Yazidi Religious Education in the European Diaspora: Schools and Community Centers

This entry surveys the development, structure, and impact of Yazidi religious education in the European diaspora, focusing on formal schools, community‑run curricula, and cultural‑heritage centres that operate primarily in Germany, the region with the largest Yazidi population in Europe.

Yazidi religious education (Kurmanji: perwerdehiya dînî ya Êzidiyan) refers to organized instruction—whether in schools, weekend classes, or community workshops—designed to transmit Yazidi theology, rites, history, and moral values to diaspora members while fostering linguistic and civic integration.

Pronunciation & orthography

The term appears in Kurmanji Latin script as perwerdehiya dînî ya Êzidiyan, in Arabic‑script as پروەردەیە دینیی ئێزدیان, and in Cyrillic (used by some diaspora in former Soviet spaces) as первердехия динй я езидиян. IPA transcription: /peɾˈweɾdehja ˈdiːni ja eːzˈdi.jan/. Common English misspellings include “Yazidi” vs. “Yezidi” and “perwerdehiya” vs. “perwerdehî”.

Main exposition

Institutional landscape

Germany hosts the most extensive network of Yazidi educational bodies in Europe. The Yazidi Academy in Hanover, founded in 2009, offers literacy, German‑language, and introductory religious courses, and maintains a dedicated Yazidi library (4). The Yezidi Studies Center (YSC) in Leipzig provides humanitarian assistance, academic research, and a curriculum development unit that produces textbooks for youth (2). In addition, local municipalities such as Pforzheim have partnered with scholars to implement curricula tailored to Yazidi students (3).

Curriculum development

In 2024, researcher Jasim Qasim Bozani published “Yezidi Religion, History, and Humanity”, a textbook explicitly designed for Yazidi adolescents in German schools (3). The book is divided into three sections: historical foundations, moral framework, and contemporary challenges, including the 2014 Sinjar genocide. It has been adopted by weekend schools in Pforzheim and by the YSC’s community‑education programme.

Role of community centres

Community centres serve as the primary sites for religious instruction. They organise weekly “morning and evening prayers” sessions, host guest scholars from the Yazidi Academy, and provide space for the oral transmission of qewl (sacred hymns) (1). These centres also run legal‑counselling and integration workshops, linking religious learning with civic participation.

State support and funding

German federal and state authorities recognise Yazidi centres as “cultural minority institutions”, granting eligibility for integration grants and language‑course subsidies (1). Funding is supplemented by diaspora‑based NGOs, notably the YSC, which receives donations from the European Union’s refugee‑relief funds.

Challenges and adaptations

Key challenges include a shortage of qualified teachers fluent in both Kurmanji and German, and the tension between preserving oral tradition and meeting formal school standards (1). To address this, many centres adopt a bilingual pedagogical model, using the Kurdish‑Arabic script for religious texts while delivering language lessons in German.

In the oral tradition

Yazidi religious knowledge historically flows through the qewl and beyit corpus, memorised by community elders and recited during rites. Contemporary curricula frequently embed short excerpts of qewl to illustrate theological concepts. For example, the “Qewl of Sheikh Adi” is taught alongside a lesson on ethical conduct, reinforcing the link between oral heritage and modern moral education.

“The sacred hymn of Sheikh Adi reminds us that ‘the truth is the light that guides the soul,’ a principle woven into every classroom discussion on honesty.” (1)

Scholarly disagreement

Kreyenbroek argues that formal schooling risks diluting the esoteric nature of Yazidi doctrine, contending that “the mystic dimensions of the faith are best transmitted orally, not through textbooks” (1). Conversely, Açıkyıldız reads the emergence of curricula as a necessary evolution, stating that “structured education safeguards the community against cultural erasure, especially after the 2014 genocide” (1).

Common misconceptions

Regional variation

While Germany dominates the institutional landscape, other European hubs display distinct models. In Sweden, the Yazidi diaspora relies on mosque‑adjacent cultural rooms for weekend lessons, emphasizing Swedish language acquisition. In the Netherlands, NGOs partner with municipal schools to embed Yazidi history modules within multicultural curricula. These variations illustrate how host‑country policies shape educational delivery.

Timeline

Data table

These figures illustrate the scale and diversity of educational provision for Yazidis across Europe.