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Date Submitted: 02/20/2015 06:30 AM
“Kurds and Their Beliefs”
POL 300
“Kurds and Their Beliefs”
The Kurds are a people which encompass a vast amount of regions across the globe, inhabiting every livable continent in the world. They are however grouped most heavily in the regions of the Middle East and North Africa. About 25 million Kurds live in the Middle East region called “Kurdistan”, which is the area between Turkey of which 20% of Turks are Kurds, Iran of which 7% of Iranian are Kurds, and Iraq where 20% of Iraqis are Kurds. They are by far the largest single Middle Eastern ethnic group without an independent country of their own. For most of their history Kurds have been a part of the Persian and Ottoman empires. The Persian Empire became modern Iran. The Ottoman Empire became modern Turkey. (Kort, 2002)
Because of their great differences in geography there is no uniform religion amongst the Kurds. The Kurds practice a variety of religions ranging from common branches of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, to the less notable religions of Alevism and Yazdanism. The Kurds converted to Islam in the seventh century A.D. Most Kurds are orthodox Sunni Muslims of the Shaft school; however, in southeastern and southern Kurdistan, some tribes are Shi’a Islam, as well as the mystical branch of Sufism. This divide in the Islamic Kurds has caused great turmoil amongst themselves, often pitting tribe against tribe due to the great differences amongst these sects of Islam.
Also found in southeastern Kurdistan is the Ahl-e Haqq (People of Truth) sect, which, although based on Ismaili Shiism, is considered heretical by other Muslims. The Alawites (Alevis) of northwestern Kurdistan also practice an unorthodox form of Shiism. The majority of Alawites are Turks, but many are Kurds, some of whom speak the Zaza dialect. The religion is centered on the beliefs that an individual should love and respect all people, show tolerance and understanding towards people of other...