Who, What, Why: Who are the Yazidis?

The ongoing persecution in their heartland of the Mt Sinjar region west of Mosul is based on a misunderstanding of their name. Sunni extremists, such as IS, believe it derives from Yazid ibn Muawiya (647-683), the deeply unpopular second caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. Modern research, however, has clarified that the name is nothing to do with the loose-living Yazid, or the Persian city of Yazd, but is taken from the modern Persian "ized", which means angel or deity. The name Izidis simply means "worshippers of god", which is how Yazidis describe themselves.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o67CZ5qopV%2Bjsri%2FjpujqJ%2BjYrqis8CzoKedXaK8r7XTqKlmamhrhXeCj3A%3D