The Spiritual Leader of the Ezidis (Ezidis) in Iraq and worldwide, reassured Muslims that the words of the Ezidi commander of the Peshmerga forces in Shingal (Sinjar), were "not intentional" and emphasized that "one of our sacred principles is to respect the sanctity of other religions."
The statement came following a meeting with the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG's Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs and the Kurdistan Islamic Religious Scholars Union in Erbil on Thursday, August 8, 2024.
“There are several sacred beliefs in the Yazidi religion. One of these is to respect the sacred beliefs of other religions. We came here today because we love the religion of Islam.”
"There is no distinction between religions. Man must be generous and tolerant as God appreciates tolerance, a sacred principle. We ask you not to take those words from us," he added.
Five complaints have been filed against Qasim Shasho, the Ezidi commander of the Peshmerga forces in Shingal (Sinjar), home for the non-Muslim Ezidi community, on charges of insulting Islam and the Prophet of Islam, which he denies, insisting his message was only for an extremist group.
The commander of the Yazidikhan Peshmarga Forces in Shingal delivered a speech at the Sharafaddin shrine on the 10th anniversary of the attack of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Shingal and the Ezidis.
He said “As long as Mohammed and his religion exist, attacks and massacres against Ezidis will continue,” sparking wide protests on social media platforms.
Ezidi stems from the word (Ezdan - God), an ancient monotheistic religion considered an extension of the Mithraic religion. The sacred Ezidi texts consist of two parts, the Book of al-Jalwa and the Balck Book (Bushafa Rash), in addition to sayings, verses, and poems, and they are in the Kurdish language (Kurmanji dialect).
"When ISIS attacked the Ezidis in 2014, we stated that ISIS does not represent Muslims. We condemned the atrocities that ISIS committed against Ezidis, Christians, and other communities," Abdullah Mullah Saeed, president of the Union of Islamic Scholars, stated at the conference.
"We will make every effort to address any actions that jeopardize their coexistence, particularly the sacred religion of Islam, and we will take measures to prevent such incidents from occurring again," he added.
"Just as we respect the Prophet of Islam, we also respect all other religions, especially their religious symbols and figures. We do not tolerate insults towards any religion.”
Ezidism is an old Middle Eastern monotheistic ethnic religion of one God who created the world and entrusted it to seven Holy Beings, called Angels. The outstanding among these angels is Melek Taus who is the leader and has authority over the world.
Ezidis speak Kurmanji, one of the two main Kurdish dialects. Part of the Ezidi community considers Ezidism both a distinct religious and ethnic identity and does not identify themselves as Kurds.
The president of the Union of Islamic Scholars urged everyone to strive for unity and brotherhood, stating, "We should not insult someone based on their religion; we should view their religion with the same respect... Someone within the Ezidi religion may have insulted, but the religion itself did not insult.”
"Some individuals, particularly Kurds, have misinterpreted my words. My message was directed solely towards an extremist group," Shasho told KirkukNow following the lawsuits filed against him. "We have been interacting with Muslims for centuries. How could I insult them?"
In the wake of the attacks on Shingal and other areas of Ninewa province by the extremist militants of IS, more than 350,000 Ezidis were displaced, 100,000 migrated and the rest ended in and outside the camps for the displaced in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq KRI.
The extremist militants of IS kidnapped over 6,417 Ezidis accusing them of being heretics, the fate of nearly half of whom is still unknown, according to KRG statistics.
