Debunking Myths

 

• Unlike what some people think, Yezidis believe that everything has good and bad and they praise the peacock angel known as “Tawûsê Melek.” Some people think that Tawûsê Melek is the fallen angel Lucifer or Iblis, and have, therefore, labeled Yezidis  as devil-worshipers. The myth that Yezidis are devil worshippers has been a major reason for persecution of Yezidis and for genocide.

 

• Yezidis are not followers/off springs of Yazid Ibn Muawiya. Ignorance about Yazid Ibn Muawiyahas and attributing him as the founding of the Yezidis has also been a reason for much of Yezidi suffering throughout the Middle East. Although there are similarities in the spelling of the words Yazid and Yezidis, it turns out that one has nothing to do with the other.

 

• Yazid was the son of Muawiya, a Muslim person who was a caliph from the years 680- 683. Yazid Ibn Muawiya was the cause of great tragedy in Karbala. He was the cause of Imam Husein’s beheading and many Muslims point at Yezidis--a religious minority group in Iraq--as the group that is to blame. Their evidence? Similarity in the writing and pronunciation of the names Yazid and Yezidis.

 

• Yezidis were around before Yazid ibn Muawiya was born. He is not the founder of the Yezidi religion.