Fexredîn

Sheikh or Malak Fakhr ad-Dīn (Kurdish: Şêx Fexredîn, Melik Fexredîn) is a holy figure venerated in Yazidism, he is considered one of the Seven Divine Beings, to all of whom God assigned the World's affairs, and his earthly incarnation is considered one of the four sons of Ezdina Mir along with Nasirdin, Sheikh Shems, and Sejadin, who are the respective ancestors and patriarchs of the four Şemsanî Sheikh lineages and are considered to have been avatars of the angelic beings. Fexredîn is considered the personification of the Moon, while his brother, Sheikh Shems is the personification of the Sun.^[1][2][3][4]

Melik Fexredîn
Lord of the Moon
Member of the Heptad
Venerated in	Yazidism
Symbol	Moon
Region	Kurdistan
Genealogy
Parents	Ezdina Mir (father) Sitiya Zin (mother)
Siblings	Sheikh Shems, Nasirdîn, Sejadin
Children	Şêx Mend, Xatûna Fexra, Şêx Bedir, Aqûb

Many Yazidi qewls (sacred hymns) are attributed to Fexredîn.^[5]

Biography

Şêx Fexredîn was a Yezidi poet, philosopher and scholar who lived in the 12th century, he authored much of the poetry that is still recited among the Yezidis today in form of sacred hymns known as Qewls. According to Yazidi religious teachers and men, Fexredîn is said to have authored 11,000 qewls, beyts and qesîdes, of which only around 200 remain due to religious oppression and genocides.^[6][7]

Family

Fexreddin's father, Êzdîna Mîr, was a prominent 12th-century prince who ruled over the Yezidis, together with his wives Sitî Zîn and Sitî Ereb. Êzdîna Mîr was the father of the Yezidi saints Şêx Şems, Şêx Fexredîn, Şêx Nasirdîn and Şêx Sicadîn. Thus he is the forefather of all the Shamsanis.^[8]

Şêx Fexreddin had three sons and one daughter, his sons were Sheikh Bedir, Sheikh Aqub and the oldest of all, Sheikh Mend, who is an important Yezidi saint that became the ruler of Kilis Emirate and is today represented as the Lord of Snakes in the Yezidi religion.^[8]

There is a shrine in Ain Sifni dedicated to Sheikh Mend.^[9] Fexreddin's daughter was Xatûna Fexra, a female Yezidi saint represented as the Guardian of birth, pregnant women and therefore of fertility, Yezidi women fast once a year in her honor. Their descendants are still alive today and together also form their own Sheikh group within the Fexredîn group of the Shamsanis.^[8] The acting Baba Sheikh (Spiritual leader) of the Yezidis has to be from Fakhraddin lineage of Sheikhs.^[10] The current Baba Sheikh is Sheikh Ali Ilyas.^[11]

References

1. Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (1995). Yezidism--its Background, Observances, and Textual Tradition. E. Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-7734-9004-8.
2. Kreyenbroek, Philip (2005). God and Sheikh Adi are perfect: sacred poems and religious narratives from the Yezidi tradition. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-05300-6. OCLC 63127403.
3. Pirbari, Dimtri (2008). Lalisha Nurani. p. 14. ISBN 978-5-91356-048-3.
4. Murad, Jasim Elias (1993). The Sacred Poems of the Yazidis: An Anthropological Approach. University of California, Los Angeles.
5. Kreyenbroek, Philip (2005). God and Sheikh Adi are perfect: sacred poems and religious narratives from the Yezidi tradition. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-05300-6. OCLC 63127403.
6. "Şêx Fexrê Adiyan: Fîlosof û xasê ola Êzdiyatiyê". bnk.institutkurde.org. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
7. Murad, Jasim Elias (1993). The Sacred Poems of the Yazidis: An Anthropological Approach. University of California, Los Angeles.
8. Diar Khalaf and Hayri Demir. 2013. Mythos und Legende der Shex Mend und das Symbol der Schlange (Myth and legend of the Şêx Mend and the symbol of the snake) (in German).
9. "The Yazidi mausoleums in Ain Sifni". Mesopotamia. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
10. Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (1995). Yezidism : its background, observances and textual tradition. E. Mellen. ISBN 0-7734-9004-3. OCLC 464136140.
11. "Sheikh Ali Ilyas selected new spiritual leader of the Yezidis". Middle East Monitor. 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2021-06-01.