Iraqi Kurds Turn To Zoroastrianism As Faith, Identity Entwine
Iraqi Kurd Faiza Fouad takes part in a ritual ceremony in an ancient and ruined temple as she joins the millennia-old Zoroastrian religion Photo: AFP / SAFIN HAMED
In a ceremony at an ancient, ruined temple in northern Iraq, Faiza Fuad joined a growing number of Kurds who are leaving Islam to embrace the faith of their ancestors — Zoroastrianism.
Years of violence by the Islamic State jihadist group have left many disillusioned with Islam, while a much longer history of state oppression has pushed some in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region to see the millennia-old religion as a way of reasserting their identity.
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Regardless of situations that brought about this change, we Parsis who have been living a relatively non violent existence must accept that these are our blood relatives. We should extend full support to these Zorastrians. Spiritual and material.
We, the Parsis in India , share the grief of our Kurdish brethren ,on whom, the Turkish government, has unleashed terror and cruelty.
May, Zortustra, help them, in their hour of need. Amin