and both drank wine and had conflicts with orthodox Muslims. Even in Islamic tradition, Yazid ibn Muawiyah was associated with the rejection of Islamic authority, and love of wine, poetry, and mysticism. In Yazidi tradition, Sultan Ezid had permitted wine and ended the Sharia ruling system. However, there were some differences between Sultan Ezid in Yazidi lore and Yazid ibn Muawiyah in Islamic lore, leading historians to state that that the two figures were separate, even if they were just different interpretations of the same historical figure.^[95][96][93] In 1934, Ismail Beg Chol, the leader of the Yazidis at the time, stated that Sultan Ezid was Yazid ibn Muawiyah.^[97] Yazidis also believed that after Sultan Ezid (Yazid ibn Muawiyah) had broke off from Islam, he expanded his kingdom northwards from Damascus, after which he encountered a Kurdish tribe in the mountains around Sinjar, the ancestors of the Yazidis, and introduced himself as one of them.^[89] In Yazidism, there was no mention of the Battle of Karbala or the hostility between Yazid and Hussein, as the Islamic tradition had ended the moment Sultan Ezid succeeded Muawiyah as caliph according to Yazidis. Sheikh Adi had explicitly denied that Yazid had killed Hussein. Yazidi holy scriptures claimed that Sheikh Adi and Melek Tawus had both owned and ridden Duldul. In Yazidism, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Fatima, Hassan, Hussein, and Aisha were also venerated. In Yazidism, Ali was revered as a manifestation of Sijadin and a hero who fought for the Yazidi faith against infidels.^[98] After the Yazidi territories were incorporated into Iraq, many Yazidis began to decrease their veneration of Yazid ibn Muawiyah and attempted to disassociate him from Yazidism, out of fear of the Shia authorities. However, the Yazidis in Turkey continued to openly revere Yazid ibn Muawiyah, claiming that he was Sultan Ezid.^{[99][100][101]} Yazidis who lived around Aleppo and Sinjar, where the neighboring Muslims were Sunni, were more open about Yazid ibn Muawiyah, with a Yazidi sheikh from Aleppo reciting a panegyric in 1936 which described the miracles performed by Yazid ibn Muawiyah during the First siege of Constantinople. However, east of the Tigris, where most of the Muslims were Shia, Yazid ibn Muawiyah occurred less frequently in Yazidi folklore.^[91][92][93] Yazidis began to deliberately distance themselves from Yazid ibn Muawiyah in the 20th century, not only due to fear of persecution in Shia-majority Iraq, but also to minimize any links between Yazidism and Islam.^[102][93] Yazid ibn Muawiyah was seen as an example of the Yazidi veneration of certain Islamic figures, whether using their original or modified names, with the belief that the Muslims had not understood the true nature of the figure, or that the Muslim and Yazidi figures were just separate manifestations of the same person, or that they were spiritually the same by the transfer of the divine secret from one figure to the other. Yazidis believed that Musafir, the father of Sheikh Adi, was the manifestation of Muawiyah, and that Sheikh Adi was the manifestation of Khidr and Yazid ibn Muawiyah, Yazid ibn Muawiyah was the manifestation of Bakhtenasr and Bahlul-e Diwana, Sheikh Abu Bakr (Şêxûbekir) was the manifestation of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Sheikh Abdulqadir was the manifestation of Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, Sheikh Shams was the manifestation of Jesus and Shams Tabrizi, Fakhruddin was the manifestation of Moses and Rabban Hormizd, Sijadin was the manifestation of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Nasiruddin was the manifestation of Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Sheikh Hasan was the manifestation of Muhammad and Hasan al-Basri.^[89]

When Evliya Çelebi visited Lalish, he wrote that the Shrine of Sheikh Adi alone was more elegant than all of the thousands of Muslim Kurdish shrines. He referred to them as "Yezidi Kurds", and met with Yazidi militants, who he described as well-armed, bloodthirsty, very brave, and scarily accurate with their aim. He also wrote that Yazidis instantly killed anyone who disrespected Yazid, and that they held an extreme hatred for Shia Muslims.^[103][104] Sharafkhan Bidlisi referred to Yazidis as "Korde-ye radde-ye Yezidi" (Yazidi apostate Kurd) and wrote that the Kurds were divided between two groups, the first being "those from the tribes that followed the path of the people of the Sunnah and the community" and the second being those, who "have chosen the unrighteous Yezidi path and follow that nation". He stated that Yazidis believed that Sheikh Adi took their duty to fast and pray, and that on the day of judgement they will not get punishment due to being followers of Sheikh Adi. He also mentioned the extreme tensions between Yazidis and Shias, noting that "an old enmity between the Hosseini and the Yezidis continues." Mahmud Bayazidi wrote that "There is also a Yezidi tribe in Kurdistan who do not belong to Muslims; they are the Yezidis. And all of the customs, rites and laws among them are different. This tribe worships Iblis and calls Satan 'Melek Tawus.' But they speak Kurdish. If I tell everything about them, the book will be extremely long. It is enough."^[105]

In 1534, the Yezidi leader Hussein Beg was installed as the governor of Erbil, after which he briefly ruled over the Kurdish tribes and persecuted the Shias among them. He was supplanted and executed in Istanbul shortly after.^[106] Despite the fact that Yazidis and Shias historically held negative views of each other, there had been few interactions between the two communities until Saddam Hussein came to power. The Ba'athist government claimed that Yazidis supported the massacre of Shias in 1991, which Yazidis insisted was not true and clearly aimed at turning Yazidis and Shias against each other. After 2003, the Shia-dominated Iraqi government made efforts to reconcile between Yazidis and Shias by recognizing Yazidis as an integral part of Iraq, and fostering relations between the two communities by establishing more interactions. Shia clerics began to encourage the use of "Ezidi" instead of "Yazidi". There was strong solidarity between the Yazidi and Shia communities during the war on the Islamic State, as well as close collaboration between Yazidi and Shia armed groups.^[107]

Kurdish nationalists praised Yazidism due to its native origin in Kurdistan, and presented it as the "original religion" of the Kurds, while attempting to depreciate Adi ibn Musafir and many Yazidi saints because of their Arab origin, as part of their attempts to include Yazidism in Kurdish nationalism and remove what they perceived to be Arab influence from the religion. Arab nationalists emphasized on their Arab origin of many Yazidi saints, and the historic role of Arabs in Adawiyya, as part of their attempts to present the Yazidis as an Arab ethnoreligious group like the Druze, claiming that they were simply Arabs who followed a distinct religion.^[108][109]

See also

• Safaviyya
• Druze
• Yarsanism
• Alevism

Sources

• Bajalan, Djene Rhys; Karimi, Sara Zandi (2017). Studies in Kurdish History: Empire, Ethnicity and Identity. Paris: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-2296001053.
• Guest, John S (2012). Survival Among The Kurds. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-15736-3.
• Rodziewicz, Artur, (2022). Eros and the Pearl, The Yezidi Cosmogonic Myth at the Crossroads of Mystical Traditions. Berlin: Peter Lang Verlag. ISBN 978-3-631-88106-4.