Zoroastrianism in Iraq seeks official recognition
Al-Monitor interviewed Zoroastrian spiritual leader in Iraq Peer Luqman Haji, who spoke about the resurgence of this millennia-old religion, the challenges and the need for tolerance in a region plagued by growing religious radicalism.
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — Zoroastrianism is the world’s oldest religion based on divine revelation and served as the state religion of three great Iranian empires for 12 centuries, from the sixth century B.C. until the seventh century.
While religious diversity is now facing an imminent demise in Middle Eastern countries — especially in Syria and Iraq — the events following the rise of the Islamic State (IS) and its threat to this diversity has made it easier for the adherents of Zoroastrianism to reveal themselves after they had hidden their religion for 15 centuries, when many converted to Islam in the aftermath of the Muslim conquest of Iraq.
Zoroastrians today are present in several areas of Iraqi Kurdistan and other areas administratively affiliated with the Iraqi federal government. But there are no accurate figures of their numbers as they are still referred to as "Muslims” on their identity documents, even though they engage in Zoroastrian religious rituals. This represents a restriction on their right to freedom of belief, especially since converting from Islam to another religion is considered a crime according to the Personal Status Law.
The Zoroastrian Cultural and Heritage Center in Sulaimaniyah contains a small temple where Zoroastrian rituals are being held for the first time in modern Iraqi history. Peer Luqman Haji, the spiritual leader of Iraqi Zoroastrians, administers the conversion from Islam to Zoroastrianism through the Kushti tying ceremony (a Kushti is the sacred girdle worn by Zoroastrians around their waists) and marriage ceremonies according to the Zoroastrian tradition.
