Everything about Kurdish Christians totally explained
Kurdish Christians (
Kurdish: are
Kurds who follow
Christianity and mostly live in the
Kurdistan region. The word is derived from the
Greek words and . The term is also sometimes used. Kurdish Christians shouldn't be confused with other historical Christian communities living in Kurdistan such as
Assyrians,
Chaldeans or
Armenians.
History
Christianity began to become a main religion in the central part of Kurdish regions from the
fifth century onwards.
Mar Saba succeeded in converting some sun-worshipping Kurds to Christianity in the fifth century..
Many Kurdish Christians converted to Islam after the Arab conquest of
Sassanid empire. However there were Kurdish converts to Christianity even after the spread of Islam. In the
ninth century, a Kurd named
Nasr or
Narseh converted to Christianity, and changed his name to
Theophobos during the reign of Emperor
Theophilus and was emperor's intimate friend and commander for many years. During the same period of time the Kurdish prince
Ibn-ad-Dahhak, who possessed the fortress of al-Jafary, abandoned Islam for
Orthodox Christianity.
There were many Kurdish Christian communities and tribes reported by medieval writers as late as 10th and 13th centuries AD. The German physician and traveller
Leonhard Rauwolff visited Kurdistan in 1570s and encountered a sizable number of
Nestorian Christian Kurds. The first Bible translation of modern times was conducted in the
18th century in the Armenian alphabet.
In the
19th century, several Christian villages existed in
Kurdistan, whose inhabitants spoke only
Kurdish, and there were Muslim Kurdish tribes that recalled they were once Christians. Kurds who converted to Christianity usually turned to the
Nestorian Church.. In
1884, researchers of the
Royal Geographical Society reported about a Kurdish tribe in
Sivas which retained certain Christian observances and sometimes identified as Christian. It is also possible that many Kurdish Christians have been linguistically and hence ethnically absorbed by Semitic-speaking Christians of Mesopotamia, especially after Islamic expansions in Middle East.
In the early
20th century, a
Lutheran mission from
United States and
Germany began to serve the Kurds of Iran. From
1911 to
1916, it established a Kurdish
congregation and an orphanage. One of the most prominent Kurdish leaders in
Iraqi Kurdistan,
Sheikh Ahmed Barzani who was a brother of
Mustafa Barzani, announced his conversion to Christianity during his uprising against the Iraqi government in
1931.
Contemporary Kurdish Christians
In recent years many Kurds from Muslim background have converted to Christianity. After the
First Gulf War in
1991, Christian agencies offered help to Kurdish refugees, who were amazed that the assistance came from Christians..
The Kurdish-Speaking Church of Christ (The Kurdzman Church of Christ) was established in Hewlêr (
Arbil) by the end of 2000, and has branches in the
Silêmanî,
Duhok and
Kirkûk governorates. This is the first
evangelical Kurdish church in Iraq. Its logo is formed of a yellow sun and a
cross rising up behind a mountain range. Kurdzman Church of Christ held its first three-day conference in Ainkawa north of Arbil in 2005 with the participation of 300 new Kurdish converts.
In Turkey, Christianity has attracted a number of converts both among Kurds and Turks in the past decade. In Iraqi Kurdistan, several evangelical fellowships have been formed. While in some cases they've faced intolerance by extremist Muslims, their activities are largely tolerated by the Regional Government of Kurdistan (
KRG) out of a desire to remain democratic.
Since
2001,
Servant Group International has established three
English-language Christian schools titled
Classical School of the Medes in
Iraqi Kurdistan. By
2005 three campuses in
Sulaimaniya,
Irbil and
Dohuk with a total enrolment of 700 students, were operational. These schools are viewed, by some, as a vehicle to help create fertile ground for conversion in the hearts of students.
Kurdistan Regional Government has recently awarded legal status and an official permit to the
Bible Society to open a branch in the region. Kurdish converts to Christianity began to discuss petitioning
KRG for the right to change the religious status on their ID cards in 2007.
One of the best known Kurdish Christians is
Daniel Ali, who converted to Christianity in
1995 and has written two books in English on rejecting Islam. He entered the
Catholic Church in
1998.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kurdish Christians'.
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