Kurdish Zoroastrians Open First Temple in Sulaymaniyah
Kurdish Islamic clerics have extended their congratulations to them
Basnews English
22/09/2016 - 11:20
Kurdistan
SULAYMANIYAH — The Kurdish followers of Zoroastrianism on Wednesday, September 21, opened their first temple in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region.
Jalil Abbasi, a Zoroastrianism scholar, told BasNews that the temple was opened after receiving an official permission from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
“People now can visit the Zoroastrians’ temple in Sulaymaniyah if they have inquiries about the religious, and they will be received by religious men and experts,” Abbasi continued.
Several government officials and political representatives attended the opening ceremony to give a sign of coexistence among Kurds, Abbasi stated, noting that KRG’s Endowment and Religious Affairs and several Kurdish Islamic clerics have extended their congratulations to them.
“We do not focus on the number of followers, but the quality of people’s life and attitudes are the top priority.”
Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest faiths which is thought to have emerged from a common prehistoric Indo-Iranian religious system dating back from the early 2nd millennium BC. The prophet Zoroaster is the founder of the faith who is thought by many modern historians to have been a reformer of the polytheistic Iranian religion who lived in the 10th century BC.
A growing number of Kurds, particularly among the youth, started to convert to Zoroastrianism following the Islamic State (IS) attack on Kurdistan Region.
Kurds are known as the most peaceful people in the Middle East, living in coexistence for centuries in an area where others have been struggling with religious and sectarian issues among their communities.
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