Prayer and Religious Everyday Practice in Êzîdîtism

This article treats the lived piety of the Êzîdî, the daily prayer, the small rites of everyday life and the devout rhythm of week and year. While Religion and Tawûsî Melek present the theological foundations, here it is about the practice: when, how and in which direction one prays; which gestures, ablutions and objects belong to it; and how piety expresses itself in the house, in the course of the day and in the cycle of the year.

An important preliminary remark: the Êzîdî religious system is shaped orally and is regionally manifold. The number of daily prayers, their names and the degree of their bindingness differ considerably between sources, regions and families. This article therefore consistently attributes wherever the data scatter, instead of asserting one single “correct” version.

Note on spelling: We use the Kurmancî-Latin form Êzîdî/Êzîden (not “Yazidi”, except in direct quotations), Xwedê for God and Tawûsî Melek for the highest holy angel, never equated with the “devil” (see Tawûsî Melek). Proper names and prayer names appear in Kurmancî-Latin spelling.

Prayer in Êzîdîtism: basic features

Unlike in the great scriptural religions, in Êzîdîtism there is no binding prayer text that would be fixed verbatim for all believers, and daily praying is not enforceable duty in the same way as, for example, the Islamic obligatory prayer. Piety is more strongly individual, domestic and bound to the symbolism of sun and light. To pray means for many Êzîdî above all: to turn toward the rising sun, to speak a short invocation and to touch the holy in everyday life.

One prays in the religious language Kurmancî (Northern Kurdish), the same language in which the holy hymns (Qewl) are also handed down (see Qewl-Tradition). The religious language is thereby closely interwoven with ethnic identity; a prayer in another language is, to many, not regarded as fully valid.

The prayer is directed to Tawûsî Melek and to the divine light of the sun (Kurdish Şems, connected with the holy figure Şêx Şems), which is venerated as the visible appearance of the divine. Ultimately all prayer is to Xwedê, the one God, whose creation and administration of the world, however, takes place through the holy beings.

The daily prayers: number, times and names

About the number of daily prayers there is no agreement in the tradition. The most widely spread account knows five prayer times, of which in lived everyday life mostly only two or three are actually performed.

Five prayers (ideal form)

In a common enumeration the five daily prayers (Kurmancî nivêj) are:

• Nivêja berîspêdê: the prayer in the twilight before daybreak
• Nivêja rojhilatinê: the prayer at sunrise
• Nivêja nîvro: the noon prayer
• Nivêja êvarî: the afternoon/evening prayer
• Nivêja rojavabûnê: the prayer at sunset

Other sources list the prayers under the designation Dua (“supplication, invocation”) and with a partly differing count, for instance: Dua Fecrê (dawn), Dua Sibê (morning), Dua Nîvro (noon), Dua Êvarê (evening) and a prayer before going to sleep (Dua Ser Belgî, also understood as the creed Şehda Dînî). Which names and which number apply depends on the respective local tradition, some communities speak of three or four customary prayers.

The lived practice: morning and evening prayer

In reality, for most Êzîdî above all two prayers are formative: the morning prayer at sunrise and the evening prayer at sunset. These two thresholds of the day, the appearing and the disappearing of the light, are the central moments of Êzîdî everyday piety. The evening prayer (Dua Êvarê, in the Şingal/diaspora pronunciation also Dowa Evare) is thereby frequently spoken alone and at a withdrawn place; it is a prayer of thanks, at which the praying person turns toward the setting sun.

The remaining prayer times are regarded as meritorious, but not customary to the same degree. On the whole, the frequency of praying depends strongly on personal piety, on age and on closeness to the religious dignitaries.

Orientation toward the sun

The most conspicuous feature of Êzîdî prayer practice is the orientation toward the sun. The praying person turns their face at the morning prayer toward the rising sun in the east, at the evening prayer toward the setting sun in the west. The sun is regarded as a visible sign of the divine light; its veneration stands at the centre of practical piety, without the Êzîdî being “sun-worshippers” in the sense of an independent deity, the sun is appearance and pointer, not God itself.

According to widespread tradition, Tawûsî Melek taught the first human to turn toward the sun at prayer. With this the daily prayer connects with the creation myth (see Religion): whoever prays repeats a gesture that reaches back to the very beginning of humanity.

An important differentiation concerns the noon prayer: whoever performs it turns not toward the sun at the zenith, but toward the direction of the sanctuary Lalîş (see Lalîş). Lalîş is thereby something like the Qibla of the Êzîdî, the earthly geographical reference point that binds the cosmic veneration of light to a concrete place. The sun prayer itself, too, is mentally referred to Lalîş, since there, according to Êzîdî conception, creation took its beginning.

Ablutions and purity before prayer

Prayer is ideally preceded by a ritual purification. The praying person washes hands and face before turning toward the sun. Purity (paqijî) is in Êzîdîtism not a merely hygienic but a religious value: whoever comes into contact with the holy, be it in prayer, at the visit of a shrine or in handling consecrated objects, should be pure.

Prayer purity is part of a more comprehensive system of purity and food prescriptions that shapes everyday life (in detail under Reinheit & Tabus). Water plays a prominent role in this; the holiest water springs in Lalîş (Kaniya Sipî, Zimzim) and is brought in consecrated form as far as the Diaspora.

Gestures and small rites of everyday life

Besides the actual word-prayer there exist numerous bodily gestures of piety that run through everyday life:

• Arm posture at prayer: Many Êzîdî cross their arms in front of the body during prayer and raise the face toward the sun. The prayer is mostly performed standing.
• Kissing of the garment hems: At the conclusion of the prayer the hem of one’s own garment (or a necklace, a knotted cloth) is often kissed, a gesture of humility and of touching the holy.
• Kissing of thresholds and holy places: The kissing of the doorthresholds at shrines and at the sanctuary Lalîš is a central rite of piety. The pilgrims kneel down at the gates and kiss the thresholds without stepping on them, thresholds of holy spaces may not be touched with the foot. Holy stones, pillars and the colourful knotted cloths of the shrines are also kissed and touched. These gestures make holiness bodily experienceable and are, unlike the spoken prayer, accessible to all.

The Berat: holy little balls of Lalîš earth

A special object of daily piety is the Berat (also berat, “blessing, permission”): a small, mostly pearl-shaped, whitish little ball of the holy earth of the valley of Lalîš, which is mixed with consecrated water, from the White Spring (Kaniya Sipî) or the spring Zimzim, and formed.

Many Êzîdî carry one or several Berat with them: in the pocket, on a string around the neck or kept in the house. The Berat is a physical witness of the connection with the holiest place on earth and at the same time a piece of Lalîš that one can take everywhere. In prayer and in life crises it is touched, kissed or taken into the hand; it accompanies at marriage, pilgrimage and death. Especially in the diaspora, far from the sanctuary, the Berat gains additional significance as a portable piece of homeland and holiness.

The production and distribution of the Berat is bound to Lalîš and to the religious dignitaries there; the little balls are taken along by pilgrims and passed on in the community.

Scholarly worked up was the Berat among others in the study “The blessed handful of light: genesis and message of the Yezidi berat” (British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2022), which works out its connection to the Êzîdî conception of creation, Lalîš as the first-created place lowered from heaven.

The weekly rhythm: Wednesday holy, Saturday day of rest

The week too is religiously structured:

Wednesday: the holy day

Wednesday (Kurmancî Çarşem) is the holiest weekday of the Êzîdî. It is regarded as the day on which, according to Êzîdî tradition, the creation of the world came to a conclusion and Tawûsî Melek was installed as ruler over the earth: the day on which life on earth began and the earth in Lalîš took shape. Wednesday is therefore a day of special veneration; the great New Year festival Çarşema Sor (“Red Wednesday”, see Festkalender) deliberately falls on a Wednesday in spring.

The religious charging of Wednesday has also become the subject of scholarly interpretation, thus a study connects the Êzîdî Wednesday and the veneration of sun, moon and the angels assigned to them with Old Iranian and Pythagorean conceptions of the order of the heavenly bodies.

Saturday: the day of rest

Saturday (Kurmancî Şemî) is traditionally regarded as the day of rest, on which certain works and activities are to be left undone. With this Êzîdîtism possesses, like other religions of the region, its own weekly rhythm of rest, which co-structures the everyday life of the believers.

The fasting periods

Fasting (Kurmancî rojî) belongs to the most binding elements of lived piety and is closely interlocked with the festival calendar (see Festkalender).

The December fast (Çileyê Êzî / Rojiyên Êzî)

The most important fast of all Êzîdî is the three-day December fast in honour of Êzî (a holy figure connected with Sultan Êzîd). It falls in December and begins, according to widespread rule, in the middle of the month (frequently named: not before 13 December), traditionally from Tuesday to Thursday. One fasts from sunrise to sunset: during the day one abstains from food, drink and tobacco; the nights are reserved for the common meal and prayer. Families eat a hearty breakfast before dawn and break the fast in the evening with a festive meal, to which neighbours and friends are often invited.

These three days are regarded as a duty for every Êzîdî: excepted, according to the common account, are children, the sick and the old. The fasting is understood not only as bodily abstention: one should also “fast with heart and mind”, that is, practise compassion, gratitude and mindfulness over words and thoughts and pray for the community.

At the end of the fast stands the Feast of Êzî (Eda Rojiyê Êzî / Eida Rojiyê), at which one greets one another with the greeting “Eida te pîroz be” (“Happy feast!”).

The three-day obligatory fast is preceded in some traditions by voluntary fasting days in the preceding weeks (such as Rojiyên Şêşims and Rojiyên Xwedan), which count as an additional pious work.

The forty-day fast of the clergy (Çile)

Beyond the general fasting the Êzîdî know a forty-day fast (Çile) which, as a religious duty, lies exclusively upon the clergy: in particular upon the Babê Şêx and the Feqîr as well as further dignitaries. There is a Winter Çile (roughly from the end of December to the end of January/beginning of February, in the coldest time of the year) and a corresponding Summer Çile. The conclusion of the winter fast forms the Feast of the Forty Days (Cejna Çilê) at the beginning of February. This ascetic discipline of the religious specialists differs markedly from the short obligatory fast of the laity.

Domestic piety and house altar

A large part of Êzîdî religiosity plays out in the house. Besides the personal morning and evening prayer, families cultivate domestic devotion: the keeping and touching of the Berat, the kindling of lights and wicks (the light as appearance of the divine), the affixing of holy knotted cloths and the preserving of earth, water or objects from Lalîš.

Some houses possess a small holy corner or niche with consecrated objects, a form of “house altar” at which the family performs its devotion. The festival Batizmî and other family ceremonies too are celebrated in the domestic frame. It is this domestic piety that keeps Êzîdîtism alive across generations and across the wide scattering of the diaspora, precisely there where shrines and sanctuaries are lacking.

The role of Şêx, Pîr and Hosta

Lived piety is closely bound to the caste order of Êzîdî society (in detail under Gesellschaftsordnung). Every lay family of the Mirîd is connected with particular religious dignitaries who take on their spiritual accompaniment:

• Şêx (Sheikh) and Pîr are the two religious “castes” to which every lay family is assigned. The responsible Şêx and Pîr accompany the family at the transitions of life, baptism, marriage, death (see Traditionen), and at religious concerns. Toward them there exists an obligation of respect and dues.
• The Hosta (also Mamosta, “teacher/master”) is the religious master-teacher who imparts the contents of faith, the prayers and right conduct. Since the knowledge is passed on orally, a key role in the preservation of the tradition falls to these teachers.
• Specialised groups such as the Feqîr (ascetic pious) and the Qewal (the reciters of the holy hymns) bear the most demanding religious duties, such as the forty-day fast or the ritual recitation of the Qewl (see Qewl-Tradition).

For the everyday piety of the laity this means: the individual sun prayer can be performed by anyone, but the religious authority, the knowledge and the solemn rites lie with the consecrated castes. The close personal bond between lay family and its Şêx/Pîr is one of the most stable elements of Êzîdî religious practice.

Related topics

• Religion: belief, cosmology and theology of the Êzîdî
• Tawûsî Melek: Tawûsî Melek, the highest holy angel
• Reinheit & Tabus: purity, food and purity precepts
• Lalîş: the sanctuary Lalîš, source of Berat and prayer direction
• Festkalender: the Êzîdî festival calendar (Çarşema Sor, Cejna Cemaiyê, fasting feasts)
• Gesellschaftsordnung, caste order: Şêx, Pîr, Mirîd
• Traditionen: rites of the life course (baptism, marriage, death)

Quellen

Scholarly standard literature:

• Philip G. Kreyenbroek: Yezidism, Its Background, Observances and Textual Tradition. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1995.
• Philip G. Kreyenbroek / Khalil Jindy Rashow: God and Sheikh Adi are Perfect, Sacred Poems and Religious Narratives from the Yezidi Tradition. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005.
• Khanna Omarkhali: The Yezidi Religious Textual Tradition, From Oral to Written. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2017.
• Eszter Spät: The Yezidis. London: Saqi Books, 2005.
• Birgül Açıkyıldız: The Yazidis, The History of a Community, Culture and Religion. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010.
• Artur Rodziewicz: „The blessed handful of light: genesis and message of the Yezidi berat." British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 51 (2022), Nr. 1.
• Artur Rodziewicz: „The Yezidi Wednesday and the Music of the Spheres." Iranian Studies 53 (2020), Nr. 1–2.

Online verified sources (accessed June 2026):

• Encyclopaedia Iranica, „YAZIDIS i. GENERAL": https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yazidis-i-general-1/
• Servant Group International, „Yezidi Theology, Oral Tradition, Rituals, and Rites of Passage": https://servantgroup.org/yezidi-theology-oral-tradition-and-ritual/
• Servant Group International, „The Yezidi Holidays, Sacred Days, Pilgrimages": https://servantgroup.org/yezidi-holidays-pilgrimages/
• Yazda: Yazidi Global Organisation, „Culture": https://www.yazda.org/culture
• Yezidis International, „Yezidi December Fasting Focused on Community": https://www.yezidisinternational.org/yezidi-december-fasting-focused-on-community/
• YezidiTruth.org, „Yezidi Religious Tradition": https://www.yeziditruth.org/yezidi_religious_tradition
• Ronja Minttu, „Praying in the Ezidi faith" (Kurmancî prayer names): https://ronkaminttu.medium.com/praying-in-the-ezidi-faith-3378d9eb7b6d
• Peacock Angel, „Roji and Eda Rojia: The Three Day Fast of December": https://www.peacock-angel.org/roji.festival.december.htm
• Kurdistan24, „Yazidi Spiritual Leadership Convenes at Lalish to Observe Sacred Winter Forty Days Fasting": https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/883763/
• Wikipedia, „Feast of Ezid": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_Ezid

Prayer Formulas: Invocation, Confession of Faith and Free Supplication

Since the Êzîdî religion knows no literally fixed prayer text binding on everyone (see above), daily prayer consists of a mixture of freely formulated invocation and a few recurring fixed phrases that are handed down orally. The following are some formulas documented in the literature, each with the note that wording and order vary greatly by region and family.

The Opening Invocation of Xwedê

Many prayers begin with a praise of God (Xwedê) as Creator and Almighty. An opening handed down in lived practice runs, in essence: “O Lord, you are the Almighty, you are my Creator, to you belong laud and praise; you are pure and without fault; you have a thousand and one names, and the name Xwedê (God) is the dearest.” This is followed by the invocation of God as the Eternal One, the Creator of earth and heaven and the source of all consolation. Characteristically, the praying person then formulates the actual supplication freely and puts it into their own words.

The Intercession for the “72 Peoples”

A recurring motif of Êzîdî prayers is that the praying person prays not only for their own community, but first for all human beings. A widespread phrase runs, in essence: “God, protect first the 72 peoples and then us.” This formula connects the personal prayer with the Êzîdî notion of the “72 peoples” (heftê û du milet) of humanity; it expresses that the intercession is meant universally and that one’s own community comes last.

The Confession of Faith (Şehdetiya Dîn)

The formula most firmly preserved in its wording is the Êzîdî confession of faith, Kurmancî Şehdetiya Dîn (also Şehde Dîn / Şehda Dînî, “Testimony of Faith”). It belongs to the independent genres of the sacred texts (see Qewl tradition) and is spoken, among other occasions, as a nightly prayer before going to sleep (Dua Ser Belgî). In its best-known form it names the holy triad of Êzîdî piety:

“Sultan Şêx Adî is my king, Sultan Êzîd is my king, Tawûsî Melek is the sign [of my faith] and my faith.”

With this, the confession invokes the three central holy figures: Şêx Adî (Adî ibn Musafir, ca. 1072/78–1162, the reformer venerated as a manifestation of Tawûsî Melek), Sultan Êzîd and above all Tawûsî Melek, the highest of the seven holy angels (never to be equated with the “Devil”; see Tawûsî Melek). Theologically it is maintained that all faith is ultimately directed at the one God (Xwedê), whose working in the world takes place through the holy beings. The self-designation of the Êzîdîs as Miletê Tawûsî Melek (“People of Tawûsî Melek”) reflects the same bond.

The Şehdetiya Dîn is documented in scholarship as a distinct text genre of the Êzîdî oral tradition (Khanna Omarkhali, The Yezidi Religious Textual Tradition, 2017); the wording of the confession (“Şêx Adî is my king …”) is found, among other places, in the Encyclopaedia Iranica and in the religious-studies literature. As with all orally transmitted texts, several variants exist.