The Yaresan or Ahl-e Haqq are a relatively large minority group whose religion originates in the border regions between Iran and Iraq. As members of traditional Yaresan communities are becoming more visible in the West, both as diaspora groups and in academia, there is an increasing demand for reliable information about their background. Academic interest is also growing. Recent scholarly publications, however, tend to assume a fundamental knowledge of the Yaresan tradition, which is not easy to glean from existing sources. This is made more complicated by the very real differences between the European world view and that of traditional Yarsanism. For that reason and because music plays an unusually prominent role in Yaresan observance, it was decided to combine the authors' work on religious traditions and music respectively in two volumes. In doing so the religious realities of the traditional Yaresan of the Guran region is communicated by quoting extensively from interviews with community members. The first volume also offers a survey of other religious traditions that are thought to have been influential in shaping modern Yarsanism.

Gorani refers to under-documented, endangered varieties spoken in a cluster within the Zagros mountains (Iran/Iraq). These varieties possess conservative features of importance to linguists. However, their study has been plagued by nomenclature and taxonomy issues. Traditional names for these languages have been supplanted first by orientalists' prescriptions and then by their linguist heirs. Inaccurate terminology has sewn discord between speaker communities, disturbing the sociolinguistic landscape. This volume represents the state of the art of Gorani's historical and socio-linguistics, documentation, and literature, as well as an effort to aid the "decolonization" of Gorani linguistics.

This book sheds light on the cultural traits and religious beliefs of the Yārsan community. By incorporating historical and ethnographic research on Yārsan community in west and North of Iran, fieldwork and meticulous analysis of religious texts and international literature, it reveals contemporary aspects of Yārsan culture and life that are lesser known to the wider public, and provides insights into their lives, traditions and prospects for the future. With researchers from inside Iran and all over the world, this book offers a new look at Yārsan.

The religious minorities of Iraq suffered immense violence at the hands of ISIS and they are now trying to rebuild their lives. In their own words, this book tells their stories of resilience against oppression, creativity in the darkest moments, and hope amidst death. Covering the experiences of the Christians, Kakais, Yezidis, Sunni Muslims and Shabaks, among others, this is an in-depth investigation that reveals how the different communities narrate their beliefs and deal with life and recovery in the aftermath of ISIS. Existing literature on the religious minorities in Iraq treats them in isolation as if they do not interact. This is the first book to show that a strong network between them operates in the absence of a strong civil society and based on a common desire to coexist, reconstruct their society and build peace. Over three years, the author visited religious and archaeological sites and interviewed more than one hundred people between representatives of the religious communities, academics, activists, politicians, policy makers and refugees. Among them are victims and persecutors, men, women and children, all who have been overwhelmed by the tragic events of the last few years. The author shows that all these groups are animated by the same desire for a new, more tolerant society and that their treatment of each other is nurtured by their shared experience of persecution and oppression.