At one point (AH 1289; AD 1872), the Ottoman power wanted to recruit an army from among them instead of collecting the tax due to it. They presented the government with all the rules that prevented them from complying. All this comes under religion and constitutes moral obligations for them. They are as follows:
FIRST ARTICLE
According to our Yazidi religion, every member of our sect, whether big or small, girl or woman, must visit Melek Ṭâ'ûs three times a year, that is, firstly, from the beginning to the end of April, Roman calendar; second, from the beginning to the end of September; third, from the beginning to the end of November. If anyone does not visit the image of Melek Ṭâ'ûs, he is an infidel.
SECTION II
If a member of our sect, great or small, does not visit his highness Šeiḫ 'Adî bn Musâfir – may God sanctify his mysteries! once a year, that is to say from the fifteenth to the twentieth of September, Roman calendar, he is unfaithful according to our religion.
ARTICLE III
Every member of our sect must visit the place of sunrise every day when it appears, and there must be no Muslims, Christians, or anyone else there. If anyone does not do this, he is an infidel.
ARTICLE V
Each member of our sect must daily kiss the hand of his brother, his brother from beyond, namely the servant of the Mahdi, and the hand of his šeiḫ or pir. If one does not do this, he is considered an infidel.
ARTICLE V
According to our religion, it is something unbearable when the Muslim begins in the morning to say in prayer, God forbid! “I take refuge in God, etc. » 38 If any of us hear it, let him kill the one who says it and kill himself; otherwise he becomes an infidel.
SECTION VI
When a member of our sect is about to die, if there is no brother of the world to come and his šeiḫ, or his pîr and one of the ḳawwâls with him to say three words about him, to know ; “O servant of Melek Ṭâ'ûs whose ways are high, you must adhere to the religion of him whom we worship, who is Melek Ṭâ'ûs, whose ways are high, and not die in any religion other than his .
And if anyone comes to tell you something about the Muslim religion, or the Christian religion, or the Jewish religion, or any other religion, do not believe him and do not follow him. And if you believe and follow a religion other than that of the one we worship, Melek Ṭâ'ûs, you will die an infidel”, he becomes an infidel.
ARTICLE VII
We have something called the blessing of Šeiḫ 'Adî, that is, the dust of the tomb Šeiḫ 'Adî – may God sanctify his mystery! Each member of our sect must carry it in their pocket and eat it every morning. And if he does not eat it intentionally, he is an infidel. Likewise at the time of death, if he does not intentionally possess some of this dust, he dies unfaithful.
ARTICLE VIII
Regarding our fast, if anyone from our sect wishes to fast, he must fast at his home, not at anyone else's. For during the fast, he must go every morning to the house of his šeiḫ and his pir, and there he must begin to fast, and when he breaks his fast, likewise, he must go to the house of his šeiḫ and his pir. his pîr, and there break the fast by drinking the sacred wine of the šeiḫ or pîr.
And if he does not drink two or three glasses of this wine, his fast is not acceptable, and he becomes an infidel.
ARTICLE IX
If a member of our sect goes to another place and stays there for up to a year, then returns home, then his wife is forbidden to him, and none of us will give him a wife. If anyone gives him a wife, she is an unbeliever.
ARTICLE X
Regarding our dress, as we mentioned in the fourth article that each of our sect has a brother for the afterlife, they also have a sister for the afterlife.
So if one of us makes a new shirt for himself, it is necessary for his sister for the afterlife to open the neckband, that is to say the neckband of this shirt, with her hand . And if she does not open it with her hand, and he carries it, then he is an infidel.
ARTICLE XI
If someone from our sect makes a new shirt or dress, he cannot wear it without baptizing it in the holy water found at the sanctuary of His Highness Šeiḫ 'Adî may God sanctify his mystery! If he wears it, he is an infidel.
SECTION XII
We can't wear a light black dress at all. We cannot comb our heads with the comb of a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or any other. Nor can we shave our heads with the razor used by others than ourselves (Yazidis), unless it is washed in the holy water found at the shrine of His Highness Šeiḫ 'Adî .
So we are allowed to shave our heads. But if we shave our heads without the razor having been washed in this water, we become infidels.
ARTICLE XIII
No Yezidi can enter the bathroom of a Muslim, nor take a bath in a Muslim's home, nor eat with a Muslim spoon, nor drink from a Muslim cup, from a cup used by another sect. If he does, he is an infidel.
ARTICLE XIV
Regarding food, there is a big difference between us and other sects. We don't eat meat or fish, squash, bamia (okra), fasulia (beans), cabbage or lettuce. We can't even live where the lettuce is sown.
For these and other reasons we cannot enter military service, etc.
The names of those who affixed their signatures:
THE HEAD OF THE YEZIDI SECT, THE EMIR OF ŠEIḪÂN, ḤUSEIN.
THE ŠEIḪ RELIGIOUS OF THE YEZIDI SECT OF THE ŠEIḪÂN DISTRICT, ŠEIḪ NAṢIR.
THE. CHIEF OF THE VILLAGE OF MAM REŠÂN, PÎR SULEIÂN.
THE HEAD OF THE VILLAGE OF
MUSKAN, MURAD.
ḤATÂRAH, AYYUB.
BEIBÂN, ḤUSEIN.
DAHḲAN, ḤASSAN.
ḤUZRÂN, NU'MÔ.
BAKASRA, 'ALI.
BÂ'AŠÎḲA, JAMÔ.
ḤÔŠABA, ILIAS.
ḲREPAḤIN, SAĠD.
ḲABÂREH, KÔCHAK.
KASO.
SINÂ, 'ABDÔ.
'AIN SIFNI, GURGÔ.
ḲASR-'IZZ-AD-DIN
ḪEIRO.
KIBERTÔ, ṬÂHIR.
AND OTHERS.
They are those whose names appeared in the petition mentioned above, and from which we have copied some elements.
The result was that when they presented this petition, they were exempted from military service, but they paid a tax in money as the Christians did.
