The Yazidis in Iraq celebrated today the Yazidi New Year, which falls on the first Wednesday of the Eastern year.
A large number of members of the Yazidi sect gathered in the "Lalesh" temple in Nineveh Governorate (northern Iraq), which is the headquarters of the Spiritual Council of the Yazidi religion in the world, to celebrate New Year's Day and practice their religious rituals.
This holiday is called "Sri Salli", and according to the Yazidi faith, "on this day, the authority is handed over to King Peacock to manage the affairs of the world."
New Year's Day is considered a sacred feast for the Yezidis, where every Yezidi home slaughters a sheep, cooks part of it and distributes the other part to the poor.
congratulation messages
Officials, politicians, and activists congratulated the Yazidis through social media platforms, on the occasion of the Yazidi New Year.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi said on his Twitter account: "On the Yazidi New Year, we congratulate our Iraqi Yazidi brothers and families, wishing them a lasting life with dignity, security and prosperity on the land of Iraq, their land and the home of all Iraqis; our country is dear to the diversity of its sons, their love and harmony."
On the Yazidi New Year, we congratulate our Iraqi Yazidi brothers and people, wishing them a long life with dignity, security and prosperity on the land of Iraq, their land and the home of all Iraqis;
Our country is dear to the diversity of its children, their love and harmony.
— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi Mustafa Al-Kadhim (@MAKadhimi) April 19, 2022
Iraqi President Barham Salih wrote on his Twitter account, "The warmest congratulations and blessings to our indigenous people of the Yazidi religion on the occasion of the Yazidi New Year, wishing them a happy and peaceful year." The concerned authorities and the international community to free our kidnapped and kidnapped sons."
Warmest congratulations and blessings to our indigenous people of the Yazidi religion on the occasion of the Yazidi New Year, wishing them a happy and peaceful year.
We renew our full support to secure their rights and the return of the displaced to their homes, and we will follow carefully with the concerned authorities and the international community to liberate our kidnapped and abducted sons pic.twitter.com/6g5GU8Ue0F
— Barham Salih (@BarhamSalih) April 19, 2022
Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi also offered similar congratulations to the Yazidis.
Our dear Yazidi people and countrymen.. Happy New Year on the occasion of the Yazidi New Year, asking the Almighty to grant you security, peace and stability.
— Muhammad Al-Halbousi (@AlHaLboosii) April 20, 2022
Former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi commented - through his Twitter account - saying: "What terrorism did against the Yazidis is a national wound that cannot be forgotten," adding, "We have avenged them by crushing black terrorism, and we must strive to liberate their prisoners and restore full human and national consideration to them."
I congratulate all Yazidis on the occasion of the "Yazidi New Year".
What terrorism has done against the Yazidis is a national wound that we cannot forget.
We have avenged them by crushing black terrorism, and we must strive to free their prisoners and restore full human and national consideration to them.
The homeland of coexistence and solidarity flourishes.
— Haider Al-Abadi Haider Al-Abadi (@HaiderAlAbadi) April 19, 2022
The head of the Iraqi National Project Party Jamal Al-Dari said, through his account on Twitter: "We congratulate our Yazidi brothers on the occasion of the Yazidi New Year, and we renew our call to the government, the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to follow up on the file of the Yazidi abductees and return the displaced to their areas." And keep Iraq and its people away from regional conflicts.
We congratulate our Yazidi brothers on the occasion of the Yazidi New Year, and we renew our call to the government, the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to follow up on the file of the #Yazidi abductees and return the displaced to their areas, and we also stress the need to enforce the law in #Sinjar and keep #Iraq and its people away from regional conflicts.
— Jamal Al Dhari Jamal Al Dhari (@AldhariJamal) April 20, 2022
Who are the Yazidis?
There are many historical accounts about the history of the existence of the Yezidi religion, as some believe that the Yezidis and their religion existed thousands of years ago, while other narrations say that they emerged from the ancient Babylonian religion in Mesopotamia, in contradiction to the Islamic and other narratives that the Yezidis are a splinter and deviant religion from Islam. , in the presence of another opinion stating that it is a mixture of several ancient religions such as Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, or an extension of the Mithraic religion, according to the Yazidi researcher and historian Khalil Jundi.
The term Yazidi comes from the word "Yazdan", which means "worshippers of God" who walk on the right path, according to the definition of Jundi, who says that the Yazidis are one of the ancient Indo-Iranian religions before the Zoroastrian religion, which is known historically for the fertility religions whose philosophy and rituals are linked to nature, the discovery of agriculture and the beginning of Urbanization, with clear imprints of the ancient Mesopotamian religions such as Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian and Mitanni.
The Yazidis differ from other religions in that they are not missionary and do not accept new adherents (Reuters)
Reverence for natural phenomena
Among the features that make the Yezidis different from the Abrahamic religions is the philosophical view of creation and creation, and the attitude towards the power of good and evil, and both are inseparable in a dialectical unity between them, as Jundi says, and “with this there is no concept of disobedience (Satan) among the Yezidis, but rather to say that Good and evil come from God's door!
The Yazidis sanctify natural phenomena such as the sun, moon, fire, earth, water, and others, as being manifestations of the Creator - according to Jundi - with the unity of existence and its oneness in the worship of God, in addition to God Almighty, "there are quite a few gods (Khudan) entrusted to them in matters of the world, Meaning linking the authority and rule of heaven to earth.
The Yezidis differ from other religions in that they are not missionary, and they do not accept new admissions except to those born of a Yezidi father and mother, with the existence of a closed internal class marriage system between the Yezidis, as Jundi asserts, where there are 6 different marriage classes, each one intermarries with each other, and no It is permissible for her to marry outside her caste, and those classes are: the Adani, the Shamsaniya, the Qatani, and the Abyaar Hassan Maman, and the rest of the 39 dynasties of the Abyaar, and the Muridoon.
The Yezidis do not have a prophet or messenger like other religions, and man is directly related to his Lord in his relationship with him, and not in its rituals a collective prayer. Eve".
The Yezidis have no prophet or messenger like other religions (Reuters)
Do they worship Satan and the sun?
And whether the Yezidis worship Satan or the sun, Jundi says that this is a big problem and absolutely incorrect, describing it as a "unfair and cruel accusation", wondering: How can there be a god of evil named Satan, if there was no idea of disobedience to the Creator in the Yezidis?
According to the Yazidi religion, "Peacock Malak" is considered one of the 3003 names of God, and it is one of the signs of divinity. Once, "Peacock Malak" takes the role of the sky god "Papa Deaus" for the ancient Iranians, and "Anu" for the Sumerians, and "Varuna". For Hindus, the sun disk is his eyes, and that is why the Yazidis revere the sun until now.
And if "Malek Peacock" is a destination for worship among the Yezidis - according to a soldier - then the sun is a kiss for sanctification for them, but their aversion to the word Satan came as a result of boycotting the curse only.
Jundi explains the reasons why the Yazidis do not have a holy book, by saying: The Yazidis had two holy books: the first was called "Mushaf Rash" (The Black Book), and the second was called "Al-Jalwa", but they were lost in the abyss of genocides that the Yazidis were subjected to.