Yazidi

Lalish Temple

1. Monotheist Yazidis have their own Shahada prayer through which they worship Allah. They also revere Abrahamic prophets like Abraham, Moses, Noah. Yazidism is just another monotheistic religion like Judaism or Mandaeism, practiced exclusively by some Kurmanji Kurds.
2. Kurds are not indigenous to Iraqi Kurdistan. They settled only after the Arabs conquered Iraq. Lots of present Kurdish land was formerly Assyrian and Armenian. Source: “Beyond ISIS: History and Future of Religious Minorities in Iraq”.
3. The Lalish temple, the most sacred temple of the religion was either a Christian monastery originally or was assembled in pieces with influences from neighboring Shi’a Muslims.
4. Putting ashes on the forehead is something Yazidis probably picked up from the Christians who also do that.
5. Yazidis consider the Bible and Koran as holy books
6. Seems like Yazidis consider Christians, Jews, and Muslims as “infidels” too. They also have a Trinity like Christians. Source: “Malak-Tawus: the Peacock Angel of the Yezidis”

1. Yazidis believe in the purity of blood. Yazidis are born of Adam alone, while others have the blood of Eve as well (which makes them impure). They also fast on Ramazan+venerate Jesus. Source: “The Sunni-Shia Divide: Islam’s Internal Divisions and their Global Consequences”
2. Honor killings are rampant among Yazidis if one marries outside the community because they consider intermixing making their bloodline impure. They do not accept converts, because non-Yazidis have the blood of Eve in them. Yazidis also practice circumcision. Yazidis do not consume pork or alcohol.
3. Veneration of black snakes is something they probably picked up from Mandaeans, another Abrahamic religion. Mohammad told Muslims not to kill snakes as they can be jinns. Source: “The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran”
4. Yazidis bury their dead
5. Yazidis, like Jews, believe in reincarnation as well. Druze and Alawites also believe in reincarnation (likely due to Neoplatonist influence). Alawites branched off from Twelver Shias and Druze branched from Isma’ilis. Isma’ilis were also influenced by Neoplatonism.

Ancient Iranian religions were close to the Vedic religion. But modern Yazidis are not ancient Iranic people. They have adopted Abrahamic belief systems which retaining only a few aspects of the old Iranian religion. Beef eating pork avoiding Jesus venerating circumcised Yazidis who worship Allah and revere Abrahamic prophets are closer to Iranian Sufis than Zoroastrians.