Satan in the Book of Revelation

Why Satan was depicted as a dragon in the Book of Revelation? and why Jesus was presented as a lamb?

Whom Do You Follow?

First, Happy Eid to all Muslims all over the world, and special wishes to our beloved ones in Iraq. May this Eid mark the end of sorrow and pain put upon us and on them and that Iraq and Iraqis regain good and prosper life, forever.

As its always the case on every year, not all Muslim countries announced today as the first day of the Eid. Some countries are celebrating that today, though, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Libya, and Muslims in non-Arab countries such as those in China, Afghanistan and Philippine followed along. While Egypt, Syria and Oman announced that Saturday is the first day of the Eid! It has been the case for years, and every year I see on TV the endless discussions about how to put an end to such a dilemma. However, there is none and it seems that even if one muslim climb the roof of his house in the middle of the night and see the sign in the sky (a crescent), he will not be able to celebrate the joyful days because the country did not announce through its official religious channels!

The chaotic situation, in my opinion, is when someone like me living in Europe, do I have to celebrate the Eid on the same as in Iraq, because I am an Iraqi? The Sunnis are celebrating today and it looks like the Shiite are going to do that tomorrow! But I don’t believe in this Sunni and Shiite concept! I have no option but to celebrate for four days instead of the three days in this case, but that against the rules, right? A little bit of simple thinking provided me with more than one solution, in fact: we should count the days of the month of Ramadan and accordingly decide which day to start celebrating the Eid. The other solution is to follow suit on a one religious figure in the Netherlands (for sure there is one, or not?) who would watch the sky at night for a clear sigting of the crescent then declare the next day as the first day of the Eid. Simple, especially if we take into the consideration that Ramadan rituals (fasting) is based on the local time in the country where I live i.e. The Netherlands, not local time in Jakarta!

Yet, there are some here who decided to reject such simplcitiy: the mother of a friend of mine met yesterday with her neighbor, and during conversation she asked her about the first day of the Eid. The woman neighbor looked confidence and replied “whom do you follow?” She meant Sunni or Shiite??

This Attack is the Key...

I don't want to sound weird with such a title to this post, but I will start with this question "wasn't everyone expected last year when the dome of the shrines in Samara was bombed that THIS will happen again?". I am not getting old or my memory is betraying me, but I still remember the talk by many people, on the internet and on TV that the same location will be targeted again due to its importance and due to its signifance to the Shiite community in Iraq, which makes it as the igniting spot for an overall secterian violance. Well, it happened again!


The second thing which became so obvious is about the guards: Last time they arrested a number of people including some who were working as guards for the shrine - this time I don't remember how many, but never heard about the conduct of the envistegation! This time again, the sabotage took place from inside the holy shrines, and we hear the same record again of arresting a number of people including guards!

Most of the reactions I read on the internet about the situation and what happened yesterday was described in one word "disgusting"! Will this apply to the event or is it that the situation of the position the Iraqi governement (as the protector and servent of the people) became so disgusting? I am not a military analyst or a political expert, but the attack on the holy shrine took place in Samara, why the curfew on whole Baghdad? Allow me to put the question in different context: why everytime an attack on Samara or Najaf or Karbala or anywhere else a full curfew is imposed on Baghdad? Is this some kind of a show off? or is it a matter of act of desperation?

Some says that it is the gangs of Saddam and al Qaeda who committed this crime, others accused Iran and others the U.S. because this will ensure their control over Iraq - what control do those mean? nothing is under control, ah, they meant ensure that all kinds of chaos remain intact. In either way, whenever I look at the pictures on the internet of the al Askari shrines in Samara without the two minerates I always reach the same conclusion... I am sure many reached the same: The attack proved last time to be the key to a bloody secterian conflict in Iraq, attacking it for the second time will enrich such tragedy.

Comments On The Yezidis

Last February I wrote about the Yezidis, a religious and social community living in the north of Iraq. Among the comments I received a couple from an anonymous Yezidi who gave more insight on his community - and looks like he going to add more in the future. For that reason, Therefore, I want first to express my gratitude to him and I am obliged to point out to these comments/information here so people can have more knowledge and informatnion.

Special thanks to the Anonymous friend, I apreciate his input and effort in sharing the cultural and theological background of the Yezidis.

The Yezidis

I read about the Yezidis and did a small research out of interest about them some time ago, but the reason that motivated me to write about the Yezidis on my blog was caeser’s post on his blog, which was a sort, his own insight and comments to another blogger’s post.

The general view of the Yezidis by many people is identifying them as “the worshippers of Satan” - I will come to that later – I laugh when I hear this, because I can’t imagine Yezidis do head-banging and doing the corna sign while listening to Dimmu Borgir or Venom or any other death/Black metal bands during some satanic rituals where people doing ritual performances such as big fire or preparing to sacrifice another human soul for the sake of Satan! There is a very nice article I found on the internet talking about the relationship between Satanism and Heavy Metal music! Satanism itself in its broader context doesn't regard Satan as THE sacred entity, rather than it is considered as the means to controls human's attitude and behavior. In addition, Satanism as a word and practice, according to Wikipedia give great evidence that the Yezidis is far from being considered Satanists, especially when making comparisons related to the roots and origins for each – not to forget how human unlimited imagination and psychological nature can use myth, religion, and social influences to create an all new variety of concepts and rules, such as the involvement of cannibalism, vandalism, the use of Hebrew language, and even the way to dress.

Generally speaking, most historians identify Yezidism as a reglious group where its customs and rituals were derived from other religions, such as Islam, Christianity, and more recently to Zoroastrianism, because of its similarities with Yezidism, especially regarding the belief in the universal spirit concept.

The main language used by the Yezidis (or Yazidis) is Kurdish. This was one of the reasons some historians differed in pinpointing the origins of Yezidism. Some historians referred to Yezidism as one of the three branches derived from Yazdânism, the religion that Kurds used to believe in before converting to Islam - The other two branches from Yazdânism are: the Alawite (or Al Alavit or Alevism), followed by people in northwest the Iraqi Kurdish area, in some parts of Turkey and the Syrian coast; and the second branch of Yazdânism is the Yarsanism, where mostly followed by people in south of the Kurdish areas and west Iran. All three share the belief in incarnation and the existence of seven guardian angels!

Some historians believed that the roots and origins of the Yezidis go further back into the depth of history and relate them to ancient civilizations in Iraq, such as the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Acadians. According to scholars, the word “Yezidi” comes from Sumerian language, which means “the person who is on true path”!

However, despite objections, there are many among historians who believe that Sheikh Uday (or Adi or Adii) bin Mustafa, a descendent from the Umayyad dynasty (661-750), is the man regarded as the founder of the Yezidis!! He settled in the mountains northern of the Iraqi city of Mosul in the early 12th century, and he was regraded by almost all historians as the one who did all writings regrading their rituals and practices. After his death in 1162, the Yezidis rituals and customs derived around the years from their original practices, they became influenced by Sufi Islam, and took new forms influenced by other religions and sects, such as, Manichaean, Christianity, Nestorian, Zoroastrian among others.

The Yezidis believe that God created the universe and appointed seven angels to guard and rule the universe. The leader of these seven angels is called Malek Taus, or the Peacock Angle. Thus, for the Yezidis, God is only the creator, he is the supreme who created everything, and Malek Taus is the acting force on earth and the universe on behalf of God. Historians and scholars identified Malek Taus as Satan, as known in Islam and Christianity. The Yezidis belief in the incarnation, and they believe that the seven angels come in the form of human beings, and that Shaikh uday himself and his companion Shaikh Hasan are among those seven angels. The other four angels are known as the four Mysteries, Shamsadin, Fakhradin, Sajadin and Naserdin, in addition, of course, to their leader, Malak Taus. The story goes on when God created Adam; God called for the seven angels, he ordered them to bring dust from earth. They obeyed him and from that dust God created Adam and give him soul from his own breath. God, then, ordered them to bow to Adam, and obey him. All Angels bowed except for Satan, who thought to be made of God’s illumination, which makes him more superior than bowing or obeying to a being made of dust (or mud). God pardoned Satan and praised him, according to the Yezidis. Further more, God made Malek Taus (or Satan) the leader of the angels and he became his representative on earth. The Yezidis refer to God’s decision by saying that God’s supremacy would make Malek Taus obey him easily and bow for Adam, but God did not do that, because this is part of what they call “God’s majestic and sublime nature”. As a conclusion, the concept of good and evil does not exist in Yezidi faith, and they reject the idea that Satan is the symbol of evil, as in other religions such as Islam and Christianity. They believe that a human spirit goes through a process of purification from such things like evil or sins, and that the concept of good and evil originated from humans i.e. exists in the minds and souls of humans, nothing more, and nothing less. In addition, every human being is free to choose between good and evil in their lives, and to choose good, submission to Malek Taus is the most important of all, because he was given the same choice by God.

Interestingly, according to the Yezidis, Malek Taus has seven jars, he fill them with his tears for 10000 years, and these tears will be used to extinguish the fire in hell.

There are two holy books for the Yezidis; the first is called the Book of Revelation, and the second is called the Black Book, but sources argue that both books were written in Arabic, and other say in Kurdish! It is not known how many prayers the Yezidis do; some say they do five daily prayers: dawn, sunrise, noon, afternoon and sunset. Some say there are only two prayers, and other say there are only three, but all agree that the Yezidis prayers must be in the direction of the sun. The Yezidis also have their own annual six days pilgrimage to the tomb of Sheikh Uday north of the city of Mosul every August. Most of the rituals and pilgrimage’s practices are very secretive so information on this is based on speculations and the imagination of scholars and historians. The Yezidis regard themselves as separate (and superior) race; they believe that they were created from Adam and the rest of human race is created from Eve, that’s why is impossible for someone to marry from the Yezidis! Further more, their obstain from other cultures and religions as means of protecting their own prohibited them from even using other non-Yezidi’s belongings, such as clothes, houses, furniture…etc In addition, each Yizidi believe that he must have a mentor, this is one very strong obligation the Yezidis believe in.

It is estimated that the number of the Yezidis population between 40 thousand and one million, spread in areas around Shikhan, Sanjar, Tilkeef, Ba’shiqa, Bahzani north the city of Mosul. In addition, they live further north of Iraq, such in Duhok and Zakho. Yezidis can be found with small numbers in countries other than Iraq, such as Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Iran the Caucasus, and Yemen.

Whom the pope should talk to?

Today early morning news headlines were focusing on two events: The first event was about Judge Muhammad Oreibi al-Khalifa ordering Saddam Hussain to leave after refusing his request to be let out of his metal cage. This is the second time that Saddam being thrown out of the court room by the new judge. The second event was of Pope Benedict XVI meeting envoys from 20 different Muslim countries where he expressed “total and profound respect for the Islamic faith”, and he emphasized on "strengthening ties between Catholic Christianity and Islam".

After reading the news about the pope meeting with the Muslim envoys, I was wondering about something: among all Muslim countries, whom the pope should talk to?

The pope represents the Catholic church, he is the figure where people and countries from other cultures and various religions all around the world can have a dialogue with. The puzzle is to look the other way around: if the pope want to address the Islamic world, whom he should go to? is there a leader or even a representative of the Islamic nation where he can initiate this "dialogue of civilization"? We all know that in the Muslim world there is no unity among its countries.

There is no single alliance that consists of a number of countries where we can point our fingers and say "ok, this can represent the majority of the Muslims, so the pope can start from there"
Lets not involve the Islamic Conference Organization, because everyone knows that it is just a symbolic gathering of Muslim countries from all over the world.

I might think of Saudi Arabia, with obvious reasons: Mecca. But what about Iran? The strongest and soon to be (if not already) the most powerful Islamic country in the region with its military might. If we start talking about either Saudi Arabia or Iran, then we are drawn into the Sunni / Shiá dilemma, oh no, not again!!! What about Egypt? will be the one who can be symbol for the Muslim country that the pope can have a conversation with? Especially if we take into account its status among the Arab countries! I thought of Morocco, especially that the king still carry the title "Amir Il Mo'meneen". This will give the traditional aspect of Islamic monarch and maybe legitimacy? will that be enough to qualify? What about Turkey? Maybe, considering its ties with Europe and Turkey’s appeal to join the European Union!

Wait a minute, Iraq would be the best candidate, yess!!! I am not joking, really! It is the country where Sunni and Shiá used to live with each other, marry from each other and do not despise each other.... they are the symbol of Islamic unity… but oh no, not anymore! for a fraction of a second I started dreaming of old modern Iraq.

Back to reality, what other country can qualify to be that representative country of the Muslim world that the pope can address in his attempt to "strengthen the ties between Christianity and Islam”??

Lets put the Arab world aside and go to non-Arab Muslim countries: Is Indonesia a candidate? Maybe, especially with its most populous Muslim-majority nation in the World. However, with the atrocities exchanged between Christians and Muslims every now and then, one can have second thoughts. However, will Malaysia or Pakistan be good candidates?

Before answering the question, there is another one, a bigger one, I consider it a very essential, in fact a dangerous one: What is the reaction of other countries when one country has been nominated? Will country A be happy for country B and back it up, or will country A consider it as a competition and will turn its back instead of backing country B up with all sorts of support?

It is either the pope aware of such a situation in the Muslim world and he is just playing it safe, or he is forgetting that the Muslim world is far from being united to let one individual country represent them, especially now.

In second case, I only wish the pope all success because he will really really really hard time, and I doubt that he will initiate this “dialogue of civilization” the way it should be.