The Yazidis’ own self-understanding holds that theirs is humanity’s original and oldest religion. By the reckoning at Yeziditruth.org, the religious calendar traces back 6,764 years, a millennium earlier than the Jewish calendar. The tradition teaches that Yazidis are a specially chosen people created by God as the offspring of Adam alone, while all other humans stem from Adam and Eve.
The Encyclopaedia Brittanica says Yazidis “seek to keep themselves segregated from the people among whom they live.” One must be born into the faith because it does not welcome converts. Segregation does not mean hostility, however. Yazidis have helped persecuted Christians in the past, just as Christians have helped Yazidis during their recent peril. Like other religions, Yazidism opposes intermarriage outside the faith, but in addition forbids marriage across its own caste lines.
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