View source for Yarsanism

{{Short description|Religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century}}
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{{Infobox religion
| name               = Yarsanism<br />{{lang|ku|یارسان}}
| native_name        = 
| image              = File:Views around the Kakaii shrine of Shah Hayas in the village Wardik, with a jamkhana, cemetery, and auxiliary shrines attached 24.jpg
| imagewidth         = 250
| alt                = 
| caption            = Yarsan shrine of Shah Hayas in the village of Wardik near [[Mosul]] in Iraq
| abbreviation       = 
| type               = [[Ethnic religion]]
| main_classification = [[Iranian religions|Iranian]], [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic]]
| orientation        = 
| scripture          = [[Kalâm-e Saranjâm]]
| theology           = [[syncretism|Syncretic]]
| polity             = 
| governance         = 
| structure          = 
| leader_title       = 
| leader_name        = 
| fellowships        = 
| associations       = 
| area               = [[Iraqi Kurdistan]], [[Iranian Kurdistan]]
| headquarters       = 
| language           = [[Kurdish languages]]; [[Gorani language]]
| founder            = [[Sultan Sahak]]
| founded_date       = late 14th century
| founded_place      = [[Western Iran]]
| separated_from     = 
| parent             = 
| congregations      = 
| members            = {{circa}} 500,000{{sfnp|Hamzeh'ee|1990|p=39}} to 1,000,000 (in Iran)<ref name="North Africa 2004 p. 82">''Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa'' (Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2004) p. 82</ref>
| other_names        = ''Ahl-e Haqq'', ''Kaka'i''<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title='If we stay a secret, there will be a genocide' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-48301954 }}</ref>
| ministers          = 
| website            = 
}}
{{Kurds}}
'''Yarsanism''' ({{langx|ku|یارسان|translit=Yarsan}}), '''Ahl-e Haqq''' ({{langx|ku|ئەهلی حەق|translit=Ehlî Ḧeq}};<ref>{{cite book |title=Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East |editor=Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi |display-editors=etal |first=M. Reza Fariborz |last=Hamzeh'ee |pages=101–117 |year=1995 |isbn=90-04-10861-0 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden}}</ref><ref>[[Philip G. Kreyenbroek|P. G. Kreyenbroek]] (1992). Review of ''The Yaresan: A Sociological, Historical and Religio-Historical Study of a Kurdish Community'', by M. Reza Hamzeh'ee, 1990, {{ISBN|3-922968-83-X}}. ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London, Vol.55, No.3, pp.565–566.</ref> {{langx|fa|اهل حق}}), or '''Kaka'i''',<ref name="BBC" /> is an [[Ethnoreligious group|inherited]], [[syncretism|syncretic]] religion founded by [[Sultan Sahak]] in the late 14th century in western Iran.<ref>Elahi, Bahram (1987). ''The path of perfection, the spiritual teachings of Master Nur Ali Elahi''. {{ISBN|0-7126-0200-3}}.</ref> The total number of followers of Yarsanism is estimated to be over half a million{{sfnp|Hamzeh'ee|1990|p=39}} to one million in [[Iran]].<ref name="North Africa 2004 p. 82">''Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa'' (Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2004) p. 82</ref> The numbers in Iraq are unknown. The adherents are mostly [[Kurds]],{{sfnp|Hamzeh'ee|1990|p=39}} as well as some [[Shabaks]],<ref>Religious Minorities in Iraq: Co-Existence, Faith and Recovery After ISIS, Maria Rita Corticelli, 2022, pp. 130, {{ISBN|9780755641352}}</ref> [[Lak (tribe)|Laks]], and [[Lurs]].<ref>God First and Last: Religious Traditions and Music of the Yaresan of Guran: Volume 1: Religious Traditions by Philip G. Kreyenbroek, 2020, pp. 33</ref>

Some Yarsanis in Iraq are called ''Kaka'i''.<ref name="BBC" /> Yarsanis say that some people call them disparagingly as "Ali Allahi" or "worshipers of [[Ali]]", labels which Yarsanis deny. As such, many Yarsanis hide their religious identity, and there are no exact statistics of their population.<ref name="bbc">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2011/11/111127_l95_ahlehagh_jia_vid|title=نگاهی به آئین یارسان یا اهل حق|date=November 27, 2011|website=BBC News فارسی}}</ref>

The Yarsanis have a distinct religious literature primarily written in the [[Gorani language]]. However, few modern Yarsani can read or write Gorani, as their mother tongue is [[Southern Kurdish]] or [[Sorani]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=C. J. Edmonds |url= |title=Kurds, Turks and Arabs, Politics, Travel and Research in North-Eastern Iraq, 1919-1925 |date=1957 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=195 |access-date=}}</ref> Some Yarsanis in Iran speak a Turkic language close to Azeri, while some Yarsanis in Iraq speak Arabic. However, Yarsani tradition claimed that all early Yarsanis used Gorani as their religious language, and that some Yarsani communities were forced to adopt another language.<ref>God First and Last: Religious Traditions and Music of the Yaresan of Guran: Volume 1: Religious Traditions by Philip G. Kreyenbroek, 2020, pp. 33</ref>

Their central religious book is called the ''[[Kalâm-e Saranjâm]]'', written in the 15th century and based on the teachings of [[Sultan Sahak]].

== Geography ==
The majority of Yarsan followers live in [[Kermanshah Province]] and adjacent areas of [[Lorestan Province]] and [[Ilam Province]] in [[Iran]]. They are the predominant religious population in [[Mahidasht Rural District|Mahidasht]], [[Bivanij Rural District|Bivanij]] and Zohab districts of Kermanshah, and populate rural areas of [[Delfan County|Delfan]], [[Holeylan County|Holeylan]] and Posht-e Kuh in Ilam and Lorestan.{{sfnp|Hamzeh'ee|1990|p=38–39}}

The main urban centers of the religion are [[Sahneh]], [[Kerend-e Gharb]] and [[Gahvareh]], and other important cities include [[Kermanshah]], [[Sarpol-e Zahab]] and [[Qasr-e Shirin]].{{sfnp|Hamzeh'ee|1990|p=39}}

Other areas in Iran with a significant Yarsan population include [[Hashtgerd]] and [[Varamin]] near [[Tehran]] and [[Maragheh]], and [[Tabriz]] in [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian Azerbaijan]],{{sfnp|Hamzeh'ee|1990|p=39}} where important Turkic-speaking Yarsan communities live and use [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] for many of their religious texts. The Yarsani tradition claims that all early communities used [[Gorani language|Gorani]] as their religious language, but that over time, some groups were forced to adopt a Turkic language closely akin to [[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]] for all purposes, including religion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kreyenbroek |first=Philip G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3dp4zQEACAAJ |title="God first and last" : religious traditions and music of the Yaresan of Guran |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-447-11424-0 |pages=32–33 |oclc=1228902659}}</ref>

In Iraq, Yarsan followers mainly live in [[Mosul]], [[Kirkuk]], [[Kalar, Iraq|Kalar]], [[Khanaqin]], [[Erbil]], [[Sulaymaniyah]], and [[Halabja]].{{sfnp|Hamzeh'ee|1990|p=39}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pukmedia.com/EN/Details/71230|title=Kaka'is - The men with big moustaches ‌|website=www.pukmedia.com|access-date=2022-04-18|archive-date=2022-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104081419/https://www.pukmedia.com/EN/Details/71230|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=2023-10-16 |title=Kaka'i in Iraq |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/kakai/ |journal=Minority Rights Group |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=Apr 23, 2021 |title=Iraq's Kaka'i minority aspires to be represented in political process |url=https://npasyria.com/en/58142/}}</ref>

==Beliefs==
[[File:Tambur.jpg|100px|thumb|right|The [[Kurdish tanbur|Tambur]] is a sacred symbol of Yarsanism and is played during religious ceremonies.<ref name=grove-kurdish>{{cite NewGrove2001|title=Kurdish music|last=Shiloah|first=Amnon|volume=xiv|page=40}}</ref>]]

The Yarsani follow the mystical teachings of [[Sultan Sahak]] ({{fl}} 14th–15th century). From the Yarsani point of view, the universe is composed of two distinct yet interrelated worlds: the internal (''[[Batin (Islam)|bātinī]]'') and the external (''[[Zahir (Islam)|zāhirī]]''), 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. This aspect of the Yarsani faith can be identified as [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] [[Western esotericism|esoterism]] which emerged under the intense influence of [[Batiniyyah|Bātinī]]-[[Sufism]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Among other important pillars of their belief system are that the Divine Essence has successive manifestations in human form (''mazhariyyat'') and the belief in [[transmigration of the soul]] (''dunaduni'' in [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]). Yarasani believe that every man needs to do what is written within their holy book, the [[Kalâm-e Saranjâm]], otherwise they are not part of Yarsan. There is no compulsion or exclusion in Yarsan – anyone who chooses to follow its precepts is welcome.

The Yarsani faith's features include [[millenarism]], [[innatism]], [[egalitarianism]], [[metempsychosis]], [[angelology]], divine manifestation and [[Dualistic cosmology|dualism]].{{sfnp|Hamzeh'ee|1990|p=36}}

===Divine manifestations===
The Yarsani are [[Emanationism|emanationists]] and incarnationists, believing that the Divine Essence has successive [[incarnation]]s known as ''mazhariyyats'' (similar to the [[Hindu]] [[avatar]]s). They believe God manifests one primary and seven secondary manifestations in each  epoch of the world, in either angel or human form. These seven persons are known as "''Heft tan''{{-"}}, which means "The Seven Persons".

The primary ''mazhariyyat'' of the First Epoch was the Divine Essence known as Khawandagar, who created the world.

The primary ''mazhariyyat'' of the Second Epoch was [[Ali|Ali ibn Abi Talib]], the fourth [[caliph]] and first imam of [[Shia Islam]]. This explains the alternative name for Yarsanis '''Ali-Allahi''', "Believers in the divinity of Ali".

The primary ''mazhariyyat'' of the Third Epoch was Shah Khoshin.{{Sfnp|Hamzeh'ee|1990|p=99}}

In the Fourth Epoch, the primary ''mazhariyyat'' is held to be [[Sultan Sahak]]. It is said that his mother was Dayerak Rezbar or Khatun-e Rezbar, a Kurdish virgin of the [[Jaff|Caf]] tribe. While sleeping under a [[pomegranate]] tree a kernel of fruit fell into her mouth when a bird pecked the fruit directly over her.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Kurds: History and Culture |url=http://www.bakhawan.com/dotkurd/nebez/Inglizi/TheKurds.pdf |page=23 |author=Nebez, Jamal |publisher=Western Kurdistan Association |date=1997-09-19 |access-date=2006-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525152728/http://www.bakhawan.com/dotkurd/nebez/Inglizi/TheKurds.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=2006-05-25 |author-link=Jamal Nebez}}</ref> Sources vary on Rezbar’s marital life, some state that she lived her entire life celibate and unmarried while most state that she had married. Sources that claim she had married either contest her husband as being a Kurdish man named "Şêx Îsa" from a priestly line of the Berzencî tribe or an Arab [[Sayyid]] man. Whether either of these men even fathered Sahak is also contested among Yarsanis who believe she had married either one of them, as the virgin birth of Sahak is contested by Yarsani scholars though the presumed father or stepfather of Sahak is not regarded as a significant religious figure in Yarsanism.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mirwaisi |first1=Hamma |title=Return of the Medes |date=2010 |publisher=Wheatmark |isbn=9781604944495 |page=161 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xrMLKRbahoEC}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Moosa |first1=Matti |title=Extremist Shiites |date=1987 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=9780815624110 |page=216 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYO1BqdvX9EC}}</ref>

[[File:kakkai.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Yarsani men in [[Suleimaniyah|Silêmanî]], [[Kurdistan Region|Iraqi Kurdistan]]. The picture on the wall is of the [[Kurdish tanbur]], a Yarsani religious symbol.]]

===Haft Tan or seven persons===
Each Epoch in Yarsani belief saw the appearance of the seven secondary divine manifestations or ''Haft Tan''. In the First Epoch they appeared in their true angelic form, while in subsequent Epochs they appeared in human incarnations. The ''Haft Tan'' are charged with responsibility for the affairs of the internal realm.

The secondary ''mazhariyyats''  of the First Epoch include the archangels [[Gabriel]], [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]], [[Israfil]] and [[Azrael]], and a female angelic being.

The ''mazhariyyats'' of the Second Epoch include Salman, Qanbar, [[Muhammad]], Nusayr (who is either [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] or [[Theophobus]]) and [[Bahlool]]. It also includes [[Fatimah]], the daughter of Muhammad as the incarnation of the female angel.

The ''mazhariyyats'' of the Third Epoch include [[فضل‌الله نعیمی|Shah Fazlullah Veli]], Baba Sarhang Dudani and Baba Naous.

In the Fourth Epoch, the ''Haft Tan'' or 'seven persons' charged by Sultan Sahak with responsibility for the affairs of the inner realm consist of the following:<ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/ZMHFaithRitualCultureAmongAH|title=Faith Ritual and Culture Among Ahle-Haqq|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

The "''Haft Tan''" (The Seven [[Archangels]]) are key figures in the Yarsani belief system and their history. The only female among them is Khatun-e Rezbar, the mother of Sultan Sahak.
# Pir Benjamin, considered the [[incarnation]] of the archangel [[Gabriel]]; he has the preceptor title to all Yarsanis (Monday)
# Pir Musi, the [[incarnation]] of the archangel [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] and known as the [[Recording angel]] (Tuesday)
# Mustafā Dawan, the incarnation of archangel [[Azrael]] (Wednesday)
# [[Sultan Sahak]], the incarnation of Divine Essence (Thursday)
# Baba Yadegar, also known as "''Ahmad''" and "''Reza''" (Friday)
# Khatun-e Razbar (Saturday) 
# Dawud Koswar (David), also informally called Dawu; he is known as "''Dalil''" (in Kurdish) to all Yarsanis (Sunday)

These seven persons are known as "''Haft tan''" which means literally "The Seven Persons"

===Holy texts===
The traditions of the Yarsani are preserved in poetry known as ''[[Kalâm-e Saranjâm]]'' (''The Discourse of Conclusion''), divinely revealed narratives passed down orally through the generations. These traditions are said to have been written down by Pir Musi, one of the seven companions of Sultan Sahak (also the angel in charge of recording human deeds).<ref name="mirhosseini">Z. Mir-Hosseini (1994). "Inner Truth and Outer History: The Two Worlds of the Ahl-e Haqq of Kurdistan", ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', Vol.26, pp.267–269.</ref> The collection consists of the epochs of Khawandagar [God], ‘Alī, Shah Khoshin and Sultan Sahak, the different manifestations of [[divinity]]. The epoch of Shah Khoshin takes place in [[Lorestān Province|Luristan]] and the epoch of Sultan Sahak is placed in [[Hawraman]] near the [[Diyala River|Sirwan River]], the land of the [[Southern Kurdish|Goranî]]. Also important to the [[Southern Kurdish|Goranî]] is the Daftar-e kezana-ye Perdivari (''Book of the Treasure of Perdivar''), a collection of twenty six mythological poems or ''kalams''.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahl-e-haqq-people|title=AHL-E ḤAQQ – Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=electricpulp.com|website=www.iranicaonline.org}}</ref>

The sayings attributed to Sultan Sahak are written in [[Gorani language|Gorani]] Kurdish, the sacred language of the Ahl-e Haqq, which also is known as [[Hawrami dialects]]. However, few modern Yarsani can read or write [[Gorani language|Gorani]] as their mother tongues are [[Southern Kurdish]] and [[Sorani Kurdish]], which belong to the other two branches of the Kurdish language family. Some Yarsani literature is written in the Persian language.<ref name="leezenberg">{{cite web |last=Leezenberg |first=Michiel |url=http://home.hum.uva.nl/oz/leezenberg/GInflCK.rtf |title=Gorani Influence on Central Kurdish: Substratum or Prestige Borrowing? |format=[[Rich Text Format|RTF]] |access-date=2006-04-27 |archive-date=2011-02-23 |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110223201242/http://home.hum.uva.nl/oz/leezenberg/GInflCK.rtf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The older texts are called the Perdiwari texts, which date back to around the 15th or 16th centuries. The texts are called Perdiwari since [[Perdiwar]] is where [[Soltan Sahak]] had first founded the Yarsani community. The Perdiwari texts are attributed to writers from this first community of Yarsani believers. They include the following texts.<ref name="Kanakis 2020">{{cite book | last=Kanakis | first=Yiannis | title=God first and last: religious traditions and music of the Yaresan of Guran | publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag | publication-place=Wiesbaden | year=2020 | isbn=978-3-447-11424-0 | oclc=1158495389}}</ref>
*''Dowre-ye Bābā Khoshin''
*''Dowre-ye Bābā Nā’us''
*''Dowre-ye Bohlul''
*''Dowre-ye Bābā Jalil''
*''Bābā Sarhang''
*''Dowre-ye Soltān Sahāk''
*''Kalām-e Ābedin''
*''Kalām-e Ahmad''
*''Daftar-e Dāmyāri''
*''Šandarwi maramo (Kelim wa Duš)''
*''Bārgah Bārgah''
*''Dowre-ye Cheltan''
*''Kamākanān''
*''Zolāl Zolāl''

Widely known non-Perdiwari texts are:<ref name="Kanakis 2020"/>
*''Daftar-e Sheykh Amir''
*''Daftar-e Khān Almās''
*''Daftar-e Ābedin Jāf''
*''Daftar-e Ilbegi''
*''Daftar of Qushchioghli''
*Daftars of other members of the group of ‘Twenty-Four Poets’, in Turkic ([[Southern Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]])
*''Daftar-e Zu’l-Feqār''
*''Daftar of the Thirty-Six Poets of the Period of Sayyed Brāke''

== Sacred sites ==
[[File:Dawu Tomb Zarde Village.JPG|200px|thumb|right|The Holy Tomb of Dawoud in Zardeh, [[Kermanshah province|Kermanshah]] is one of the sacred shrines of Yarsinism.]]
Two important sanctuaries of the Yarsani are the tomb of Bābā Yādgār, about 40&nbsp;km away from [[Sarpol-e Zahab]] in [[Kermanshah Province]] and the tomb of Dawoud at [[Zardeh, Dalahu|Zarde]], about three kilometres east of Sarpol-e Zahab.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://offline.hum.uu.nl/|title=Website offline – ICT & Media|website=offline.hum.uu.nl}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/articles/place/dukkan-e-daud/?|title=Dukkan-e Daud – Livius|website=www.livius.org}}</ref> Another important shrine is that of Sultan Suhak in Sheykhan, near Perdīvar bridge in Kermanshah Province.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ahle-haqq.com/formation.html|title=Ahl-e Haqq – Formation of the Order|website=www.ahle-haqq.com}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> The tombs of Pir Benjamin and Pir Musi in the town of [[Kerend]] in [[Kermanshah Province]], Iran are also important shrines.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/10772192|title=The Cults of the Angels: The Indigenous Religions of Kurdistan|first=L K|last=Robert|archive-date=2017-03-11|access-date=2017-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311044639/http://www.academia.edu/10772192/The_Cults_of_the_Angels_The_Indigenous_Religions_of_Kurdistan|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Organisation==
===Khandans or spiritual houses===
Yarsanism is organised into spiritual houses or Khandans, seven of which were established at the time of Sultan Sahak, and four afterwards, making eleven Khandans in all. The Khandans were established when, along with the ''Haft Tan'', Sultan Sahak also formed the ''Haft Tawane'', a group of seven holy persons charged with the affairs of the outer world.<ref name="auto2"/> They were Say-yed Mohammad, Say-yed Abu'l Wafa, Haji Babusi, Mir Sur, Say-yed Mostafa, Sheykh Shahab al-Din and Sheykh Habib Shah. Each of the ''Haft Tawane'' was charged with responsibility for the guidance of a number of followers, and these followers formed the original seven Khandans, namely Shah Ebrahim, Baba Yadegar, Ali Qalandar, Khamush, Mir Sur, Sey-yed Mosaffa and Hajji Babu Isa. After Sultan Sahak's time another four  khandans were established, namely Atesh Bag, Baba Heydar, Zolnour and Shah Hayas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ahle-haqq.com/rituals.html|title=Ahl-e Haqq – Rituals and Traditions|website=www.ahle-haqq.com}}</ref>

Every Yarsani therefore belongs to one specific khandan, which is led by a spiritual leader called a say-yed, to whom each member must swear obedience.  The say-yed is the spiritual leader of the community and is normally present during the ceremonies attended by the followers. Say-yeds are the only ones allowed to have full access to the religious texts of Yarsanism, and have traditionally competed with each other to have the largest number of followers. The position of Say-yed is hereditary, being passed down through the generations from the original  founders. As the say-yed are considered spiritual 'parents', it is the tradition for them not to marry their followers.

==Relationship with other religious groups==
[[File:Dukkan-e Davood (4130696198).jpg|150px|thumb|right|Rock carving at Dukkan-e Davood]]

An excerpt from the French Review of the Muslim World<ref>{{cite journal |title=Notes sur la sect des Ahlé-Haqq |journal=[[Revue du monde musulman|Revue du Monde Musulman]] |year=1920 |last=Minorsky |first=Vladimir |author-link=Vladimir Minorsky |volume=40–41 |page=20 |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k103836s/f24.image |access-date=2017-03-25|language=fr}}</ref> describes the difficulty in nomenclature for Yarsanism and related [[Shi'ite]] mysticism. The English translation reads:

{{quote|First of all, we must clear up the confusion resulting from the variety of names given to the sect of "Ahlé-Haqq", which are liable to be misunderstood. Like any religion, the one we are dealing with considers itself to be the only true and orthodox one, and it is natural that its adherents give themselves the name of "People of Truth" (''Ahlé-Haqq'' or ''Ahlé-Haqîqat''). This term lacks precision, as other sects, for example the [[Hurufism|Horoufis]], occasionally apply it to themselves. Still, the name Ahlé-Haqq to refer to the sect of our particular interest has every advantage over appellations such as "[[Ghulat|Gholat]]", "[[Ali-Illahism|Alî-Allâhi]]", and "[[Alawites|Noséïri]]" that the Muslims and most European travellers use in speaking of them. The first term, which encompasses all of the extremist Shi’ites, is too broad and too vague. The second term, "deifiers of Ali", has the same fault and emphasizes what is only a detail in the religious system under discussion. Finally, the name "[[Nusairi|Noséïri]]" belongs to that well-defined Syrian religion, which, despite some resemblances with the doctrines of the Ahlé-Haqq (the worship of Ali, the communion, etc.), appears to present a complex of quite different old beliefs.}}

===Relations with Islam===
''Ahl-e Haqq'' view Islam as a product of a cycle of divine essence, which was made manifest in [[Ali]], and established the stage of [[Sharia|''shai'at'']] (Islamic law). This was followed by the cycle of [[Tariqa|''tariqat'']] (Sufi teachings), then ''[[ma'rifa]]t'' (Sufi gnosis), and finally the current cycle of [[haqiqa]]t (Ultimate Truth), which was made manifest in [[Sultan Sahak]]. The final stage supersedes the previous ones, which frees Ahl-e Haqq from observing the shari'a rules incumbent on Muslims. Ahl-i Haqq class other Muslims as either Ahl-i Tashayyu (followers of Shi'ism) or Ahl-i Tasannun (followers of Sunnism). The Ahl-i Haqq neither observe Muslim rites, such as daily prayers and fasting during the month of Ramadan, nor share Islamic theology and sacred space, such as belief in the day of resurrection and sanctity of the mosque.<ref>Z. Mir-Hosseini, "Inner Truth and Outer History: The Two Worlds of the Ahl-e Haqq of Kurdistan", ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', Vol.26, 1994, p.267–268</ref>

== Persecution ==
Extremist Sunni Islamic groups, such as the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIS) and [[al-Qaeda]], regard the followers of Yarsanism as unbelievers who have to convert to Islam or die. These militants have persecuted Yarsanis during the [[Iraq conflict (2003–present)|Iraq conflict]], possibly prompting some Iraqi Yarsan community leaders to declare in 2013 that their people were actually Muslims to avoid sectarian attacks.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/islamic-state-terror-group-surges-iraq-disputed-territories/4455890.html |title=IS Terror Group Surges in Iraq's Disputed Territories |author=Rikar Hussein |work=[[Voice of America]] |date=26 June 2018 |access-date=4 July 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/iraq-islamic-state-kakai-minority/4455712.html |title=IS Attacks Drive Members of Iraqi Kakai Minority From Their Villages |author=Dilshad Anwar |work=[[Voice of America]] |date=26 June 2018 |access-date=1 July 2018 }}</ref> In 2016, after witnessing the [[Yazidi genocide|massacres committed against the Yazidis]], Nezar Kakai formed the [[Peshmerga#Combat Forces|Kaka'i Battalion]], a 680-strong [[Peshmerga]] unit, dedicated to protecting the community and preventing attacks by ISIS.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Battle-tested Kakai battalion begs to retake villages |url=http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/240820153 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817194721/http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/240820153 |archive-date=2016-08-17 |access-date=2016-06-03 |agency=Rûdaw}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iraq's Kakai minority joins fight against Islamic State |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/en/originals/2015/09/iraq-kakai-religious-beliefs-armed-force-isis.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806094905/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/en/originals/2015/09/iraq-kakai-religious-beliefs-armed-force-isis.html |archive-date=2016-08-06 |access-date=2016-06-03 |publisher=Al-Monitor}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Kurdistan|Religion|Asia}}
*[[Ali-Illahism]]
*[[Yazidism]]
*[[Yazdânism]]
{{-}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*{{cite book | last=Hamzeh'ee | first=M. Reza | title=The Yaresan: a sociological, historical, and religio-historical study of a Kurdish community | publisher=K. Schwarz | publication-place=Berlin | year=1990 | isbn=3-922968-83-X | oclc=23438701 | url=http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/iud/content/structure/1330754}}
*{{cite book | last=Kreyenbroek | first=Philip | author-link=Philip G. Kreyenbroek | title=God first and last: religious traditions and music of the Yaresan of Guran | publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag | publication-place=Wiesbaden | year=2020 | isbn=978-3-447-11424-0 | oclc=1158495389}}

Collections of Yarsani texts published in Iran and Iraq:
*Ṣafizāde, Ṣ. (1375/1996), ''Nāme-ye [[Saranjām]] yā Kalām-e Xazāne'' [The Book of [[Saranjām]] or the Kalām of the Treasury], Tehran.
*Ḥosseyni, Sayyed M. (1382/2003), ''Dīwān-e Gewre'' [The Great Diwan], Kermanshah.
*Ṭāheri, Ṭ. (2007, 2009), ''[[Saranjām]]'', 2 Vols., Erbil.
*Anonymous (copied 1387/2008), ''Daftar-e Diwān-e Gewre-ye Perdiwari'' [The Book of the Great Collection of Perdiwari (Kalāms)], copied by Kāki ‘Azizpanāhi Tutšāmi, n.pl.

==External links==
{{commons category|Yarsanism}}
* {{Encyclopaedia Islamica|last1=Jalali-Moqaddam|first1=Masoud|last2=Safvat|first2=Dariush|last3=Qasemi|first3=Jawad|title=Ahl-i Ḥaqq|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-islamica/*-COM_0199|year=2008}}
* {{EI3|last=van Bruinessen|first=Martin|title=Ahl-i Ḥaqq|year=2009|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/*-COM_22840}}
* [http://www.razbar.com Razbar Ensemble] – sacred music of Ahl-e Haqq.
* [http://home.hum.uva.nl/oz/leezenberg/GInflCK.pdf Gorani Influence on Central Kurdish: Substratum or Prestige Borrowing?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712070357/http://home.hum.uva.nl/oz/leezenberg/GInflCK.pdf |date=2019-07-12 }} Leezenberg, Michiel: ILLC – Department of [[Philosophy]], [[University of Amsterdam]]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=TUhwyBmBnI4C&dq=edmonds+1957&pg=PA167 The Shabak and the Kakais in Northern Iraq], Syncretistic religious communities in the Near East: collected papers of the International Symposium "Alevism in Turkey and comparable sycretistic religious communities in the Near East in the past and present" Berlin, 14–17 April 1995, Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi, Barbara Kellner-Heinkele, Anke Otter-Beaujean, Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi, Barbara.
* [http://www.kurdishacademy.org/english/articles/articles-007.html Leezenberg, Michiel: ILLC – Department of Humanities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927141837/http://www.kurdishacademy.org/english/articles/articles-007.html |date=2007-09-27 }}, [[University of Amsterdam]]

{{religion topics|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarsanism}}
[[Category:Yarsanism| ]]
[[Category:Iranian religions]]
[[Category:Monotheistic religions]]
[[Category:Mysticism]]
[[Category:Religion in Iran]]
[[Category:Religion in Iraq]]
[[Category:Religion in Kurdistan]]
[[Category:Kurdish words and phrases]]
[[Category:Kurdish culture]]