The changing face of Islam in Kurdistan

A mosque in central Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region. Photo by author

By Hannah Lynch
6 hours ago

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — “We Muslims have a lot of problems with our religion, for a lot of reasons,” the words of Sanger Najim, a young man living in Erbil, echo the sentiments of a growing population in the Kurdistan Region who struggle with questions about their faith.

Many Muslims are confronted by the violent extremism of the Islamic State (ISIS) and wonder how to reconcile their personal beliefs with the actions of the extremist group.

The Kurdish population is approximately 94% nominally Muslim. Recently, however, there have been many reports of Kurds leaving Islam or converting to other religions.

The Zoroastrian movement claims to have as many as 100,000 followers in Iraqi Kurdistan. Christian organizations assert that thousands in the region have been seeking out Christianity as they reject ISIS’ interpretation of Islam. There are also reports of growing numbers of atheists and agnostics.

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/07022016