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Heritage

Faiths

Islam, Alevism, Yazidism, Yarsan, Christianity and Judaism among Kurds, each in its own words.

  • Sunni Islam (Shafi’i)

    The majority; Naqshbandi and Qadiri Sufi orders

  • Alevism

    Kurmanji and Zaza Alevis; cemevi houses of worship

  • Yazidism (Êzidîtî)

    Monotheistic faith of Lalish, Shingal, Armenia, Georgia and Germany

  • Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq, Kaka’i)

    Scriptures in Gorani; tanbur sacred music

  • Shia Islam

    Feyli Kurds and many Southern Kurdish speakers

  • Christianity

    Kurdish-speaking Christians and neighbouring Assyrians and Armenians

  • Judaism

    Kurdish Jews of Zakho, Amadiya and Sanandaj, now mostly in Israel

  • Secular and non-religious Kurds

    Significant in the diaspora

Cite this page
APA

The Kurdish Cooperation Organization. (2026). Faiths. kurds.global. https://kurds.global/heritage/faiths/

Chicago

The Kurdish Cooperation Organization. 2026. “Faiths.” kurds.global. https://kurds.global/heritage/faiths/.

BibTeX
@misc{kco2026_heritage_faiths,
	author = {{The Kurdish Cooperation Organization}},
	year = {2026},
	note = {Licence: CC BY 4.0},
	title = {Faiths},
	url = {https://kurds.global/heritage/faiths/},
	howpublished = {https://kurds.global/heritage/faiths/},
}

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RIS
TY  - ELEC
AU  - The Kurdish Cooperation Organization
DA  - 2026///
PY  - 2026
ID  - kco2026_heritage_fai
N1  - Licence: CC BY 4.0
TI  - Faiths
UR  - https://kurds.global/heritage/faiths/
ER  -

Download .ris

Licence CC BY 4.0

Before you begin The Kurdish Cooperation Organization is a federation of communities that learn from one another. It is not a university, claims no public authority and serves no government, party or faith body.Contested subject

Outside sources keep their own licences. A listing or a link is not an endorsement.

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Sources

Open scholarly records on this subject, from approved indexes. Listed for reference, not yet reviewed.

  1. Ahl-e Haqq (Yarsanism) (2025). Alevi Ansiklopedisi. DOI 10.68413/aleviansiklopedisi.v48ng
  2. FARUK MERGEN (2025). YAZIDISM. İSLAM VE ANTİK DÜŞÜNCE GELENEĞİNDE SAVAŞ, İNANÇ VE BİREY. DOI 10.70269/10.70269/2754264676
  3. Birgul Yilmaz (2020). Language Attitudes and Religion: Kurdish Alevis in the UK. Kurdish Studies. DOI 10.33182/ks.v8i1.512
  4. Kurdish Alevis (Postscript to a TAVO Article [1989] – Revisited) (2025). Alevi Ansiklopedisi. DOI 10.68413/aleviansiklopedisi.r574s
  5. Dilşa Deniz (2020). Re-assessing the Genocide of Kurdish Alevis in Dersim, 1937-38. Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal. DOI 10.5038/1911-9933.14.2.1728

Cite this page

Perspectives and disputes

Contested subjects show every side with sources. Nothing here endorses a position.

A map of the main positions, each with its own sources, is in preparation.

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Research and sources

Recent and relevant work on this page’s subject, from approved open scholarly sources. Metadata and links only. Titles stay as published. Not yet reviewed.

  1. Ahl-e Haqq (Yarsanism)

    2025 · Alevi Ansiklopedisi

    ChapterOpenAlexCrossrefOpen accessCC-BY

  2. YAZIDISM

    FARUK MERGEN · 2025 · İSLAM VE ANTİK DÜŞÜNCE GELENEĞİNDE SAVAŞ, İNANÇ VE BİREY

    ChapterCrossrefOpenAIRE

  3. Language Attitudes and Religion: Kurdish Alevis in the UK

    Birgul Yilmaz · 2020 · Kurdish Studies

    ArticleCrossref

  4. Kurdish Alevis (Postscript to a TAVO Article [1989] – Revisited)

    2025 · Alevi Ansiklopedisi

    ChapterCrossref

  5. Re-assessing the Genocide of Kurdish Alevis in Dersim, 1937-38

    Dilşa Deniz · 2020 · Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

    ArticleDOAJOpen access

  6. The Peacock Angel of Yazidi, the Seven, and all seeing eye of providence Divine Sight

    Sultan Zeshan · 2026 · Zenodo

    PreprintDataCiteOpen accessCC-BY-4.0

  7. Problems of Ethnic and Religious Identity of the Ahl-e Haqq

    Arpine A. Arushanyan · 2026 · Регион и мир / Region and the World

    ArticleOpenAlexOpen access

  8. ‘ Kurdish’ Religious Minorities in the Modern World

    Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Khanna Omarkhali · 2021 · Cambridge University Press eBooks

    ChapterOpenAlex

  9. Ahl-é Haqq (Ehli Heq, Ahl-é-Haqîqat, Yarsanism, Kaka‘i)

    2025 · Alevi Ansiklopedisi

    ChapterCrossref

  10. Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma across Three Generations of Alevi Kurds.

    Kizilhan JI, Kizilhan JI, Noll-Hussong M et al. · 2021 · Int J Environ Res Public Health

    ArticleEurope PMCOpen access

  11. Hako Sûr: A Springtime Ritual among Kurdish Alevis & Armenians in Dersim

    2025 · Alevi Ansiklopedisi

    ChapterCrossref

  12. Kurdish Alevi Calendar of Cultural and Religious Dates

    Erdal Gezik · 2019 · Kurdish Alevis and the Case of Dersim

    OtherCrossref

Sources, licences and fetch dates: Crossref (Metadata facts, any use; abstracts may be publisher-owned and are never shown), 2026-10-23; DataCite (CC0 1.0 (DataCite metadata)), 2026-10-23; DOAJ (Metadata CC0 1.0 (DOAJ); articles under their own open licences), 2026-10-23; Europe PMC (Metadata reusable; full text under each article’s licence), 2026-10-23; OpenAIRE (CC BY 4.0 (OpenAIRE Graph)), 2026-10-23; OpenAlex (CC0-1.0 data; metered API (free key)), 2026-10-23.

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