Kurdish Christians refers to
Kurds
Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
who follow
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. Some Kurds had historically followed Christianity and remained Christian when most Kurds were
converted to Islam, however, the majority of modern Kurdish Christians are
converts. Historically, Kurdish converts to Christianity came from diverse backgrounds, including
Ancient Iranian religion
Ancient Iranian religion or Iranian paganism was a set of ancient beliefs and practices of the Iranian peoples before the rise of Zoroastrianism. The religion closest to it was the historical Vedic religion that was practiced during the Outline_ ...
,
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...
,
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, and
Yazidism.
History
In the 10th century AD, the Kurdish prince
Ibn ad-Dahhak, who possessed the fortress of al-Jafary, converted from Islam to
Orthodox Christianity and in return the Byzantines gave him land and a fortress. In 927 AD, he and his family were executed during a raid by
Thamal al-Dulafi, the governor of
Tarsus.
In the late 11th and the early 12th century AD, Kurdish Christians made up a minority of the army of the fortress city of
Shayzar, near
Hama, Syria.
The
Zakarids–Mkhargrdzeli, an Armenian–Georgian dynasty of
Kurdish origin, ruled parts of northern
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
in the 13th century AD and tried to reinvigorate intellectual activities by founding new
monasteries.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...
, in his book, stated that a minority of the Kurds who inhabited the mountainous part of
Mosul
Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...
were Christians, while the rest were Muslims.
Kurdish Christian converts usually were a part of the
Church of the East. In 1884, researchers of the
Royal Geographical Society reported in
Sivas about a local Kurdish tribe, likely of Armenian origin, which retained some Christian observances and sometimes identified as Christian.
A significant part of Kurdish Christian converts were actually of
Yazidi background. In the 17th century,
Carmelite,
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
and
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionaries flocked to Yazidi regions, mainly in
Sinjar and
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. Some Ottoman Yazidis converted to Christianity due to social issues regarding Yazidism. In the 19th century, both Protestant and Catholic missionaries developed an interest for Yazidis. In the Ottoman Empire, leaving Islam was a crime, however, since Yazidis were not Muslim, it was not a crime for them to convert nor was it a crime to convert them. Christian missionary activity flourished in Yazidi communities. In the 1880s, the Ottoman government began Islamic missionary for Yazidis, claiming that since Yazidi communities were open for Christian missionaries, they might as well be open for Islamic missionaries. Christian missionaries later brought global attention on Yazidis, who were a fairly isolated community. Yazidis who left Yazidism generally preferred Christianity over Islam.
Contemporary Kurdish Christians
Part of the English-language New Testament was first available in the
Kurdish language
Kurdish (, , ) is a Northwestern Iranian languages, Northwestern Iranian language or dialect continuum, group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in southeast Turkish Kurdistan, Turkey, northern Iraqi Kurdistan, Ira ...
in 1856.
The Kurdzman Church of Christ (Kurdophone Church of Christ) was established in Hewlêr (
Erbil
Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate.
Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...
) by the end of 2000, and has branches in the
Silêmanî,
Duhok governorates. This is the first
evangelical Kurdish church in Iraq. Its logo is formed of a yellow sun and a
cross
A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...
rising up behind a mountain range. According to one Kurdish convert, an estimated 500 Kurdish Muslim youths have converted to Christianity since 2006 throughout Kurdistan. A Kurdish convert from the Iraqi military who claims to have transported weapons of mass destruction also stated that a wave of Kurds converting to Christianity was taking place in northern Iraq.
There was a wave of Kurdish conversion to Christianity after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
. In the
Post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...
, most Kurdish converts to Christianity were from a Yazidi background. In
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
, around 3,600 Yazidis converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
by 2019.
Yazidi converts to Christianity were disowned and mistreated by the Yazidi community. In 2023, an
Evangelical missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
group sparked controversy after praying at a Yazidi temple for the destruction of Yazidism. After the
Yazidi genocide, there was a wave of Yazidi conversion to Christianity, mostly through missionaries.
Vian Dakhil urged the
Kurdistan Region to ban Christian missionaries, although the KRG refused, and its "Office of Christian Affairs" claimed that the missionaries acted ethical. Christian missionaries saw the influx of Yazidi refugees to the Kurdistan Region as a "golden opportunity" for conversion, as the Yazidis were historically so isolated that even native Iraqi missionaries could not convert them. By late 2015, around 800 Yazidis converted to Christianity, and over 70% of Christian converts in refugee camps were Yazidi.
Walid Shoebat criticized Vian Dakhil and her attempts to ban Christian proselytization, claiming that she preferred to "worship
Lucifer instead of Jesus. Yazidis are known for their hatred to Christianity, especially missionaries."
Madai Maamdi, a
Georgian Yazidi convert to the
Georgian Orthodox Church
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonl ...
, was ordained a priest in February 2023 by the North American Diocese of the Georgian Orthodox Church, becoming the first ethnic Kurd to be ordained as an Orthodox Christian priest.
Some
Hidden Armenians who were Kurdified and Islamized had converted to Christianity in their attempts to return to their Armenian roots. Many Kurdish Christians were not ethnic Kurds, but ethnic Armenians and
Assyrians who lived in Kurdistan and spoke Kurdish and were considered Kurdish Christians. In 2019, some 80-100 Kurds converted to Christianity in the city of
Kobanî. An Evangelical pastor from
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
claimed that Kurdish converts to Christianity were often disgruntled with Islam because of the Anti-Kurdish policies of
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...
who promoted Islamism and Turkish nationalism, as well as the atrocities committed against Kurds in Syria by
Turkish-backed Islamists during the
Syrian civil war.
[The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, 2020, pp. 45-46, ]
See also
*
Bible translations into Kurdish
*
Kurdish people
Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
*
Religion in Kurdistan
Other Christian minorities
*
Berber Christians
*
Arab Christians
*
Azerbaijani Christians
*
Turkic Christians
*
Punjabi Christians
*
Bengali Christians
Notes
References
{{Reflist
External links
New Testament in Kurmanci (Latin and Cyrillic) and Sorani (Arabic script)
Christian groups in the Middle East