Adawiyya (Arabic: العدوية; Kurdish: عدویتی) also pejoratively known as Yazidiyya (Arabic: اليزيدية; Kurdish: یزیدیتی), was a Sunni Sufi order founded by Adi ibn Musafir in Kurdistan. Adawiyya was known for having influences from Pre-Islamic religions, and being the predecessor of Yazidism.

The Adawiyya order was founded by Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir. Adi ibn Musafir was from the Umayyad dynasty, born around 1075 in a village known as Bait Far, near Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. From his remote village, he travelled to Baghdad to study Sufism. Later, in the 11th century, he moved to Lalish, considered part of the Hakkari region inhabited by the Hakkari tribe of Kurds. He changed his nisba from al-Shami (of Syria) to al-Hakkari (of Hakkari).^[1] The region was very dangerous and isolated at the time, as many Kurds had not converted to Islam and were hostile to outsiders, especially Muslims. He was based in Lalish, where he founded the Adawiyya order.^[1][2] Abdulqadir Gilani had studied with Sheikh Adi in Baghdad, and helped Sheikh Adi settle in Kurdistan.^[3]

Sheikh Adi settled among a group of Kurds who practiced a syncretism of Ancient Iranian religion, and Ancient Mesopotamian religion.^[4][5] They accepted Islam, but they mixed it with the local beliefs. Adawiyya was led by Arabs, but the vast majority of Adawis were Kurmanji Kurds, with small minorities of Arabs, Turks, and Persians. The Kurds dominated Adawiyya and the other ethnicities assimilated over time. By the time that Adawiyya became Yazidism and stopped accepting religious converts, virtually all Adawis were Kurdish.^[6][7][8] For this reason, Adawiyya was synonymous with Kurdishness, and Adawis were often called "Adawi Kurds" (أكراد العدوية; Akrād al-’Adawiyya).^[9] The heterodox views of Sheikh Adi were made apparent in his poetry, which was similar to the poetry of Shah Ismail. The Adawis were partially a militant sect, and had similarities with the earlier Khurramites and the later Qizilbash.^[10] The Adawis believed in Allah, who they referred to as Xwedê, Ellah, Reb, Heq, and Yazdan.^[11] Yazdan was an Iranic term for God. Adawis started some prayers with "Bismi Yazdan al-Ali al-Adhim al-Rahim al-Karim" (بسم يزدان العلي العظيم الرحيم الكريم), meaning "in the name of Yazdan, the high, the great, the merciful, the generous."^[12] However, they mostly used the term Xwedê, which became more dominant.^[13]

Adi ibn Musafir died in January 1162, and his tomb in Lalish became a shrine for his followers. As he was an ascetic, his nephew, Sakhr Abu al-Barakat, succeeded him as the leader of Adawiyya. Sakhr Abu al-Barakat had rapidly grown Adawiyya. He also died at an old age and was buried near Adi ibn Musafir. He was succeeded by his son, Sheikh Adi II, who was the first Adawi leader born in Kurdistan, and known as "Adi the Kurd", to distinguish him from Adi ibn Musafir.^[14]

Adi the Kurd died and was succeeded by his son, Sheikh Hasan ibn Adi II. Under Sheikh Hasan, Adawiyya began to shift more towards the heterodox practices and diverge from Islam, although Adawis continued to identify as Sunni Muslims. Due to the Adawi veneration of Yazid ibn Muawiya, as well as the shared Umayyad lineage of Yazid and the Adawi sheikhs, many began to pejoratively refer to Adawis as "Yazidis", and Adawiyya as Yazidiyya. The terms became synonymous. Adi ibn Musafir praised Yazid, and also denied that Yazid had killed Hussein. Ibn Taymiyya had accused Sheikh Hasan of turning the respect for Yazid into an extreme reverence.^[15][16][17] Ibn Taymiyya did not takfir the Adawiyya.^[18] The term "Yazidi", was given to Adawis by Shias and some Sunnis. In turn, Adawis referred to Shias as "the rafida", and to their Sunni opponents as "the sharia", claiming that their Sunni opponents were not Muslims, but merely citizens of land ruled by Sharia. Adawis referred to themselves as "the sunna" or "ahl al sunnah wal jamaah", and to Adawiyya as "the sunna" or "the tariqa".^[19][20][21]

Other than Kurdistan, the Adawis were also present in Syria and Egypt as they had fled there during the Mongol invasions and conquests.^[22] Adawis also had good relations with Salahuddin and had a significant presence in his army.^[23] Adawis were very active in fighting the Crusaders.^[24]

Badr al-Din Lu'lu', an Armenian slave who became Zengid ruler of Mosul, had worried of a possible Adawi uprising and arrested Sheikh Hasan in 1246. In 1254, Badr al-Din Lu'lu' began a campaign against Adawiyya, and killed Sheikh Hasan. A contemporary noted that "after a bitter struggle, the Adawi Kurds were routed, some killed, others taken prisoner. Lulu crucified a hundred and executed a hundred more. He ordered their emir's arms and legs to be chopped off and displayed above the gates of Mosul. He also sent men to dig up Sheikh Adi's bones and burn them."^[25] Adawis were unfazed by the heavy losses and continued to launch revolts against the Zengids.^[26]

Sheikh Hasan was succeeded by his son, Sharafuddin ibn al-Hasan, who died in 1258 during a Mongol massacre on Adawis. Sharafuddin became one of the namesakes of Yazidism.^[27] Zaynuddin, the son of Sharafuddin, refused to lead the Adawis due to Mongol hostility, and instead settled in Damascus before moving to his ancestral Beqaa Valley, and later Egypt, where he died. Fakhruddin was the final leader of Adawiyya before it split from Islam. He was married to a Mongol woman and was on good terms with the Mongols.^[28][23] The tensions between Adawis and other Muslims, and the alienation of Adawiyya from Islam, led to an eventual religious schism.^[29]

In the 13th century, Adawiyya gradually split from Islam and became Yazidism.^[30] In 1324, Abu Firas Ubaydullah ibn Shibl noted that Yazidism emerged as a religion independent from Islam, and claimed that Adawiyya had been reincorporated in Yazidism, stating that the newer Yazidis had adopted the beliefs of the older "ignorant Adawi Yazidis", who were "misled by Satan who whispered to them that they must love Yazid, to such an extent that they say we are justified in killing and taking the property of whoever does not love Yazid. They ceased to join Friday prayer, but the most deviant one of them was Hasan bin Adi."^[15][31][32]

The Yazidis believed that God became remote and inactive in relation to his creation, except to contain and bind it together within his essence. They believed that he appointed a trinity to handle the worldly affairs. The first emanation is Melek Tawus, second is Sheikh Adi, and third is Sultan Ezid.^[33][34][35] They also believed in seven angels, Jibra'il, Azra'il, Mika'il, Shifqa'il, Darda'il, Israfil, and Azazil, who was Iblis before he was expelled from Heaven, although Yazidis believed that he was never a fallen angel nor evil, and that evil arose from humans and their choices.^[36] The leader of the seven angels is Melek Tawus, and the others are better known by the names of their earthly incarnations, Fakhruddin, Sheikh Shams, Nasiruddin, Sijadin, Sheikh Obekr, and Sheikh Hasan (Şêxsin).^[37][38][39] Because of the association of Melek Tawus with Satan, many Muslims and Christians branded Yazidis as "devil worshippers", although Yazidis denied it, claiming that Melek Tawus was neither a devil nor a source of evil.^[40]

Sheikh Fakhruddin, and his brothers Nasiruddin, Sheikh Shams, and Sijadin, were venerated in Yazidism as the four sons of Ezdina Mir, and as avatars of angels as well as the respective ancestors of the four Shamsani lineages of Yazidi sheikhs.^[41][42][43] Yazidism retained many elements of Sufism, while retaining the pre-Islamic elements on a larger level.^{[44][45][46][47]} Although Yazidism developed from Adawiyya, Yazidis did not identify as Muslims, and attempted to distance themselves from Islam.^[48] Yazidi tradition also claimed that Ezdina Mir had met Sheikh Adi when he first went to Lalish.^[49][50] Sheikh Mand, the son of Fakhruddin, also emerged as the ruler of the Yazidi-Ayyubid Emirate of Kilis, and an Ayyubid military commander. His sister, Khatuna Fekhra, was also revered as an important Yazidi female saint.^[51][52][53]

Yazidis denied that their name came from Yazid ibn Muawiyah and claimed that it came from Sultan Ezid.^[54] Many believed that Sultan Ezid was simply a Kurdification of Yazid ibn Muawiyah, although the Yazidis denied it, regardless of their similarities.^[55] However, Yazidis continued to revere Yazid ibn Muawiyah, although much quieter after being incorporated into Shia-majority Iraq. Later, Ismail Beg Chol, a Yezidi Mir, claimed that one day Muhammad was unwell and asked Muawiyah to shave his head. While shaving, Muawiyah had accidentally slit his head, and Muhammad warned him "you will have as your descendants the people who will fight against mine and will win over them", with Muawiyah replying "if it be so, I will forsake the world and will not marry under any pretext". Muawiyah was later stung by a scorpion, with doctors claimed that he would die if he did not marry. They brought him Mahusa, who was 80 years old and the sister of Umar. The next morning, she had appeared to be 25 years old, and conceived Yazid. Chol concluded his story saying "God had promised Tawuse Melek to send our Yazid."^[56][57]

• Bajalan, Djene Rhys; Karimi, Sara Zandi (2017). Studies in Kurdish History: Empire, Ethnicity and Identity. Paris: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-2296001053.
• Guest, John S (2012). Survival Among The Kurds. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-15736-3.