Yazidis Mourn Death Of Revered Spiritual Leader Baba Sheikh Who Stood For The Community And Its Women Held Captive By ISIS

People of the Yazidi community are mourning the death of their Yazdi spiritual leader His Holiness Baba Sheikh Khurto Hajji Ismail, also known as Baba Sheikh. He was a revered Yazidi spiritual leader who stood for the Iraqi ethnic and religious minority.

The community descends from ancient roots in Iraq and the region and have faced executions and atrocities from ISIS.

The official handle of the U.S. Consulate General Erbil has said in a post on Twitter:

"U.S. Consulate General #Erbil offers its sincere condolences to the family and to the #Yazidi community on the passing of the spiritual leader Kherto Haji Ismail (Baba Sheikh). He always had a wise and positive influence on the Yazidi community, especially during hard times."

Many posts on Twitter are remembering the spiritual leader and paying their gratitudes to him for welcoming the Yazidi women who were in ISIS captivity.

An article (2014) on the Yazidi community, The Guardian said:

"Researcher Cale Salih (@callysally) interviewed the Yazidis’ spiritual leader Baba Sheikh for the New York Times last month. She wrote:

The rise of Islamic fundamentalism more broadly has pushed thousands of Yazidis to seek asylum in Europe. According to some estimates, 70,000 people, or about 15% of the Yazidi population in Iraq, fled the country. For a religion that does not accept converts and strongly discourages exogamy, the assimilation of Yazidi youth in Europe threatens the faith’s continued existence. “People have gone out of fear of attacks or fear of racism. This makes it hard to protect the faith,” said Baba Sheikh. [...]

For the past several years, Baba Sheikh, the Yazidis’ spiritual leader, tells me he has canceled the official yearly religious ceremony at Lalesh temple, the holy site of the Yazidis, out of fear of attacks."

He is known for his tireless work for the community for decades and amid the fears of persecution, attacks, and atrocities on the Yazidi community from ISIS and for working in partnership with other religious minorities in the region for the safety and betterment of people.