Yezidis : The Devil Worshippers of Iraq By Sean Thomas, The Telegraph (2007) Eventually a dark, thickset man turns to me. He points to one of the peacocks on the wall: That is Melek Taus, the peacock angel. We worship him. He sips his tea, and adds: Ours is the oldest religion in the world. Older than Islam; older than Christianity. ...The Yezidi honour sacred trees. Women must not cut their hair. Marriage is forbidden in April. They refuse to eat lettuce, pumpkins, and gazelles. They avoid wearing dark blue because it is too holy. They are divided strictly into castes, who cannot marry each other. The upper castes are polygamous. Anyone of the faith who marries a non-Yezidi risks ostracism, or worse. Some weeks ago a young girl was stoned to death by her Yezidi menfolk in Iraq; she had fallen in love with a Muslim and was trying to convert. The sickening murder was filmed, and posted on the internet, adding to the Yezidis unhappy reputation. Yezidism is syncretistic: it combines elements of many faiths. Like Hindus, they believe in reincarnation. Like ancient Mithraists, they sacrifice bulls. They practise baptism, like Christians. When they pray they face the sun, like Zoroastrians. They profess to revile Islam, but there are strong links with Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam. Its a remarkably confusing picture. And I still havent got an answer to the main question: do they worship Satan? ...And who is Melek Taus? Halil looks slightly uncomfortable: We believe he is a proud angel, who rebelled and was thrown into Hell by God. He stayed there 40,000 years, until his tears quenched the fires of the underworld. Now he is reconciled to God. But is he good or evil? He is both. Like fire. Flames can cook but they can also burn. The world is good and bad. For a Yezidi to say they worship the Devil is understandably difficult. It is their reputation as infidels - as genuine devil worshippers - that has led to their fierce persecution over time, especially by Muslims. Saddam Hussein intensified this suppression. But some Yezidi do claim that Melek Taus is the Devil. One hereditary leader of the Yezidi, Mir Hazem, said in 2005: I cannot say this word [Devil] out loud because it is sacred. Its the chief of angels. We believe in the chief of angels. Full article: telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1560714/The-Devil-worshippers-of-Iraq.html
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 18:50:44 +0000
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