Yari Religion in Iran

This book sheds light on the cultural traits and religious beliefs of the Yārsan community. By incorporating historical and ethnographic research on Yārsan community in West and North of Iran, fieldwork and meticulous analysis of religious texts and international literature, it reveals contemporary aspects of Yārsan culture and life that are lesser known to the wider public, and provides insights into their lives, traditions and prospects for the future. With researchers from inside Iran and all over the world, this book offers a new look at Yārsan.

S. Behnaz Hosseini is a visiting research fellow at Centre for Studies in Religion & Society, University of Victoria in Canada as well as minority researcher, project coordinator, and conference organizer at the mobilecultures team affiliated with University of Vienna. She is an Honorary Fellow in the Center for Research on Gender and Women at the University of Wisconsin College. She is also a Middle East media analyst with Persian media. Dr. Hosseini has conducted extensive research on minorities in the Middle East and has worked with the United Nations as an expert consultant on ISIS crimes against religious minorities in Iraq. Her most recent publications are “The Jewish Diaspora after 1945: A Study of Jewish Communities in the Middle East and North Africa” (2020), “Temporary and Child Marriages in Iran and Afghanistan: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Issues” (Springer 2021), “Trauma and the Rehabilitation of Trafficked Women: The Experiences of Yazidi Survivors” (2020), and “Yārsān of Iran: Socio-Political Changes and Migration” (Palgrave Macmillan 2020). An earlier publication is “Forced Migration of Iraqi Religious Minorities in Austria” (2018). Currently she is working on a project about the migration of Iranian religious minorities.