The Influence of the Diaspora on the Transformation of the Main Elements of the Yazidi Religion

Abstract

This article discusses the transformations of the main elements of Yazidi religion in the diaspora—especially among Caucasian Yazidis, Yazidis in Central Asia, and Yazidis in Western European diasporas. The article focuses on the primary features of the Yazidi religion and highlights their distinctive stabilising social and religious functions. The functions of these various religious elements considered important by Yazidis vary considerably not only over time but also over geographic space. The same religious elements and precepts (e.g., an emphasis on marriage rules) that can significantly stabilise Yazidi society in Iraqi Kurdistan can just as significantly destabilise it in the diaspora (especially in Western Europe).

Keywords

• Yazidis
• religion
• transformation
• diaspora
• Caucasus
• Central Asia