Yarsanism
| Yarsanism یارسان | |
|---|---|
| Type | Ethnic religion |
| Classification | Iranian, Abrahamic |
| Scripture | Kalâm-e Saranjâm |
| Theology | Syncretic |
| Region | Iraqi Kurdistan, Iranian Kurdistan |
| Language | Kurdish languages; Gorani language |
| Founder | Sultan Sahak |
| Origin | late 14th century Western Iran |
| Members | c. 500,000[1] to 1,000,000 (in Iran)[2] |
| Other name(s) | Ahl-e Haqq, Kaka'i[3] |
| Part of a series on |
| Kurdish history and Kurdish culture |
|---|
Yarsanism (Kurdish: یارسان, romanized: Yarsan), Ahl-e Haqq (Kurdish: ئەهلی حەق, romanized: Ehlî Ḧeq;[4][5] Persian: اهل حق), or Kaka'i,[3] is an inherited, syncretic religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran.[6] The total number of followers of Yarsanism is estimated to be over half a million[1] to one million in Iran.[2] The numbers in Iraq are unknown. The adherents are mostly Kurds,[1] as well as some Shabaks,[7] Laks, and Lurs.[8]
Some Yarsanis in Iraq are called Kaka'i.[3] Yarsanis say that some people call them disparagingly as "Ali Allahi" or "worshipers of Ali", labels which Yarsanis deny. As such, many Yarsanis hide their religious identity, and there are no exact statistics of their population.[9]
The Yarsanis have a distinct religious literature primarily written in the Gorani language. However, few modern Yarsani can read or write Gorani, as their mother tongue is Southern Kurdish or Sorani.[10] Some Yarsanis in Iran speak a Turkic language close to Azeri, while some Yarsanis in Iraq speak Arabic. However, Yarsani tradition claimed that all early Yarsanis used Gorani as their religious language, and that some Yarsani communities were forced to adopt another language.[11]
Their central religious book is called the Kalâm-e Saranjâm, written in the 15th century and based on the teachings of Sultan Sahak.
- ^ a b c Hamzeh'ee (1990), p. 39.
- ^ a b Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa (Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2004) p. 82
- ^ a b c "'If we stay a secret, there will be a genocide'". BBC News.
- ^ Hamzeh'ee, M. Reza Fariborz (1995). Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi; et al. (eds.). Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East. Leiden: Brill. pp. 101–117. ISBN 90-04-10861-0.
- ^ P. G. Kreyenbroek (1992). Review of The Yaresan: A Sociological, Historical and Religio-Historical Study of a Kurdish Community, by M. Reza Hamzeh'ee, 1990, ISBN 3-922968-83-X. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol.55, No.3, pp.565–566.
- ^ Elahi, Bahram (1987). The path of perfection, the spiritual teachings of Master Nur Ali Elahi. ISBN 0-7126-0200-3.
- ^ Religious Minorities in Iraq: Co-Existence, Faith and Recovery After ISIS, Maria Rita Corticelli, 2022, pp. 130, ISBN 9780755641352
- ^ God First and Last: Religious Traditions and Music of the Yaresan of Guran: Volume 1: Religious Traditions by Philip G. Kreyenbroek, 2020, pp. 33
- ^ "نگاهی به آئین یارسان یا اهل حق". BBC News فارسی. November 27, 2011.
- ^ C. J. Edmonds (1957). Kurds, Turks and Arabs, Politics, Travel and Research in North-Eastern Iraq, 1919-1925. Oxford University Press. p. 195.
- ^ God First and Last: Religious Traditions and Music of the Yaresan of Guran: Volume 1: Religious Traditions by Philip G. Kreyenbroek, 2020, pp. 33