SHINGAL, Iraq — Last year, Yezidis Khalil Hemmo and his now wife Raniya Edui came to the temple of Shibel Qasim to pray for marriage.
Now that they have tied the knot, they are back at the Yezidi holy figure’s shrine to express their gratitude.
“Before we got married, we came up to this tree, the tree of objectives, last year. We tied our love knot to the tree,” recalled Hemmo to Rudaw. “Thanks be to God, we are now a married couple. We are back here together. We are here to mark the feast of Jamaya with our friends.”
Around a thousand Yezidis gathered on Mount Shingal over the weekend for the festival of Jamaya Shibel Qasim.
The ethno-religious minority mark the two-day festival annually in October by making pilgrimage to the holy shrine of the figure, who is believed to fulfill ambitions.
A piece of cloth is tied to a sacred tree located outside of the shrine, where pilgrims pray for their dreams to come true.
A large number of those who marked the festival, which ended on Saturday, are lovers.
“As a lover, I am here today, tying my love knot to the tree wishing for my dream to come true. I hope anyone who is in a love relationship would come up here,” Aliyas Khadida told Rudaw. “I am praying for God to help all the lovers to tie the knot.”
Shibel Qasim is the "father of ambitions," noted shrine visitor Khatoon Omer. “Many people come up to Shibel Qasim, men and women to fulfill their ambitions, or mothers praying to bear a child.”
Jeli Aliyas, the shrine’s caretaker, noted the importance of preserving traditions.
“This is an old festival. God willing, the Yezidis will not give up on their festivals,” he told Rudaw.
Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali
