Tomorrow marks one year since Hamas invaded Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251, taking them to Gaza. To pray for the remaining hostages in this ongoing war, now spread to Lebanon and beyond, visit our Israel-Gaza page.
Such Islamic terrorism not only affects Jews, but other religious minorities, as well. Today, we want to share with you the good news that Fawzia Amin Sido, a Yazidi child abducted from Kurdistan by Islamic State and held by Hamas in Gaza, is finally free after ten years of slavery.
In 2014, when IS ruthlessly pillaged Fawzia’s village, among many others in Sinjar, they shot the men and boys and enslaved the women and girls. More than 3,000 Yazidis are believed to have been massacred at that time and 6,000 captured. Since then, some 3,500 have been rescued, while the whereabouts of 2,600 are still unknown. (Zahra Fatima, BBC News, October 4)
Fawzia, who was 11 at the time, was held prisoner in Syria and sold as a slave wife to a Palestinian from Gaza affiliated with Hamas. (Ohad Merlin, The Jerusalem Post, September 3, October 1)
Moved from village to village along the border of Syria and Iraq and enduring much abuse, Fawzia gave birth to two children while still a child herself, and then her husband died. His family lured the barely 13-year-old mother to Gaza, a dangerous four-year journey through Turkey and Egypt. Once they arrived in 2020, Hamas held them captive, subjecting them to all the more abuse.
When one of the terrorists who guarded her was killed in an Israeli air strike, she managed to escape, get her hands on a cell phone and tell her story on TikTok. When her surviving family members got the news of her whereabouts, they contacted Steve Maman, a Canadian Jewish businessman who has helped rescue and assist thousands of Christian, Yazidi and Muslim refugees from northern Iraq. Steve connected with authorities and others in the US, Iraq, Jordan and Israel who worked together to rescue her from Gaza and reunite her with her family in Iraq.
The Yazidi are a Kurdish people group who number about 648,000 in northern Iraq, mostly in Nineveh. “They are a closed community which avoids prolonged contact with non-Yazidis, accepts no converts and will kill a daughter who marries outside the religion,” states Joshua Project.
Followers of an ancient religion related to Zoroastrianism, but with remnants of Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Yazidis claim to have descended from Adam, but through another wife named Jar, not Eve.
Yazidis believe God created the world and then created seven archangels to rule it. One of them, the Peacock Angel, passed a test by God in which he would not bow down and worship Adam. As a result he was made the “god of this world.”
This story is similar in Islam regarding Satan. However, the Muslim belief is that Satan was punished for not bowing down. The Peacock Angel is “Melek Taus” or “Shaytan”. The latter is the name in the Koran for Satan.
Their world view revolves around angels. Besides praying toward the sun, they will fast for certain angels who control the affairs of this world. They aren’t supposed to wear the color blue or eat lettuce. Their holy day is Wednesday and they aren’t supposed to take showers on that day. They celebrate New Year’s Day as the first Wednesday in the month of Nisan. This is the day they believe the Peacock Angel comes to the Earth as God’s representative.
During their pilgrimage to the valley shrine at Lalish, 55 km east of Duhok in Northern Iraq, they will kiss the sacred stone black snake and enter the temple. There they baptize their children, tie colorful cloth to the tomb of the 12th century Sufi mystic who reformed the Yazidi religion, hug pillars, light fires and perform other rituals. If possible, they will carry dirt from Lalish with them and conceal it behind a veil in their home.
They believe Christ is the light of God, but are more focused on angels and pleasing them.
“Yazidi in Iraq,” Joshua Project
The Bible and various audio and visual Christian recordings are available online in the Yazidi language, Northern Kurdish. But they are still vastly unreached with the gospel, with only 0.14% Christians among them.
Iraq is nearly 96% Muslim and ranks among the top 20 most dangerous countries in the world for Christians due to high levels of persecution.
Merciful God, we thank You for rescuing Fawzia from the hands of Hamas, and for all the other Yazidis, Christians and Muslims rescued from IS. Please heal their minds, hearts and bodies from the horrors they have endured, and draw them to Yourself. For Fawzia and the others who have not yet heard Your good news, please give them a hunger for Truth. Open their hearts to receive the One who is their salvation. Give them access to the Bible in their language, and bring Christians to them to share Your love, counsel them and help them to healing. For Fawzia’s children still held by Hamas and for other Yazidi, Christians and Muslims still missing, we ask You, please, to quickly and safely make the way for their escape. Give Christian captives endurance to stand strong in their faith and share Your love, even with their abusers. For the lost who are captive, speak to them in dreams and throughout the day, telling them of Your love and salvation. Make the way for them to hear Your good news in a way they can easily understand. And rescue them from Satan’s clutch. Meet their Muslim captors in such powerful ways, they fall to their knees before You in repentance. Get up in their face and invade their space. Visit them in their dreams at night and give them visions by day to show them the truth of Christ and to bring them face to face with Your plan of salvation. Let them see Your angels blocking their way every time they seek to do evil, so that they crumble with the weight of their sin and seek Your forgiveness and salvation. For all Yazidi’s, Lord, we ask You, please to connect them with Christians in the many countries where they have fled as refugees throughout the world, as well as in Iraq. Lift the veil from their eyes so they will see You as You truly are. Break the chains that bind them to worship of false gods, and show them Jesus is the only way to salvation. Give each Yazidi family the Bible and gospel message in a language and form they can easily hear and understand, and give them a hunger for You. May they seek Truth with all their hearts and find You. We ask You now specifically for Fawzia’s salvation and that of her whole family. Rescue her children from Hamas and reunite them with her family. Heal their hearts and minds from the traumatic childhood they are even now enduring. Awaken every Muslim, every Yazidi, every Jew, every captive, every terrorist all throughout the world to Your grace and love. May hatred melt and darkness flee in the light of Your mercy and glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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