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Yarsanism

Yarsan or Ahl-i Haqq (Kurdish language:Yarsan/Yaresan or Kakeyi, Persian language:اهل حق, Ahl-e Haqq, derived from an Arabic language phrase translatable as People of the Truth and as Men of God[1]) is a religious sect, and is currently primarily found in western Iran. Adherents are mainly from the tribes of Guran, Qalkhani and Sanjabi located in western Iran, forming approximately a third of the population in the religiously diverse province of Kermanshah province[2]. There are some groups located around Kirkuk in Iraq. Most adherents are of Kurdish people ethnicity, though there are also smaller groups of Lorestan, Azerbaijani people, Persian people and Arab adherents. The Arabic-speaking adherents are based in the Iraqi cities of Mandali, Baquba, and Khanaqin[3] [4]. The order is supposed to have been founded by Sultan Sahak in the early 16th century AD in western Iran, but since it is a mysticism order, not many verifiable facts are known about them. The Order of Ahl-e-Haqq is a strictly closed circle.

Religious beliefs

From Yârsâns (Yaristan = Yar + i + stan which means the land of Yaran (followers), or greater number of Yaran) point of view, the universe comprises two distinct yet interrelated worlds: the inner world (Batin) and the outer world (Zahir), each having its own order and rules. Although humans are only aware of the outer world, their lives are governed according to the rules of the inner world. Among other important pillars of their belief system are that the Divine Essence has successive manifestations in human form (or mazhariyyat) and the belief in transmigration of souls (or dunaduni in Kurdish language). According to most Shia and Sunni Muslims, the belief in Re-incarnation puts the Yârsâns beyond the bounds of Islam. The Yârsâns do not observe Muslim rites such as daily prayers and fasting and they do not believe in the day of Resurrection[5].

The Yârsâns believe God manifests one primary and 5 secondary avatars to form with God the Holy Seven, and re-manifests these avatars in each of the seven epochs. While the avatars of the First Epoch can be closely matched by name to the archangels of the Semitic religions, the avatars of the Second Epoch, which begins with Ali as the primary avatar, are all Muslim figures, except for Nusayr. Nusayr may be interpreted as referring to the "Nazarene," i.e., Jesus Christ, or as Nârsch, the minor avatar who later came to be known as Theophobus. In the Fourth Epoch, the primary avatar is held to be Sultan Suhak. It is said that he was given birth by Mama Jelale a Kurdish people maiden (female virgin) and as in the case of Mary, the mother of Jesus, it had been a virginal conception. Once while sleeping under a pomegranate tree, a kernel of fruit fell into her mouth, because a bird had nibbled the fruit directly over her and had made the kernel fall.[6]

Like the Yazidis, followers of Yarsan or "Ahl-i Haqq" believe in reincarnation. They have a famous saying about death: Men! Do not fear the punishment of death! The death of man is like the dive which the duck makes. Human beings go through a cycle of 1,001 incarnations. During this process, they may become more purified based on their actions. The scene of last Judgement will take place in the plains of Sharazur (Kirkuk).[7]

Religious Texts

The traditions of Ahl-i Haqq are preserved in a form of poetry known as Kalam(Word or Discourse).You are able to get your get one of these books most likely around Hawar, Halabja or in Dalahu (Kurdistan of Iran). According to Ahl-i Haqq, Kalam are divinely revealed narratives passed down orally through the generations. They believe that these traditions were eventually collected and written down by the Golden Pen of Pir Musi, the angel in charge of recording human deeds and one of the five companions of Sultan Suhak[8]. This collection is considered to be the Yarsan's holy book called Serencam or Kalam-i Saranjam (The Discourse of Conclusion) and it consists of Epoch of Khawandagar, Epoch of Ali, Epoch of Khoshin, and Epoch of Sohak. These are the different manifestations of Divinity. The epoch of Khoshin takes place in the Luristan region and the epoch of Sohak is placed in the Land of Gorans (Hawraman) near the river Sirwan. The sayings attributed to Sultan Sohak are written in Gorani Kurdish, the sacred language of the Ahl-i Haqq.[9] Some of their literature is written in the Persian language.[10]

Yarsan, Alevi, Yazidi and Islam

According to some sources, Yarsan, Yazidism and Alevi are three branches of Cult of Angels or Yazdanism, a native Kurdish people religion[11][12]. Yarsan adherents are commonly labelled as Muslims because they adopted several superficial features, including veneration of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shia Imam and fourth Sunni Caliph, and recognizing Islamic Shiite taqqiyyah (dissimulation). Critics of the faith refer to adherents as Ali-Ilahis or Aliullahis but according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the name Aliullahi (Ali Ilahi) applied to them by their neighbours is not accurate since Ali is not the dominant figure in their religion.[13]

There are similarities between Ahl-e-Haqq and the (Turkish-Kurdish) Alevis, though how closely these similarities point to evidence of a joint origin remains in dispute. Others see a similarity to the Yezidis, though much of this debate must remain speculation, as all these groups have few published writings and favour secretive religious practices.

Famous people

The famous Iranian musician and mystic Nur Ali Elahi was a high-ranked member of Ahl-e-Haqq and published a book about beliefs and practices of this order which is one of the few reliable sources on the subject. Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji, the self-proclaimed King of Kingdom of Kurdistan after World War I, claimed to be descended from the brother of Sultan Sahak in the twelfth generation.[14]

References

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ Z. Mir-Hosseini, Inner Truth and Outer History: The Two Worlds of the Ahl-i Haqq of Kurdistan, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.26, 1994, p.269
  3. ↑ {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}
  4. ↑ {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}
  5. ↑ Z. Mir-Hosseini, Inner Truth and Outer History: The Two Worlds of the Yârsâns of Kurdistan, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.26, 1994, p.267-268
  6. ↑ {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}
  7. ↑ [2]
  8. ↑ Z. Mir-Hosseini, Inner Truth and Outer History: The Two Worlds of the Ahl-i Haqq of Kurdistan, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.26, 1994, p.268
  9. ↑ [3]
  10. ↑ {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}
  11. ↑ {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}
  12. ↑ {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}
  13. ↑ [4]
  14. ↑ [5]

See also

  • Yazidi
  • Sharazor

External links

Last modified on 21 May 2007, at 13:18