Condemnation of ISIS cruelty towards the Yazidis by Islamic Scholars & Leaders

From The massacre of the Yazidis, August 12, 2014 by Sanjeev Sanyal, the remarkable possibility of Yazidis being ancient Hindus…. Excerpts below..
… The Christians of Mosul were given the choice to convert, pay the jiziya tax or leave. The Yazidis were given no such choice.
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Terrible as these may be, the worst persecution has been aimed at a tiny community that now faces extinction — the Yazidis.
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The small town of Sinjar, the only place in the world with a Yazidi majority, fell to the IS in August and there are several reports of massacres. News reports suggest that 500 Yazidis, including children, were massacred in the town in a single instance, many buried alive. Hundreds of young women have been enslaved, and dozens are said to have killed themselves rather than be captured. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of refugees have fled into the neighbouring mountains where they are trapped in encircled enclaves. When US-backed rescue operations finally broke through to one such enclave on Mt Sinjar, they found thousands who had died of thirst.
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Although influenced by Christianity and Islam, the Yazidi religion has ancient roots that go back at least to the late Bronze Age. Interestingly, their beliefs have many similarities with Hinduism — for instance, they believe in reincarnation, say their prayers facing the sun at sunrise and sunset, etc. They also worship Tawuse-Melek, the peacock angel — a bird not found in Yazidi lands, but only in the Indian subcontinent.
Once, these cultural links would have been explained away in terms of an “Aryan invasion” from Central Asia. However, we now know that the great Harappan cities were abandoned due to climate change and the drying of the Saraswati river around 2000 BC. Most people moved on to the Ganga or went south, thereby seeding Indic civilisation. But, did some groups migrate west? There is a lot of evidence of Indian links with the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Zoroastrianism, the religion of ancient Iran and of their Parsi descendants, is clearly related to Vedic religion and the oldest Zoroastrian texts — the Gathas — are composed in a language very close to Rig Vedic Sanskrit.
Intriguingly, there is evidence of an Indian tribe that may have migrated even further west. We have details of a treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni around 1380 BC. The Mitanni were a tribe that once ruled over the same area now inhabited by the Yazidi and the treaty invokes the names of Vedic gods Indra, Varuna, Nasatya and Mitra. We also know that the Mitanni were not locals but had come from the east. The names of their leaders and several of their military and equestrian terms also appear to be derived from Sanskrit. Most intriguingly, Mitanni art shows peacocks and peacock-like griffins.
Are the Yazidis descendants of the Mitanni? We do not know for sure, but it is certainly an intriguing possibility, especially since recent genetic studies show that certain lineages commonly found in northern India are also found in eastern Iran and among the Kurds (no specific data is available on the Yazidi).
Over time, the Yazidis were dubbed as “devil-worshippers” and subjected to constant persecution. It was especially extreme under the Ottoman Turks in the 18th and 19th centuries. A series of massacres killed thousands and almost led to their extinction. Under Saddam Hussain, they were not subjected to overt religious persecution, but remained under pressure to Arabise their culture. Matters have become much worse since the dictator was deposed. In April 2007, gunmen dragged 23 Yazidi men from a bus and shot them dead. In August that year, a series of coordinated car-bombs killed at least 300 more, including women and children.
The Yazidis now face their greatest crisis.
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So, who will give refuge to the Yazidis?
For centuries, many persecuted minorities have found refuge in India: Jews exiled after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Zoroastrians who fled Iran in the 8th century, and Tibetan Buddhists in the 20th. Perhaps, 21st century Indians should consider providing refuge to their distant cousins.

A few links…
First, a book detailing the historical background of the Yazidis:
The Other Kurds: Yazidis in Colonial Iraq By Nelida Fuccaro.

Second, 15 Harrowing Photos Of Iraq’s Yazidi Fleeing The Advance Of ISIS by Miriam Berger (Disturbing)

2 links condemning ISIS atrocity towards Christians but no word on Yazidis (yet):
“The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) condemns the forced expulsion of the Christian brothers of Iraq from their homes, cities and provinces,” the group said in a statement posted on the website of its leader, the influential cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi on Tuesday.[source]

and
The most explicit condemnation came from Iyad Ameen Madani, the Secretary General for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the group representing 57 countries, and 1.4 billion Muslims. [source]

From Arab League denounces ISIS attacks as “crimes against humanity”,
…Arab League Chief Nabil al-Arabi denounced Monday the “crimes against humanity” committed by ISIS militants in Iraq against the minority Yazidi sect, demanding the perpetrators be brought to justice, Agence France-Presse reported.

Referring to reports of hundreds of Yazidis killed in the ISIS onslaught, al-Arabi said “these terrorist crimes amount to crimes against humanity that cannot be overlooked.”

THE YAZIDI – HINDU MYTH

There has been a myth in the Internet that the Yazidis primary source of worsip “TELEK MAUS” is actually an inspiration from a Hindu God “MURUGAN”.

Yazidis have most of their roots to Zoroastrianism, pre-Islamic Mesopotamian (present day Iraq) and Assyrian traditions.

Their idea of fire worship is mostly centered around Zoroastrianism whose prime ideology of worship revolves around the fire.

Just because some of their practices are similar to Hindus does not mean their whole Ideology is from Hinduism.

One can find some practices and similarities on between almost all the religions on the earth. That merely does not necessarily mean, that one religion might have inspired from the other.

Yazidism is a MONOTHEISTIC relgion unlike Hinduism.

Yazidis believe that the fallen angel called LUCIFER in Christianity, IBLIS in Islam, commonly called as SATAN in English or SHAYTAAN in Arabic, who rebelled against God for now bowing to ADAM, is actually a mediator between God and Humanity.

When the Hindu scriptures do not say anything about Adam and eve, which Christianity, Islam and Judaism believes, how come Yazidis are ancient Hindu religion?

Arguably, the Yazidi worship what Christians or Muslims might call “Satan”, though the Yazidi call him “Melek Taus”, and he appears in the form of a peacock angel.

Why might Melek Taus be “the devil”? For a start, the Yazidi believe the peacock angel led a rebellion in heaven: clearly echoing the story of Lucifer, cast into Hell by the Christian God.

Also, the very word “Melek” is cognate with “Moloch”, the name of a Biblical demon – who demanded human sacrifice.

The avian imagery of Melek Taus likewise indicates a demonic aspect. The Yazidi come from the ancient lands of Sumeria and Assyria, in modern-day Turkey, Iraq and Kurdistan. Sumerian gods were often cruel, and equipped with beaks and wings. Birdlike. Three thousand years ago the Assyrians worshipped flying demons, spirits of the desert wind. One was the scaly-winged demon in The Exorcist: Pazuzu.

The Yazidi reverence for birds – and snakes – also appears to be extremely old. Excavations at ancient Catalhoyuk, in Turkey, show that the people there revered bird-gods as long ago as 7000BC. Even older is Gobekli Tepe, a megalithic site near Sanliurfa, in Kurdish Turkey (Sanliurfa was once a stronghold of Yazidism). The extraordinary temple of Gobekli Tepe boasts carvings of winged birdmen, and images of buzzards and serpents.

Clearly, It has no roots to HINDUISM BY ANY MEANS!

Moreover, Yazidis do circumcision like Jews and Muslims, while the Hindus don’t.

Yazidis eat meat, sacrifice sheep, goats and chickens during their festivals, while Hindus don’t.

Yazidis bury the dead bodies unlike Hindus who burn it!

So, to conclude, Yazidism has no roots of Hinduism. IT IS A HOAX

Exactly why are people horrified by what ISIS is doing? Isn’t this exactly what has happened to various native populations when Islamic invaders came? Why are we still surprised at the brutality? The reason the ISIS is brutal is because their ideology which comes from their holy book is brutal. Please examine the Islamic holy books and you will realize where these beliefs and practices come from.

@Farmaan (#12): “Getting inspired”? Without even an acknowledgement?!
In any case, please read before you comment..
Repeating what I wrote above:
…it is necessary for me to point out that my post is *not* about similarities between Yazidis and Hindus but the lack of condemnation of these atrocities by Islamic scholars and leaders.
You are welcome to have a debate on this particular aspect.

Note that irrelevant comments will be deleted without notice. And I retain the right to amend/modify/edit any/all comments.

@farmaan – you are unfortunately extremely ignorant about Hinduism. You need to know that Hindus worshiped fire – the five sacred fires during Mahabharata period and before that. All Vedic rituals are based on fire, Agni was one of the major gods. Hinduism at its core is monist as it believes in One Supreme Being who has manifested in diverse forms and names to suit the tastes of different needs of different devotees and their temperaments during the Puranic age. Hindus or atleast some section worshipped Nagas (Yazidis I believe you said worship snake). Gaduda is a sacred bird, the vehicle of Vishnu in Hinduism and from the post it seems that the peacock worshipped by Yazidis may be Gaduda. Peacpt, even peacocks are enemies of snakes and so was Gaduda an enemy of Nagas. The fact that they Yazidis believe in reincarnation makes them distant relatives of the East as very few in Middle East Asia believed in such a concepts, even though there are statements in favour of reincarnation in New Testament by Christ himself, which he probably got from his long association with a Buddhist sect, the Nazarenes.

You probably need to know that Melek (and Moloch) is also not so distant relation of Malik/Malek, (vide Swami Vivekananda Complete Works) or the way we refer to God in Indian subcontinent. You also probably need to know that what you guys call Satan, in Vedanta we call it as Avidya Maya, one which leads to ignorance and destruction. You also need to know that Kali, Durga etc. are not demons but a representation/manifestation of Shakti or the power of the Supreme Brahman in Vedanta and that Brahman and its Shakti are one and the same.

Once again, please do not flaunt your ignorance in a public forum. You’ll become a laughing stock for most Hindus who know their religion.