Kurdish-Islamic nationalism, () also known as Kurdish-Islamic synthesis, is a form of

religious nationalism Religious nationalism is the relationship of nationalism to a particular religious belief, dogma, or affiliation. This relationship can be broken down into two aspects: the politicisation of religion and the influence of religion on politic ...

that combines

Kurdish nationalism Kurdish nationalism (, ) is a nationalist political movement which asserts that Kurds are a nation and espouses the creation of an independent Kurdistan from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Early Kurdish nationalism had its roots in the Ottoman ...

with Islamism.

History

The ideology emerged after the

abolition of the Caliphate The Ottoman Caliphate, the world's last widely recognized caliphate, was abolished on 3 March 1924 (27 Rajab 1342 AH) by decree of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The process was one of Atatürk's reforms following the replacement of th ...

and the creation of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, two events which angered the

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...

. Many Kurds, who felt that their

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

, and people were endangered because of Atatürk's reforms, began turning to Kurdish Islamonationalism. Many Islamist Kurds, including the more extreme ones like Mullah Krekar, have some degree of nationalism. In some videos, Mullah Krekar spoke about Kurdish issues and independence. Although he always done so while maintaining his support for Islamic extremism. He was described as "publishing political and nationalistic statements one day, and Jihadi statements on the next". Mullah Krekar is also populist, and his popularity in Iraqi Kurdistan rose between 2017 and 2019, mainly among the youth who were against the Kurdish government. Kurdish intellectual Hama Gharib advocated that mainstream Kurdish nationalism should be reformed to include Islam. Kurdish Islamonationalism is against

Turkish nationalism Turkish nationalism ( tr, Türk milliyetçiliği) is a political ideology that promotes and glorifies the Turkish people, as either a national, ethnic, or linguistic group. The term " ultranationalism" is often used to describe Turkish nationa ...

Arab nationalism Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language a ...

Iranian nationalism Iranian nationalismPersian: ملی‌گرایی ایرانی Baloch: راج دوستی ایرانی Kurdish: نەتەوە پەروەریی ئێرانی Gilaki: ایجانایی ایرانی Azerbaijani: İran millətçiliyi Turkmen: Eýrany� ...

Iraqi nationalism Iraqi nationalism is a form of nationalism which asserts the belief that Iraqis are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Iraqis of different ethnoreligious groups such as Mesopotamian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Yazidis, ...

Syrian nationalism Syrian nationalism, also known as Pan-Syrian nationalism (or pan-Syrianism), refers to the nationalism of the region of Syria, as a cultural or political entity known as "Greater Syria". It should not be confused with the Arab nationalism that is ...

, and also against

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

, Kemalism, and

Ba'athism Ba'athism, also stylized as Baathism, (; ar, البعثية ' , from ' , meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection" Hans Wehr''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' (4th ed.), page 80) is an Arab nationalist ideology which promotes the creation ...

. Ali Bapir is seen as the most prominent and influential Kurdish Islamist of today.

Criticism

Many of

Kurdistan Islamic Union Kurdistan Islamic Union ( ku, یەکگرتووی ئیسلامیی کوردستان ;Yekgirtiya Îslamî ya Kurdistanê), colloquially referred to as Yekgirtû, is an Islamist party in Iraqi Kurdistan. Leadership and supporters Salahaddin Bahaadd ...

's politicians, including their leader

Salahaddin Bahaaddin Salahaddin Mohammed Bahaaddin Sadiq ( ku, سەڵاحەدین محەممەد بەهائەدین / Arabic: صلاح الدین محمد بهاء الدین) is a Kurdish Iraqi politician, (born July 1, 1950) in Tawela, a town referring to Halabja. ...

, have criticized the ideology, saying that "This is a huge

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

", "Islam can not be nationalized", and that "There is only one Islam, the Islam of Allah." Many other people have also called the ideology "

chauvinistic Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotis ...

", " supremacist" " anti-Turkish", "

Anti-Arabism Anti-Arabism, Anti-Arab sentiment, or Arabophobia includes opposition to, dislike, fear, or hatred of Arab people. Historically, anti-Arab prejudice has been an issue in such events as the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the condemnatio ...

", and "un-scientific". The ideology is also hated by secular Kurds. Islamic scholar Ihsan Senocak also once said "Neither

Turkish-Islamic nationalism Turkish-Islamic nationalism (), commonly referred to as Turkish-Islamic synthesis (), is a type of religious nationalism which mixes Turkish nationalism with Islamism. History Historian Gökhan Çetinsaya explained that there is three opinions ...

, nor Kurdish-Islamic nationalism. Only Islam."

Kurdish Islamist organizations

Sunni Muslim

Movement of Salah al-Din the Kurd tr, Selahaddin Kurdi Hareketi , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = Logo of the groupFlag of the group , image_size = , caption = , active = 2015 – ''present'' , ideology = Kurdis ...

* Kurdish Hezbollah *

Free Cause Party The Free Cause Party ( Turkish: ''Hür Dava Partisi'', abbreviated as HÜDA PAR, ) is Sunni Kurdish Islamist political party in Turkey. Origin Following the decision to end armed struggle in 2002, activists of the Hizbullah's Menzil group found ...

* Kurdish Mujahideen * Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan *

White Flags The White Flags, ( ku, ئاڵاى سپى) also known as Sufyaniyyun, are a militant Kurdish Islamonationalism, Kurdish Islamonationalist group which are an offshoot of Ansar al-Islam. They are based in the Disputed territories of Northern Iraq, di ...

Kurdish Islamic Front The Kurdish Islamic Front ( ku, پێشەوەى كوردى ئیسلامی) was a small armed Islamist insurgent group founded by a Kurdish commander named Salaheddin al-Kurdi who also served as the group's spokesman and Abu Abdullah al-Kurdi, and ...

Kurdistan Islamic Movement The Kurdistan Islamic Movement ( ku, بزووتنه‌وی ئيسلامی له‌ كوردستان}) is a Kurdish Islamist party founded in 1987 by Osman Abdulaziz and several other Kurdish Islamic scholars who were all part of the non-politica ...

* Kurdistan Islamic Movement (Turkey) *

Kurdistan Justice Group The Kurdistan Justice Group ( ku, کۆمه‌لی دادگەری کوردستان ''Komelî Dadgerî Kurdistan''), formerly Kurdistan Islamic Group, is a movement in Iraqi Kurdistan established in May 2001 by Ali Bapir, a former leader of the Is ...

* Islamic Party of Kurdistan *

Kurdish Hezbollah of Iran Kurdish Hezbollah of Iran ( ku, حیزبوڵڵای کوردی ئیران; fa, حزب‌الله کردی از ایران) is an Islamist political party created in Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also cal ...

Kurdish Revolutionary Hezbollah The Kurdish Revolutionary Hezbollah ( ku, حیزبوڵڵای شۆڕشگێڕانە کوردی) was a splinter group of the Kurdish Hezbollah of Iran and Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The Kurdish Revolutionary Hezbollah establ ...

* Organization of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle * Islamic Kurdish League * Iranian Call and Reform Organization

Shia Muslim

* Islamic Fayli Grouping in Iraq

Notable Kurdish Islamists

Sheikh Said Sheikh Said of Palu, Elazığ, Palu ( ku, شێخ سەعید, translit=Şêx Seîd, 1865 – June 29, 1925) was a Kurds, Kurdish sheikh, the main leader of the Sheikh Said rebellion and a Sheikh of the Naqshbandi Tariqa, order. He was born in ...

Osman Abdulaziz Mullah Osman Abdulaziz was a Kurdish Islamic scholar and politician in Iraqi Kurdistan. He created the Kurdistan Islamic Movement. He was famous for declaring Jihad against Saddam Hussein's government. Life Osman Abdulaziz was born in 1922 in ...

Ali Abdulaziz Halabji Ali Abdulaziz Halabji (December 28, 1929 – March 17, 2007) was a Kurdish Islamic scholar from Iraqi Kurdistan and one of the founders and second leader of the Kurdistan Islamic Movement. Life He was born on December 28, 1929, in the village ...

* Ali Bapir * Mullah Krekar *

Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu (born 1966; Batman) is a Turkish-Kurdish politician and lawyer who led the Kurdish Islamist Free Cause Party from June 2013 to May 2018 and again from June 2021 on. Biography Born in 1966 in the city of Batman in the east ...

Mehmet Yavuz Mehmet Yavuz (b. 1973; Kâhta, d. 9 August 2019), was a Kurdish politician and teacher in Turkey who led the Kurdish Islamist Free Cause Party from May 2018 until 7 October 2018. Biography Born in 1973 in the town of Kâhta in Adıyaman Provin ...

* Assi al-Qawali * İshak Sağlam *

Salaheddine Bahaaeddin Salahaddin Mohammed Bahaaddin Sadiq ( ku, سەڵاحەدین محەممەد بەهائەدین / Arabic: صلاح الدین محمد بهاء الدین) is a Kurdish Iraqi politician, (born July 1, 1950) in Tawela, a town referring to Halabja.H ...

* Bayan Nouri *

Khider Kosari ckb:کۆساری Khider Mohammad Rasheed, better known as Khider Kosari ( ku, خدر کۆساری; 1969–1993) was a Kurdish Islamist rebel and poet. Early life Kosari was born in 1969 in Ranya, Kurdistan Region and was not nationalistic or re ...

Hüseyin Velioğlu Hüseyin Velioğlu (born Hüseyin Durmaz; 1952 – 17 January 2000) was the leader of the Kurdish Hezbollah, a militant extremist organization in the early 1990s. Velioğlu led one of the wings of this organization. He was killed in a police op ...

Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i Wirya Salih ( ku, وه‌ریا ساڵح), known as Abu Abdullah al Shafi'i ( ar, ابو عبدالله الشافعي; ''Father of Abdullah, the Shafi'i''), is the former leader of Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna and Ansar al-Islam from early 2003 to 2010. ...

* Muhammad Salih Mustafa *

Nasir Subhani Nasir Subhani ( Kurdish: , fa, ناصر سبحانی; 14 October 1951 – 17 April 1990Sobhani case on Iran Rightaccessed 6 April 2015/ref> or 19 March 1990Subhani Conference Kurdish Role in Islamic Civilization. Xendan. (in Kurdishaccessed 6 ...

* Ezaddin Husseini

Gallery

References

{{reflist Kurdish Islamism Kurdish nationalism Kurdish Islamic organisations Kurdish Islamists Kurdish organisations Kurdistan independence movement Opposition to Arab nationalism Syncretic political movements