Sultan Êzîd (or sometimes Êzî or Siltan Êzîd) is a divine figure in the

Yazidi religion Yazidism , alternatively Sharfadin is a monotheistic ethnic religion that has roots in a western Iranic pre-Zoroastrian religion directly derived from the Indo-Iranian tradition. It is followed by the mainly Kurmanji-speaking Yazidis and is ...

. Although many scholars consider his name to be derived from that of the second Umayyad caliph

Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...

, many Yazidis consider him to be a separate figure unconnected to the historical Yazid I. Yazidis typically consider him to be part of a triad of divine emanations of God (which are, in order,

Melek Tawus Melek ( hu, Mellek) is a municipality and village in the Nitra District of the south-west of Slovakia, in the Nitra Region The Nitra Region ( sk, Nitriansky kraj, ; hu, Nyitrai kerület) is one of the administrative regions of Slovakia. It wa ...

Sheikh Adi ‘Adī ibn Musāfir ( ku, شێخ ئادی, translit=Şêx Adî, ar, الشيخ عدي بن مسافر born 1072-1078, died 1162) was a Muslim sheikh of Arab origin, considered a Yazidi saint. The Yazidis consider him as an avatar of Tawûsê ...

, and Sultan Ezid), though he is sometimes also considered to be identical with the angel

, and thus a manifestation or emanation of God. The

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...

people and religion are named after him.

Origin

Most modern historians hold that the name Ezid derives from the name of Caliph

. In Yazidi religious lore, there is no trace of any link between Sultan Ezid and the second Umayyad caliph. A pro-

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

movement particularly sympathetic towards Yazid existed in the Kurdish mountains before the 12th century, when Shaykh Adi, a

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

of Umayyad descent venerated by Yazidis to this day, settled there and attracted a following among the adherents of the movement. The name Yazidi seems to have been applied to the group because of his Umayyad origins.

Shrines

Yazidis also consider Melek Tawus's shrine at

Lalish Lalish ( ku, لالش, translit=Laliş, also known as Lalişa Nûranî) is a mountain valley and temple in Shekhan, Duhok Governorate in Iraq. It is the holiest temple of the Yazidis. It is the location of the tomb of the Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir, ...

to be identical with that of Sultan Ezid's, since the two figures are often held to be identical.

Holidays

The

Feast of Ezid Feast of Ezid (Kurdish: ''Cejna Êzî/Êzîd'' or ''Eyda Êzî/Êzid'') is a Yezidi festival that commemorates Sultan Ezid. Rojiyên Êzî The Feast of Ezid is preceded by Rojiyên Êzî (The fasts of Ezid), which are the three days of fastin ...

commemorates him.

References

Sources

* * *{{cite journal , last=Langer , first=Robert , title=Yezidism between Scholarly Literature and Actual Practice: From 'Heterodox' Islam and 'Syncretism' to the Formation of a Transnational Yezidi 'Orthodoxy' , journal=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies , date=2010 , volume=37 , number=3 , pages=393–403 , doi=10.1080/13530194.2010.524441, jstor=23077034, s2cid=145061694 Yazidi mythology