Shafaq Faily Kurds, like Lurs and other Kurds were Zoroastrians before being converted to Islam...

Some sources maintain that Failyl Kurds were Sunni Muslims who converted or were converted to Shia Islam by the Safavid Shah Ismail of Iran (1500-1502). There are among some Faily Kurds Shias who are called Ali allahi in Iraq and Ahlul Haq in Iran who believe that Imam Ali is the personification of God himself.

Some recent excavations in Ilam show that the inhabitants of these areas, or at least some of them, have been Nestorians.

This change might explain the different elements in Failye Kurds, culture, traditions and celebrations that seem to relate to the Zoroastrian, Christian, Jewish and Mandaean religions, cultures and traditions.

Fasting is another important aspect of culture as well as a religious event in the life of Faily Kurds.

- The biggest fasting is that of Ramadan which lasts for a month like other Muslims.

-The fasting of Zacharias the Baptist. It lasts a whole day, from sun rise to the evening. A tray (Sufra) is prepared, usually with a roasted chicken and rice, with candles, bukhur (incense) , Yas (greenery) Hinna, sweets, pastries (Kulicha), Zarda o Halib (yellow and white rice porridge) and water brought from the shrine of a holy man (Khillani in Baghdad). All this must be done on a Sunday, the first Sunday of the (Hijra) month of Shaban, which is the month before Ramadan.

- The fasting of the Mute which also lasts half a day during which the fasting person does not utter a word. Mostly women fast this one, their purpose being the desire to achieve a wish or a desire.

A man with no children or many daughters but no son(s) is traditionally called “Wechakhi kora”, “his lamp is blind”. Therefore, his wife does everything to have a child or a son. When medical help was not available, she turned to Mullas, rites, amulets, prayers and making a wish to God promising to make offerings if her wish is fulfilled. When she gets a son, she and her family celebrate the Day of Zacharias the Baptist every year by lighting candles, making a lot of food (usually Dolma), prepare a tray filled with fruits, nuts, pastries and so on. Most of the food is distributed to relatives and good neighbors. This annual celebration is seen as a duty and therefore passed on from mother to daughter. When the boy becomes a man and gets married this duty is passed on to his wife.

When a mother prays and wishes her son/daughter safety, security and protection when he/she leaves home to work or travels or makes his military service, she says to him “Ker Dawet adored”, meaning “David’s Circle be around you”. I do not really know the origin of this praying.

Faily Kurds women, in particular elderly women, are in fact the real guardians of Faily Kurdish, society culture and traditions. They know how to keep the family together, celebrate various cultural occasions according to traditions, speak the language, and tell stories and fables and so on.