Spread of Islam among Kurds

The ruins of Menüçehr Mosque, the first mosque in Turkey which was built by the Kurdish dynasty of Shaddadids in the medieval Armenian city of Ani.

Spread of Islam among Kurds started in the 7th century with the Early Muslim conquests. ^[1] Before Islam, the majority of Kurds followed a western Iranic pre-Zoroastrian faith which derived directly from Indo-Iranian tradition. ^{[2] [3] [4]} Some elements of this faith survived in Yezidism, Yarsanism and Kurdish Alevism. ^{[3] [5] [4] [6]} Jaban al-Kurdi and his son Meymun al-Kurdi are believed to be among the first Kurds to convert to Islam, and Khalil al-Kurdi as-Semmani was one of the first Kurdish tabi'uns. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]} Mass conversion of Kurds to Islam didn't happen until the reign of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate between 634-644. ^{[13] [14]} The Kurds first came into contact with the Arab armies during the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia in 637. The Kurdish tribes had been an important element in the Sasanian Empire, and initially gave it strong support as it tried to withstand the Muslim armies, between 639 - 644. Once it was clear that the Sassanians would eventually fall, the Kurdish tribal leaders one by one submitted to Islam and their tribe members followed in accepting Islam. ^[15] Today, most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, following the Shafiʽi or Hanafi schools of thought. Aside from the Sunni majority, there are also Alevi and Shia minorities. ^[16]

Notable Muslim Kurds from the Middle Ages

The Prophet Muhammad is reputed to have had at least one Kurdish companion - Jaban al-Kurdi.

Bassami Kurdi (9th century), Evdilsemedê Babek (972-1019), and Ali Hariri (1009-1079) were the first Kurdish Islamic poets and authors. ^[17] Fakhr-un-Nisa (1091-1179) was the first female Kurdish Islamic scholar, muhaddith and calligrapher. ^[18] The Abulfeda crater in the Moon was named after Kurdish Islamic geographer and historian Abulfeda (1273-1331). ^[19]

Menüçehr Mosque, the first mosque in the current borders of Turkey, was built in 1072 by the Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty Shaddadids. ^[20]

The most famous mediaeval Kurdish Muslim was Saladin - founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty. The son of a Kurdish warrior, Saladin was born into the Kurdish Hadhabani tribe. Saladin conquered the Shia Fatimid Caliphate, restoring Sunni primacy in Egypt and the Levant; recaptured Jerusalem in 1187; and was the principal Muslim leader during the Third Crusade. Apart from his political and military accomplishments, Saladin is famous for his piety, generosity, and sense of justice - a reputation he shares in both the Islamic world and the West. However, though of Kurdish origin and fluent in Kurdish, Saladin was raised speaking Arabic alongside his native language, and was fluent in both languages. ^[21] Lyons, Malcolm Cameron; Jackson, D. E. P. (1982). Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0521317398.

As sultan, Arabic was the language of Saladin's court, and he was a great patron of Arabic arts and literature (including the works of Ibn Shaddad, Usama ibn Munqidh, Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, Ibn al-Athir, and Ibn al-Adim). After his death, the dynasty he established would be highly Arabised. However, Saladin was also a great patron of the Kurdish arts; and the Ayyubids would promote a Kurdish diasporic aristocracy across the Levant and Egypt.

After the Ayyubids were ousted by the Mamluk Sultanate, they would continue to rule in Kurdistan. The Ayyubids would continue to rule the Emirate of Hasankeyf until 1524, at which point it was abolished by the Ottomans.

Sharafkhan Bidlisi (1543-c.1604) was a notable Kurdish Emir of Bitlis, and the author of the Sharafnama - a thorough and complete history of the Kurds. Idris Bitlisi is another famous author from the time.

Kurdish madrasas

The Kurdish Red Madrasa in Cizre

With the spread of Islam in Kurdistan, a new style of civilization was formed in the region. One of the grounds of this new civilization was madrasas. The first Kurdish madrasa was formed around 950s in Hamadan, Iranian Kurdistan. However, Saladin changed the educational status of madrasas where only Islamic sciences were taught, and started to teach many branches of science there, giving more importance to Kurdish lessons. ^{[8] [22]}

Lessons taught in the Kurdish madrasas included Tafsir of the Quran, Hadith, Fiqh, Logic, Statute, Mathematics, Astronomy, Medicine and Philosophy. Most of the books that were used as textbooks in Kurdish madrasas were in Arabic, and they were translated to Kurdish by educationalists and experts. There was an obligation of at least one child in each household having the necessity of being educated in a madrasa among the Kurds. Around 80% of students in Kurdish madrasas were male. ^{[23] [24]}

References

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2. Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (1995). Yezidism: its background, observances and textual tradition. E. Mellen. ISBN   0-7734-9004-3. OCLC   464136140.
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