Ethno-Religious Communities: To the Problem of Identity Markers
Victoria Arakelova
Yerevan State University
THE YEZIDI IDENTITY MARKERS
• The Yazidis are not Muslims (the religious differentiating characteristic). Let us return to the Mandaeans (more precisely, to the Mandaean Nazarenes), whose example of the formation of ethno-religiousness demonstrates a number of regularities, which can be traced in the formation of the Yazidis. The Mandaean name nasaruta imply the radical separation from Judaism and, as Macuch puts it, Nas(a)ruta are those who are incompatible with Judaism (Macuch 2002: 52), despite the fact that initially they were a product of Judaic milieu. So, the first definition ex negation for the Yazidis could be “Yazidis are those who are incompatible with Islam”, despite the fact that initially the Yazidism was a product of the Muslim milieu.
• The Yazidis are not Kurds (the ethnic differentiating characteristic). This characteristic should not be seen as a mere consequence of the previous one, although, certainly the Kurds are primarily associated with various forms of Islam. The relevance and actuality of this characteristic in the current historical period is explained above all by the actualization of the so-called “Kurdish” factor and, as a result, the erroneous exo-identification of Yazidis.
• The Yazidis are the people of Malak-Tavus (the central figure in the Yazidi religion, which actually provides the uniqueness of the cult; one of the eponyms of the Yazidis).
• The Yazidis are the people (“the lambs”) of Sultan Ezid (one of the divine manifestations in the Yazidi tradition, a member of the Holy Triad of the Yazidism, and, finally, the eponym of the community).
• The Yazidis are the members of Ezdikhana, the community established, according to the tradition, by Sheikh ‘Adi (one of the divine manifestations, a member of the Holy Triad of the Yazidism, and also one of the eponyms of the community), and therefore: — The Yazidis are the bearers of the esoteric religious doctrine, Sharfadin; — The Yazidis are the adherents of the rules of Farze bratiye. The list could be longer with a number of specific lines, peculiar exclusively for the Yazidi tradition, first of all religious. Such is, for example, the Yazidi popular pantheon
Tags:
Ethno-Religious Communities: To the Problem of Identity Markers
Victoria Arakelova
Yerevan State University
THE YEZIDI IDENTITY MARKERS
• The Yazidis are not Muslims (the religious differentiating characteristic). Let us return to the Mandaeans (more precisely, to the Mandaean Nazarenes), whose example of the formation of ethno-religiousness demonstrates a number of regularities, which can be traced in the formation of the Yazidis. The Mandaean name nasaruta imply the radical separation from Judaism and, as Macuch puts it, Nas(a)ruta are those who are incompatible with Judaism (Macuch 2002: 52), despite the fact that initially they were a product of Judaic milieu. So, the first definition ex negation for the Yazidis could be “Yazidis are those who are incompatible with Islam”, despite the fact that initially the Yazidism was a product of the Muslim milieu.
• The Yazidis are not Kurds (the ethnic differentiating characteristic). This characteristic should not be seen as a mere consequence of the previous one, although, certainly the Kurds are primarily associated with various forms of Islam. The relevance and actuality of this characteristic in the current historical period is explained above all by the actualization of the so-called “Kurdish” factor and, as a result, the erroneous exo-identification of Yazidis.
• The Yazidis are the people of Malak-Tavus (the central figure in the Yazidi religion, which actually provides the uniqueness of the cult; one of the eponyms of the Yazidis).
• The Yazidis are the people (“the lambs”) of Sultan Ezid (one of the divine manifestations in the Yazidi tradition, a member of the Holy Triad of the Yazidism, and, finally, the eponym of the community).
• The Yazidis are the members of Ezdikhana, the community established, according to the tradition, by Sheikh ‘Adi (one of the divine manifestations, a member of the Holy Triad of the Yazidism, and also one of the eponyms of the community), and therefore: — The Yazidis are the bearers of the esoteric religious doctrine, Sharfadin; — The Yazidis are the adherents of the rules of Farze bratiye. The list could be longer with a number of specific lines, peculiar exclusively for the Yazidi tradition, first of all religious. Such is, for example, the Yazidi popular pantheon
Tags:
