Kurdish Muslims

Kurdish Muslims (Kurdish: موسڵمانی کورد; Musilmanên Kurd) are Kurds who follow Islam, which is the largest religion among Kurds and has been for centuries.[1] Kurds largely became Muslims in the 7th century.[2][3]

Kurdish Muslims
موسڵمانی کورد
Musilmanên Kurd
Total population
90% of all Kurds
(75% Sunni; 15% Shia)
Regions with significant populations
Kurdistan, Kurdish diaspora
Religions
Predominantly Sunni Islam (Shafi'i school)
Minority Twelver Shia Islam, Sufism
Scriptures
Quran
Languages
Kurdish languages (Sorani, Kurmanji, Palewani)

History

Before Islam, the majority of Kurds followed western Iranic Paganism which originates from Indo-Iranian traditions.[4][5][6] Kurds made first contact with Islam in the 7th century during the Early Muslim conquests.[2] Kurds were a nation divided between the Byzantine and Persian Empires, before being united under the Rashidun Caliphate. Jaban al-Kurdi and his son Meymun al-Kurdi were the first Kurds who converted to Islam, and they also were Muslim missionaries who helped introduce Islam to many other Kurds. Khalil al-Kurdi al-Semmani was one of the first Kurdish tabi'uns.[7][8][9][10] Mass conversion of Kurds to Islam didn't happen until the reign of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate between 634 and 644.[11][12] The Kurds first came into contact with the Muslim armies during the Muslim conquest of Persia in 637. The Kurdish tribes had been an important element in the Sasanian Empire, and initially gave strong support to the Sasanians as they tried to fight the Muslim armies, between 639 and 644. Although once it was clear that the Sassanids would soon fall, the Kurdish chiefs one by one submitted to the Muslim armies and agreed to accept Islam, leading to their tribe members doing the same.[13] Today the majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, and there are Shia, Sufi, and Alevi minorities. Sunni Muslim Kurds are mostly Shafi'is.[14] The percentage for Kurds who are Sunni Muslim is approximately 75% of all Kurds, and the percentage of Kurds who are Shia Muslim is approximately 15%.[15]

Contemporary Kurdish Muslims

Islam has gained strong support from Kurds and has historically acted as the back-bone of the Kurdish Movement.[16]

After the secularization of Turkey, Turkish Kurdistan became the last stronghold of Islam, where Islamic schools were preserved, and many Turkish Muslim scholars went to Kurdistan in order to get the proper Islamic education.[16] The first ever mosque in modern-day Turkey was Menüçehr Mosque, built in 1072 by the Kurdish Muslim dynasty Shaddadids.[17]

After the rise of the Kurdish Islamism (a Kurdish nationalist and Islamist ideology) in the 1980s, the Kurdish Islamists used their Kurdish identity and Islam to defend themself against their main enemies, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria.[18][19]

See also

References
  1. Ali, Othman (1997-10-01). "Southern Kurdistan during the last phase of Ottoman control: 1839–1914". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 17 (2): 283–291. doi:10.1080/13602009708716377. ISSN 1360-2004.
  2. Kennedy, Hugh (2004). The Prophet and the age of the Caliphates : the Islamic Near East from the sixth to the eleventh century (2nd ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman. ISBN 0-582-40525-4. OCLC 55792252.
  3. Cigerxwin, Tarixa Kurdistan, I (Stockholm: Weşanên Roja Nû, 1985), p. 17.
  4. Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (1995). Yezidism : its background, observances and textual tradition. E. Mellen. ISBN 0-7734-9004-3. OCLC 464136140.
  5. Turgut, Lokman. Ancient rites and old religions in Kurdistan. OCLC 879288867.
  6. Foltz, Richard (2017-06-01). "The "Original" Kurdish Religion? Kurdish Nationalism and the False Conflation of the Yezidi and Zoroastrian Traditions". Journal of Persianate Studies. 10 (1): 87–106. doi:10.1163/18747167-12341309. ISSN 1874-7094.
  7. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, El İsabe fi Temyizi's Sahabe
  8. "Kürt sahabeler". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015.
  9. Mahmud al-Alusi, Ruhu'l Meani
  10. Hazal, Kadri (2014-01-27). "Kürtler ve İslamiyet". Risale Haber (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  11. Biçer, Bekir (2014). İslam Coğrafyacılarının Eserinde Kürtler Hakkındaki Rivayetler. Tarih Okulu Dergisi.
  12. Tan, Altan. Kürt Sorunu. Timaş Yayınları. p. 67.
  13. McDowall, David (1997). A Modern History Of The Kurds. London: I.B Tauris. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-85043-416-0.
  14. Bois, Thomas. Kurds and Kurdistan. p. 148.
  15. McDowall, David (1997). A Modern History of the Kurds. Bloomsbury, London: I.B. Tauris. p. 10.
  16. Van Bruinessen, M. (1991) "Religion in Kurdistan." Kurdish Times. New York, vol.4, nos 1-2. pp.5-27.
  17. "Shaddadids – Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  18. "Islamists of Kurdistan: Contradictions Between Identity and Freedom". The Washington Institute.
  19. Övet, Kerem; Hewitt, James; Abbas, Tahir (February 23, 2022). "Understanding PKK, Kurdish Hezbollah and ISIS Recruitment in Southeastern Turkey". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: 1–21. doi:10.1080/1057610X.2022.2042897. S2CID 247117013 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
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