Page 316 - Neglected Arabia Vol 2

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NEQLECTED ARABIA

Missionary News and Letters
Published Quarterly
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FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION AMONG THE FRIENDS OF i
THE ARABIAN MISSION

The Ways of Working Among Yezidis ;•

Mr. N. K. de Kelaita
Non. 'riu* Yezidis arc a non-Moslem rave found in (lie field of iliv United
Mission in Mesopotamia, in which Mission the Reformed Church is cooperating.
I’Ijc writer, Kelaita, is an honored and very useful helper.—Ed.

I E WE look from afar at the Yczidi people, we see one of the most a
dark and ignorant tribes of the world, which has been confined and
limited by the rules and superstitions of their religion, which leaves
them in the same darkness of hundreds of years ago. Hut if we come !
,nul watch them more closely, we find them the most fast-holding and »!
faithful to their religion. They suffered under the same strong attacks (1
„f the Moslems,'the massacre of men, women, and children, which shook t
die foundations of the Eastern Church, which was sparkling with the
brightness of truth and education, and reduced it to this condition of in-
liruiity in power, education, and number. But the Yezidis, without reading
.,,nl education, kept the existence of Yezidianism. Many ways were used i
l,v the Moslem zealots and fanatics to obliterate this name and religion
ljoin these regions, hut all were without success. One of the ways used
hv lunik Pasha to get rid of the Yezidis was persecution, massacre, and
destroying their holy shrines; by these three ways that Earik Pasha used,
all people thought that no name of Yezidis would remain in this region.
Hut contrary to that, the remnant of Yezidis were most fast and faithful
to their religion.
Now it is quite obvious that the ways of cruelly, oppression, and mas­
sacre are not the correct ways to change a people to a better and enlightened
life. Naturally the question arises, What are the best and true ways to In*
lakcn by workers among Yezidis to touch their moral, physical, and spirit­
ual life? To answer this question, from my own experience among the
Yc/idis, I would suggest three ways to establish our system of working
"iiidug this poor, dark, and miserable people.
The first and most important thing is to have schools; without schools,
work among Yezidis is of very little use, because their heads are full of
ihcir own customs and tabus. One of the strongest of the tabus is that
..I literacy: no Yezidi is permitted to read or write except those of one
family, whose literate members are not more than ten in number. This
family is supposed to be descended from the secretary of Sheikh Adi, their
patron saint. These tabus and customs are thoroughly impressed on their
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