Khurto Hajji Ismail

Khurto Hajji Ismail or Babe Şêx (1933 – 1 October 2020,[3][4] Kurdish: Xurto Hecî Îsmaîl‎) was the religious leader of the Yazidi community of Iraq until his death in 2020.[3][5] He held this position since 2007. He lived in Ain Sifni, Iraq.[6]

Khurto Hajji Ismail
TitleBabe Şêx (بابه‌شێخ)
Personal
Born1933 (1933)
Died1 October 2020(2020-10-01) (aged 86–87)
Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
ReligionYazidism[1]
LineageSheikh Fakhradin[2]

He played an important role in reintegrating Yezidi society by helping the community avoid feuds and reintegrating thousands of Yazidi women and girls rescued from ISIS slavery and by declaring that all those who had been forced to convert to Islam should be accepted back into the Yezidi community.[2]

He died on 1 October 2020 in a hospital in Erbil, aged 87. He had entered hospital two days before with heart and kidney problems.[7] His funeral was attended by thousands of Yazidis, governmental and partisan officials, and Islamic as well as Christian religious figures and was buried in Bozan village of Sheikhan district of Iraq's Nineveh Governorate.[2]

Visits

In 2011, after a six-day visit to Georgia during which he met the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, Baba Sheikh left Tbilisi to pay an official visit to the Vatican, where he met Pope Benedict XVI.[8] During this visit, Baba Sheikh attended a conference held in Assisi[9] on 27–28 October, where the main theme was the peaceful coexistence of different religions.[8]

On 29 October 2014, the Baba Sheikh visited the Hindu Murugan Temple of North America in Washington, D.C. and attended the prayer ceremonies held there and prayed for peace on the Earth.[10][11]

See also

References
  1. Allison, Christine (2017). "The Yazidis". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.254.
  2. Menmy, Dana Taib (5 October 2020). "Yazidi leader Baba Sheikh leaves legacy as champion of women seized by Islamic State". Middle East Eye.
  3. "Babe Şêx koça dawî kir" (in Kurdish). 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  4. "نادیە موراد: بابەشێخ بەچاوی رێز و خۆشەویستییەوە مامەڵەی لەگەڵ رزگاربووانی ئێزدی دەکرد". Rûdaw (in Kurdish). 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  5. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers. Geneva, August 2007
  6. "What you did not know about Iraq's Yazidi minority". Al Arabiya. Al Arabiya Institute for Studies. August 11, 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  7. "Yezidi spiritual leader dies at 87". Rudaw. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  8. "His Holiness Akhtiyare Marge Bave Shekh met with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI". sarhad.ge. Yezidi of Georgia. 30 October 2011. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  9. Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia (31 October 2011). "25th Assisi World Day Of Prayer For Peace: Joys, Blessings And Hopes". The Huffington Post.
  10. Sanders, Mija A (August 2019). "Yezidis in ancient India, or Indians in ancient Mesopotamia?: Re-imagining Ancient Yezidi Origins". Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  11. Harrigan, Patrick (19 November 2014). "Yezidi Baba Sheikh visits Murugan Temple in Washington DC". Patrick Harrigan. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
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