The Spread of Shi‘ism in Kurdistan

For thousands of years, Kurds have inhabited Kurdistan, currently located among Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Armenia, where they have main‐ tained their social, political, cultural and historical existence. Like the other ethnic groups and nations throughout the history, the Kurds have been at‐ tracted to different religions and faiths due to various factors, and have shaped their lives accordingly. After the rise of Islam and because of the polit‐ ical and cultural conditions prevailing in the Islamic world, most Kurds ac‐ cepted the Shafi‘i school of Sunni Islam and have remained loyal to their faith ever since. However, one group of Kurds, unlike the majority, chose the Shi‘i denomination – for reasons explained in this study – and have kept faith with Shi‘ism since the early centuries of Islam. This article explores the hows and whys of such a tendency towards Shi‘ism, with an analytical‐descriptive re‐ search method and by referring to primary sources and other means of his‐ torical research.