Editing Kurds (section)

== Religion ==
{{Main|Religion in Kurdistan}}

===Islam===
Most Kurds are [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] who adhere to the [[Shafiʽi school]], while a significant minority adhere to the [[Hanafi]] school<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sarigil|first1=Zeki|last2=Fazlioglu|first2=Omer|date=2014|title=Exploring the roots and dynamics of Kurdish ethno-nationalism in Turkey|url=http://yoksis.bilkent.edu.tr/pdf/files/11511.pdf|journal=Nations and Nationalism|publisher=[[Bilkent University]]|volume=20|issue=3|page=447|doi=10.1111/nana.12058|hdl=11693/26432|hdl-access=free|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=18 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218061906/http://yoksis.bilkent.edu.tr/pdf/files/11511.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and also [[Kurdish Alevism|Alevism]]. Moreover, many Shafi'i Kurds adhere to either one of the two [[Sufism|Sufi]] orders [[Naqshbandi]] and [[Qadiriyya]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=van Bruinessen|first=Martin|date=2000|title=The Qadiriyya and the lineages of Qadiri shaykhs in Kurdistan|journal=Journal of the History of Sufism|volume=1–2|citeseerx=10.1.1.545.8465}}</ref>

Beside Sunni Islam, [[Alevism]] and [[Shia Islam]] also have millions of Kurdish followers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McDowall|first=David|title=The Kurds: A Nation Denied|publisher=Minority Rights Group|year=1992|isbn=9781873194300|pages=57}}</ref>

===Yazidism===
{{Main|Yazidis|Yazidism}}
 
[[File:Pilgrims and festival at Lalish on the day of the Ezidi New Year in 2017 22.jpg|thumb|Yazidi new year celebrations in [[Lalish]], 18 April 2017]]
Yazidism is a [[Monotheism|monotheistic]] [[ethnic religion]] with roots in a western branch of an [[Ancient Iranian religion|Iranic pre-Zoroastrian religion.]]<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Turgut|first=Lokman|title=Ancient rites and old religions in Kurdistan|oclc=879288867}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Foltz|first=Richard|date=2017-06-01|title=The "Original" Kurdish Religion? Kurdish Nationalism and the False Conflation of the Yezidi and Zoroastrian Traditions|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18747167-12341309|journal=Journal of Persianate Studies|volume=10|issue=1|pages=87–106|doi=10.1163/18747167-12341309|issn=1874-7094}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|first=Omarkhali|last=Khanna|title=The status and role of the Yezidi legends and myths : to the question of comparative analysis of Yezidism, Yārisān (Ahl-e Haqq) and Zoroastrianism: a common substratum?|date=2011|oclc=999248462}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Kreyenbroek|first=Philip G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTQqAQAAMAAJ&q=Ancient+iranian|title=Yezidism—its Background, Observances, and Textual Tradition|date=1995|publisher=E. Mellen Press|isbn=978-0-7734-9004-8|language=en}}</ref> It is based on the belief of one God who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings.<ref name="Allison 2017">{{cite encyclopedia|title=The Yazidis|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=[[Oxford]]|url=https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-254|access-date=15 May 2021|date=25 January 2017|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.254|isbn=9780199340378|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311065225/https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-254|archive-date=11 March 2019|author-last=Allison|author-first=Christine|doi-access=free|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|first=Açıkyıldız|last=Birgül|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/772844849|title=The Yezidis : the History of a Community, Culture and Religion.|date=2010|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-0-85772-061-0|location=London|oclc=772844849}}</ref> The leader of this heptad is [[Tawûsê Melek]], who is symbolized with a [[Peafowl|peacock]].<ref name="Allison 2017"/><ref name="Maisel">{{Cite book|last=Maisel|first=Sebastian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFgIDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|title=Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority|date=2016-12-24|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=9780739177754|language=en}}</ref> Its adherents number from 700,000 to 1 million worldwide<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rowe|first=Paul S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bOF1DwAAQBAJ&dq=yezidis+number&pg=PT807|title=Routledge Handbook of Minorities in the Middle East|date=2018-09-20|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-23378-7|language=en}}</ref> and are indigenous to the [[Kurdistan|Kurdish regions]] of [[Iraq]], [[Syria]] and [[Turkey]], with some significant, more recent communities in Russia, [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Armenia]] established by refugees fleeing persecution by Muslims in [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref name=":1" /> [[Yazidism]] shares with [[Kurdish Alevism]] and [[Yarsanism]] many similar qualities that date back to the pre-Islamic era.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bozarslan|first1=Hamit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXgnEAAAQBAJ|title=The Cambridge History of the Kurds|last2=Gunes|first2=Cengiz|last3=Yadirgi|first3=Veli|date=2021-04-22|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-58301-5|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Omarkhali|first=Khanna|date=January 2009|title=The status and role of the Yezidi legends and myths. To the question of comparative analysis of Yezidism, Yārisān (Ahl-e Haqq) and Zoroastrianism: a common substratum?|url=https://www.academia.edu/7918305|journal=Folia Orientalia|issn=0015-5675|oclc=999248462}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Turgut|first=Lokman|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/879288867|title=Ancient rites and old religions in Kurdistan|date=2013|language=English|oclc=879288867}}</ref>

=== Yarsanism ===
{{main|Yarsanism}}
Yarsanism (also known as Ahl-I-Haqq, Ahl-e-Hagh or Kakai) is also one of the religions associated with Kurdistan.

Although most of the sacred Yarsan texts are in the [[Gorani language (Zaza-Gorani)|Gorani]] and all of the Yarsan [[holy places]] are located in [[Kurdistan]], followers of this religion are also found in other regions. For example, while there are more than 300,000 Yarsani in Iraqi Kurdistan, there are more than 2 million Yarsani in Iran.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About Yarsan, a religious minority in Iran and Yarsani asylum seekers – Yarsanmedia|url=http://www.yarsanmedia.org/ku/?p=10565|access-date=2021-06-22|language=fa-IR}}</ref> However, the Yarsani lack political rights in both countries.

===Zoroastrianism===
{{Main|Zoroastrianism}}
[[File:Faravahar-Gold.svg|thumb|[[Faravahar]] (or Ferohar), one of the primary symbols of Zoroastrianism, believed to be the depiction of a ''Fravashi'' (guardian spirit)]]
The Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism has had a major influence on the Iranian culture, which Kurds are a part of, and has maintained some effect since the demise of the religion in the Middle Ages. The Iranian philosopher Sohrevardi drew heavily from Zoroastrian teachings.<ref>Henry Corbin. The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism. Omega Publications, New York. 1994. {{ISBN|0-930872-48-7}}.</ref> Ascribed to the teachings of the prophet [[Zoroaster]], the faith's [[God|Supreme Being]] is [[Ahura Mazda]]. Leading characteristics, such as [[messianism]], the [[Golden Rule]], [[heaven]] and [[hell]], and [[free will]] influenced other religious systems, including [[Second Temple Judaism]], [[Gnosticism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Hinnel|first=J|title=The Penguin Dictionary of Religion|year=1997|publisher=Penguin Books UK}}</ref>

In 2016, the first official Zoroastrian [[fire temple]] of [[Iraqi Kurdistan]] opened in [[Sulaymaniyah]]. Attendees celebrated the occasion by lighting a ritual fire and beating the [[frame drum]] or 'daf'.<ref name="zoroastrian-temple">{{cite news|date=21 September 2016|title=Hopes for Zoroastrianism revival in Kurdistan as first temple opens its doors|publisher=Rudaw|url=http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/210920163|access-date=8 October 2016}}</ref> Awat Tayib, the chief of followers of Zoroastrianism in the Kurdistan region, claimed that many were returning to Zoroastrianism but some kept it secret out of fear of reprisals from Islamists.<ref name="zoroastrian-temple" />

===Christianity===
{{Main|Kurdish Christians|Bible translations into Kurdish|Christianity}}
Although historically there have been various accounts of [[Kurdish Christians]], most often these were in the form of individuals, and not as communities. However, in the 19th and 20th century various travel logs tell of Kurdish Christian tribes, as well as Kurdish Muslim tribes who had substantial Christian populations living amongst them. A significant number of these were allegedly originally [[Armenian people|Armenian]] or [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sykes|first1=M.|year=1908|title=The Kurdish Tribes of the Ottoman Empire|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449629|journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|volume=38|pages=451–486|doi=10.2307/2843309|jstor=2843309}}</ref> and it has been recorded that a small number of Christian traditions have been preserved. Several Christian prayers in Kurdish have been found from earlier centuries.<ref>Hervas, L. Saggio. (1787). 'Pratico delle lingue: con prolegomeni, e una raccolta di orazioni dominicali in piu di trecento lingue e dialetti...'. Cesena: Per Gregorio Biasini, pp. 156–157.</ref> In recent years some Kurds from Muslim backgrounds have converted to [[Christianity]].<ref>[http://mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6652:a-muslim-leader-converted-to-christianity-in-iraqi-kurdistan&catid=36:iranian-christians A Muslim Leader Converted to Christianity in Iraqi Kurdistan]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Kurds|url=http://www.urbana.org/_articles.cfm?RecordId=692|access-date=9 March 2016|website=Urbana|archive-date=28 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040627/http://www.urbana.org/_articles.cfm?RecordId=692|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-islamic-state-christians-idUSKCN1RS19N|title=Christianity grows in Syrian town once besieged by Islamic State|date=16 April 2019|agency=Reuters}}</ref>

Segments of the Bible were first made available in the Kurdish language in 1856 in the Kurmanji dialect. The Gospels were translated by Stepan, an Armenian employee of the [[American Bible Society]] and were published in 1857. Prominent historical Kurdish Christians include the brothers [[Zakaria II Mkhargrdzeli|Zakare]] and Ivane Mkhargrdzeli.<ref>Alexei Lidov, 1991, The mural paintings of Akhtala, p. 14, Nauka Publishers, Central Dept. of Oriental Literature, University of Michigan, {{ISBN|5-02-017569-2}}, {{ISBN|978-5-02-017569-3}}, ''It is clear from the account of these Armenian historians that Ivane's great-grandfather broke away from the Kurdish tribe of Babir''</ref><ref>Vladimir Minorsky, 1953, Studies in Caucasian History, p. 102, CUP Archive, {{ISBN|0-521-05735-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-05735-6}}, ''According to a tradition which has every reason to be true, their ancestors were Mesopotamian Kurds of the tribe (xel) Babirakan.''</ref><ref>Richard Barrie Dobson, 2000, Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages: A-J, p. 107, Editions du Cerf, University of Michigan, {{ISBN|0-227-67931-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-227-67931-9}}, ''under the Christianized Kurdish dynasty of Zak'arids they tried to re-establish nazarar system...''</ref>