Yazidis

The Yazidis (also Yezidis, Êzidî; ⁱ/jəˈziːdiːz/ yə-ZEE-dees) are an ethno-religious groupindigenous to northern Mesopotamia whose strictly endogamous, and ancient religion Yazidism (or Sharfadin) is not linked to Zoroastrianism but linked to ancient Mesopotamian religions; however Yazidis form a distinct and independent religious community and have their own culture. Yazidis' religion bans marriage to non-Yazidis, however not all Yazidi people adhere this ban. They live primarily in the Nineveh Province of Iraq. Additional communities in Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Iran, and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s as a result of significant migration to Europe, especially to Germany.

The Yazidis are monotheists, believing in God as creator of the world, which he has placed under the care of seven holy beings or angels, the chief of whom is Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. The Peacock Angel, as world-ruler, causes both good and bad to befall individuals, and this ambivalent character is reflected in myths of his own temporary fall from God's favour, before his remorseful tears extinguished the fires of his hellish prison and he was reconciled with God.