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PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The idea to publish the anthology on the religious minorities in Kurdistan arose a few years ago, and it took shape after two panels “Religious Minorities and Political Changes in Kurdistan” I had organised during the International conference “The Kurds and Kurdistan: Considering Continuity and Change,” the University of Exeter, the United Kingdom, 6-8 September 2012.
I would like to express my heartiest thanks to the authors of the volume for their willingness to collaborate in the project and their worthy contributions. Throughout the composition of this volume, I derived great benefit from productive cooperation with the contributors. I am especially grateful to Prof. Dr. Birgit Ammann, Potsdam University, and Dr. Michiel LEEZENBERG, University of Amsterdam, for their valuable ideas and support.
I would like to extend special thanks to Mr. Reza Zanganeh, Bonn University, both for producing a coherent layout of the book, preparation of its indices and for his enormous assistance during unification of the transcription and personal and geographic names in the volume, as well as for his valuable ideas during the formatting of the book.
My gratitude goes to Dr. Barbara Kraur from the Harrassowitz publishing house for her support, organisation, and her suggestion to publish the volume in the series Studies in Oriental Religions. My thanks also go to Prof. Dr. Wassilios KLEIN, the general editor of this series, who kindly accepted this anthology for the Studies in Oriental Religions. 1 also wish to express my appreciation to Mr. Michael FRÖHLICH who devoted his utmost attention to the production of this volume.
The miscellany Religions Minorities in Kurdistan: Beyond the Mainstream is designed for those who wish to familiarise themselves with the different religious minority groups in Kurdistan and enrich their knowledge of this subject. This volume aims to make a contribution to the literature on religious minorities in the Middle East and it is intended to be a contribution to the research in Religious Studies, Minority Studies, Iranian Studies, and Kurdish Studies. The volume can be used in university seminars in these fields.
It is perhaps necessary to point that statements and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the editor.
Göttingen, August 2013
Khanna Omarkhali
Transcription
This collection contains chapters dealing with different languages (Kurdish, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, Georgian, etc.). Moreover, Kurdish can be written in different scripts, including Arabic, Roman, Cyrillic, and Armenian, and thus it causes special problems in transcription.
In this volume the International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES) transliteration system for the Arabic and Persian alphabets is used as a standard, with the exception of the short vowels -zz-, -z- and the diphthong -an- or -aw-, which are transliterated in this volume as -o-, -e- and -ow- for the Persian names, terms and certain specific expressions (e.g. Ab!-e Haqq, dowre, Soltan, etc.).
For Kurdish, the transcription used here is mainly that of the Bedir Khan brothers, which was developed in the early 1930s in “Hawar” (e.g. êzdiyatî, kirîv).
For the Russian alphabet DIN 1460, and for the Georgian the national system of Romanization adopted in February 2002 by the Institute of Linguistics, Georgian Academy of Sciences are used.
In this volume those geographic names that have no established form in English, or are not well-known in the English language literature are scientifically transcribed (e.g. ‘Arsh Oîbar, Başûfdti). To avoid additional complications, the editor decided not to transcribe geographic names that have established English forms (e.g. Guran, Hawraman, Kermanshah, Sahneh).
The majority of Arabic and Persian personal names that have no established form or are not known in the English language literature are transcribed according to the IJMES system for Arabic or Persian alphabets. Those names that are well-known and often used in the English language literature are not transcribed (e.g. Mustafa Barzani). All names that have common English forms, such as Muhammad (the Islamic prophet) or Ali (the son-in-law of Muhammad), are not transcribed. However, when a part of other personal names they are scientifically transcribed (e.g. A/TElahT, Muhammad Abû al-Saud al-HasTbî).
Terms that have established English forms (e.g. madrasa) are not transcribed. In case there is a different pronunciation or spelling of a term/name in literature, its alternative variant is given in the brackets, usually in its first occurrence (e.g. Yaresan (Yarsan/Ycirisan), Gorani (or Gurani), etc.). If an Arabic term is used by the Kurdish-speaking religious groups, then often both Kurdish and Arabic variants are given (e.g. Ar. madhhab', Kurd, mezheb). Arabic terms and names that are used by the Persian-speaking people are transcribed according to the IJMES transliteration system for the Persian alphabet (e.g. zekr, Ne 'matollah).
Kurmanji Kurdish, as well as Turkish, terms and names are given in the original Latin-based Kurdish and Turkish alphabets (e.g. Kurd. Elewî,pîr, qewlbêj, şêx', Tur. Aleviler, cemevi).
The personal and geographic names, as well as terms used in the volume in different articles are unified as much as possible (e.g. Sayyed Beraka, Ahl-e Haqq, Sulaymaniyafi).
Book titles in Arabic, Persian, and Russian are scientifically transcribed and their English translation is given in the brackets.
Introduction
Religious Minorities in Kurdistan: Beyond the Mainstream
Khanna Omarkhali
This anthology represents an account of the religious milieus flourishing beyond the Islamic mainstream in all parts of Kurdistan. Although nowadays Kurdistan is mostly identified with Islam, practiced by the majority of Kurds, it can be called a reservoir of religions because various religious groups of minority faiths coexist there.
During this period of profound and rapid change, especially in the last few decades, various economic, political, and social transformations have taken place throughout the Middle East. The Kurds are now living under very different political conditions and the profound changes in the political landscape of each of the involved regions during the past few decades have affected the religious minorities in the Kurdish regions in various ways.
Religious minorities have always remained beyond the mainstream both in Kurdistan itself and elsewhere. Most of the literature on religious minorities in the Middle East that has appeared in recent years is dedicated to the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religious tradition, while many other religious minority groups are frequently overlooked in this research. Until now very little has been published in the field of study of the non-Christian and non-Jewish minorities in the Middle East.1 Moreover, the focus of the scholarship, as well as that of international human rights institutions, has primarily been on the rights of religious and ethnic minorities.
The idea to publish this volume was partly inspired by the courses on religious traditions in Kurdistan which 1 have taught at the Georg-August University Gottingen in previous years. Except for the collection of articles by Prof, Martin van BRUIN ESSEN Mullas, Sufis and Heretics: The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society,2 it was difficult to recommend any other single volume that …
1 There is a great amount of literature studying the Aramaic dialects of Christian and Jewish groups in the Kurdish regions. This level of attention is unmatched by any of the other language groups.
2 Bruinessen, Martin van, Mullas, sufis and heretics: The role of religion in Kurdish society, collected articles, Istanbul, The Isis Press, 2000.
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