The Feqir: The Ascetics of the Yazidi Faith
- Sherko Sabir
- Jun 2
- 12 min read
Introduction
Among the holy men and women of the Yazidi faith, the Feqir hold a place of special reverence. They are the ascetics of the faith, those who devote their whole lives to the service of religion, renouncing worldly comforts, observing the strictest discipline of fasting and devotion, and wearing the sacred black cloak in imitation of the great saint Sheikh Adi. In their austerity and their holiness, the Feqir embody the spirit of devotion and self-denial that lies at the heart of the Yazidi religious tradition.
Distinct from the hereditary religious classes of the faith, the Feqir are marked above all by their way of life: a life of asceticism, piety and service, given over wholly to God and the holy beings. They keep the great fasts of the religion, serve at the holy valley of Lalish, and are bound by sacred taboos and disciplines that set them apart as men and women consecrated to the divine. They are among the most respected of all the religious figures of the Yazidi world.
To understand the Feqir is to understand the ascetic and mystical heart of the Yazidi faith, its tradition of holy self-denial in imitation of its greatest saint, and the deep reverence in which the Yazidis hold those who give their lives wholly to the service of the divine. In the black-cloaked ascetic, keeping the long fasts and serving at the holy places, the Yazidi faith finds one of its purest images of devotion.
Contents
Who Are the Feqir?
The Feqir, also spelled Faqir, are the ascetics of the Yazidi faith, holy men and women who devote their entire lives to the service of religion. The name derives from a word meaning poor, in the sense of one who is poor before God, having renounced worldly wealth and comfort for a life of devotion, a meaning familiar from the ascetic and mystical traditions of the wider region. The Feqir observe all the rituals, taboos and religious acts of the faith with the greatest strictness, live lives of piety and self-denial, and wear the sacred black cloak that is the mark of their calling. They are deeply respected within the Yazidi community as men and women consecrated to the divine.
The Ascetics of the Faith
The defining mark of the Feqir is their ascetic way of life, given over wholly to religion. Where most Yazidis live ordinary lives in the world, the Feqir embrace a path of renunciation and devotion, observing strict disciplines and taboos, keeping the great fasts, and devoting themselves to prayer, service and the imitation of the holiness of Sheikh Adi, the great saint and ascetic at the heart of the faith. Theirs is a vocation of holiness, a life set apart for the sacred.
The Feqir are distinct from the hereditary religious classes of the Yazidi faith, the sheikhs and pirs into whose lineages a Yazidi is born, described in the account of the Yazidi caste system. The Feqir are defined not by birth into a caste but by their ascetic calling and way of life, their consecration to religion, though in practice the vocation has often been carried on within certain families across the generations. In this they resemble the holy ascetics and dervishes of the mystical traditions of the region, men and women who renounce the world for the sake of the divine. Within the Yazidi faith, the Feqir form a special order of the devout, the living embodiment of its ascetic and mystical spirit, honoured by all for the holiness of their lives.
Key Takeaways
The Feqir are the ascetics of the Yazidi faith, devoted wholly to religion.
Their name means the poor, those poor before God, who renounce the world.
They wear the sacred black khirqa cloak in imitation of Sheikh Adi.
They observe the strictest disciplines, taboos, and the great fasts.
They serve at the holy valley of Lalish and keep its rituals.
They are distinct from the hereditary sheikh and pir classes.
Quick Facts
Name: Feqir (also Faqir), meaning the poor before God
Faith: Yazidism
Role: Ascetics devoted wholly to the service of religion
Sacred dress: The black khirqa, a wool cloak or tunic
In imitation of: Sheikh Adi, the great saint and ascetic
Disciplines: Strict taboos, fasting, prayer, and service
Great fasts: The forty-day fasts of summer and winter
Service: At the holy valley of Lalish
Related class: The Kochek, the visionary servants of Lalish
Standing: Deeply revered within the Yazidi community
The Sacred Black Cloak
The most visible and most sacred mark of the Feqir is the black cloak they wear, known as the khirqa, a tunic or robe of dark wool that is the emblem of their consecrated calling. The khirqa is worn in imitation of Sheikh Adi, the great saint of the faith, and it is regarded as a most holy garment, treated with the deepest reverence. To don the khirqa is to take up the ascetic life and to be marked as one consecrated to the service of the divine.
The sanctity of the black cloak is profound. In the tradition, drawn from the wider mystical and Sufi heritage of the region, the khirqa is held to be the most fitting of all religious dress, and is even connected in the lore with the primordial garment of the first human beings, the raiment given to Adam and Eve, so that it carries associations reaching back to the very beginning of humankind. The wool from which it is made, and the cloak itself, are treated as sacred objects, and the Feqir who wears it is bound to live worthily of its holiness. The black khirqa is thus far more than a garment; it is a sacred sign of the ascetic vocation, of the imitation of the saint, and of the consecration of a life to God, the very emblem of the holiness of the Feqir.
The Great Fasts
Among the chief religious duties of the Feqir is the keeping of the great fasts of the Yazidi faith, the long periods of fasting that are among the most demanding of all its disciplines. Foremost among these are the forty-day fasts, kept twice in the year, in the summer and in the winter, known as the Forty Days of Summer and the Forty Days of Winter. These long fasts are a religious obligation laid especially upon the religious leadership of the faith, the Baba Sheikh, the Feqir, and the other clergy and ascetics, rather than upon ordinary Yazidis.
During these forty-day fasts, the Feqir, together with the Baba Sheikh and the other religious leaders, gather at the holy valley of Lalish to begin the fast with sacred ceremonies, before keeping it through the long weeks, whether at Lalish or in their own homes. The winter fast, kept through the coldest part of the year, concludes with a feast that in the tradition marks the turning of the natural order toward the coming of spring. In keeping these long and demanding fasts, the Feqir take upon themselves a discipline of devotion on behalf of the whole community, a sacred labour of self-denial that is among the highest expressions of their consecrated calling, and a service rendered for the spiritual good of all the Yazidi people.
Service at Lalish
The life of the Feqir is closely bound to the holy valley of Lalish, the holiest place of the Yazidi faith and the site of the tomb of Sheikh Adi. The Feqir serve at Lalish, taking part in its rituals and ceremonies, keeping the great fasts there, and devoting themselves to the care and service of the sacred valley and its holy places. Their presence and their service are part of the living religious life of Lalish, the spiritual heart of the faith.
This service at the holy valley is an expression of the Feqir's consecration to the divine. In serving at Lalish, in keeping its fasts and rituals, and in devoting themselves to the holy places, the Feqir live out their vocation at the very centre of the Yazidi religious world. Their service joins them to the long tradition of devotion that surrounds the tomb of Sheikh Adi and the sacred springs and shrines of the valley, and it places them among the guardians and servants of the holiest things of the faith. In the black-cloaked ascetics serving at Lalish, the Yazidi faith shows forth its ideal of a life given wholly to the sacred, devoted to God, to the holy beings, and to the holy places of the religion.
The Kochek and the Holy Servants
Alongside the Feqir, the Yazidi faith knows other figures of special religious devotion and gift, among them the Kochek, a name understood to mean the far-seer. The Kochek are servants of Lalish who, in the tradition, are credited with the gift of spiritual sight, the ability to perceive things far off or hidden, and who serve the faith through their visionary and devotional role. They are among the holy servants who, with the Feqir, give themselves to the service of the sacred.
These various figures of devotion, the Feqir in their ascetic discipline, the Kochek with their gift of sight, and the other consecrated servants of the faith, together make up the company of those who devote their lives to religion within the Yazidi world, alongside the hereditary religious leaders, the Mir, the Baba Sheikh, the sheikhs and pirs, and the Qewwals who preserve the sacred hymns. In this rich array of religious roles and vocations, the Yazidi faith has preserved across the centuries a living tradition of devotion and service, in which the ascetic Feqir hold an especially honoured place as the embodiment of its mystical and self-denying spirit.
Symbolism and Meaning
The Feqir embody the ascetic and mystical heart of the Yazidi faith, its ideal of a life given wholly to the divine in renunciation, discipline and service. In the black-cloaked ascetic, poor before God and consecrated to religion, the faith finds one of its purest images of devotion, an image rooted in the imitation of its greatest saint, Sheikh Adi, whose own holy and ascetic life is the model the Feqir follow.
The Feqir also embody the spirit of self-denial undertaken for the good of others. In keeping the great fasts and the strict disciplines on behalf of the whole community, the Feqir take up a sacred labour for the spiritual benefit of all the Yazidi people, a service of devotion rendered for others. Their poverty before God, their renunciation of worldly comfort, and their consecration to the sacred express the deep Yazidi conviction that the highest life is one given over to the divine. To contemplate the Feqir is to contemplate the mystical and devotional depths of the Yazidi faith, its reverence for holiness and self-denial, and its honouring of those who, in imitation of the saint, give their whole lives to God and to the service of the holy.
The Feqir and the Kurds
The Feqir are a cherished part of the religious heritage of the Kurdish world, for the Yazidis are among the most ancient communities of that world, and their ascetic holy men and women are among the most striking of its religious figures. Living and serving in the Yazidi communities of the Kurdish lands, and at the holy valley of Lalish, the Feqir are part of the rich and distinctive spiritual heritage that the Yazidis have preserved within the Kurdish world.
The tradition of the ascetic holy man, renouncing the world for the sake of the divine, is one that has flourished across the religious cultures of the Kurdish lands and the wider region, and the Yazidi Feqir are a distinctive expression of it within their own ancient faith. In their black cloaks, their long fasts, and their service at the holy places, the Feqir keep alive a tradition of devotion of great depth and antiquity. To honour the Feqir is to honour the ascetic and mystical spirit of the Yazidi faith, and to recognise these consecrated holy men and women as among the living treasures of the religious heritage of the Kurdish world.
Debates and Misconceptions
Are the Feqir the same as the sheikh and pir castes? No; this is an important distinction. The sheikhs and pirs are the hereditary religious classes of the Yazidi faith, into whose lineages a Yazidi is born, as described in the account of the Yazidi caste system. The Feqir, by contrast, are defined by their ascetic calling and consecrated way of life rather than simply by birth into a caste, even though the vocation has often been carried on within particular families. The Feqir are best understood as an order of ascetics and devotees, marked by their holiness and self-denial, distinct from the hereditary priestly and guiding classes.
Does the word Feqir mean the same as the Muslim or Sufi faqir? The Yazidi Feqir shares its name and something of its meaning with the wider tradition of the faqir, the holy ascetic poor before God, found across the mystical and Sufi traditions of the region, and the sacred black cloak and other features reflect this shared heritage. But the Yazidi Feqir is a figure of the Yazidi faith, with its own particular religious role, disciplines and meaning within that tradition, and should be understood within the Yazidi religious world rather than simply equated with the ascetics of other faiths. The shared vocabulary reflects the deep connections among the religious traditions of the region, within which the Yazidi faith has its own distinct identity.
Is the asceticism of the Feqir required of all Yazidis? No; the ascetic life of the Feqir, with its strict disciplines and great fasts, is a special vocation undertaken by those consecrated to it, not a requirement laid upon ordinary Yazidis. The long forty-day fasts in particular are a duty especially of the religious leadership and the ascetics, the Baba Sheikh, the Feqir and the clergy, rather than of the whole community. The Feqir take up these disciplines on behalf of all, and their consecrated life is honoured precisely because it is a special calling of devotion, freely embraced for the service of God and the good of the community.
Related Topics
Yazidism: the ancient faith whose ascetics the Feqir are
Sheikh Adi: the great saint and ascetic whom the Feqir imitate
Lalish: the holy valley where the Feqir serve
The Baba Sheikh: the spiritual head, who keeps the great fasts with the Feqir
The Yazidi caste system: the hereditary classes, distinct from the Feqir
The Qewwals: the sacred singers, another religious vocation
The Mir: the prince and head of the Yazidi community
Tawuse Melek: the Peacock Angel at the heart of Yazidi devotion
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the Feqir in the Yazidi faith?
The Feqir, also spelled Faqir, are the ascetics of the Yazidi faith, holy men and women who devote their entire lives to the service of religion. Their name means the poor, in the sense of those poor before God, who renounce worldly wealth and comfort for a life of devotion. They observe the strictest religious disciplines and taboos, keep the great fasts, wear the sacred black cloak in imitation of Sheikh Adi, and serve at the holy valley of Lalish. They are deeply revered within the community.
What is the khirqa?
The khirqa is the sacred black cloak or tunic of dark wool worn by the Feqir, the emblem of their consecrated ascetic calling. It is worn in imitation of Sheikh Adi, the great saint of the faith, and is regarded as a most holy garment. In the tradition, drawn from the wider mystical heritage of the region, the khirqa is held to be the most fitting of religious dress and is connected in the lore with the primordial garment of the first human beings. It is treated with the deepest reverence.
How are the Feqir different from the sheikhs and pirs?
The sheikhs and pirs are the hereditary religious classes of the Yazidi faith, into whose lineages a Yazidi is born, part of the faith's caste-like structure. The Feqir, by contrast, are defined by their ascetic calling and consecrated way of life rather than simply by birth into a caste, though the vocation has often been carried on within particular families. The Feqir are an order of ascetics and devotees, marked by their holiness and self-denial, distinct from the hereditary priestly and guiding classes.
What fasts do the Feqir keep?
The Feqir keep the great fasts of the Yazidi faith, foremost among them the forty-day fasts observed twice a year, in the summer and the winter. These long fasts are a religious duty laid especially upon the religious leadership and the ascetics, the Baba Sheikh, the Feqir and the clergy, rather than upon ordinary Yazidis. During the fasts the Feqir gather with the leaders at Lalish for sacred ceremonies, taking up this discipline of devotion on behalf of the whole community.
Who are the Kochek?
The Kochek, a name understood to mean the far-seer, are another class of devoted servants of the Yazidi faith, servants of Lalish who in the tradition are credited with the gift of spiritual sight, the ability to perceive things far off or hidden. They serve the faith through their visionary and devotional role. Together with the Feqir and other consecrated servants, they make up the company of those who devote their lives to religion within the Yazidi world.
Is the Feqir the same as the Muslim faqir?
The Yazidi Feqir shares its name and something of its meaning with the wider tradition of the faqir, the holy ascetic poor before God found across the mystical and Sufi traditions of the region, and features such as the sacred black cloak reflect this shared heritage. But the Yazidi Feqir is a figure of the Yazidi faith, with its own particular role, disciplines and meaning within that tradition, and is best understood within the Yazidi religious world rather than simply equated with the ascetics of other faiths.
References and Further Reading
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