Spread of Islam among Kurds

Spread of Islam among Kurds started in the 7th century with the Early Muslim conquests.^[1] Before Islam, the majority of Kurds followed a western Iranic pre-Zoroastrian faith which derived directly from Indo-Iranian tradition,^[2][3][4] some elements of this faith survived in Yezidism, Yarsanism and Kurdish Alevism.^[3][5][4][6] When Islam first appeared, the Kurds were divided between the Byzantine and Sassanian Empires. The term "Kurd" back then referred to any Iranian nomad from any Iranian ethnic group whether in central Asia or western Iran regardless of geographic location or Iranian ethnicity.^[9] Jaban al-Kurdi and his son Meymun al-Kurdi were the first Kurds who converted to Islam and Khalil al-Kurdi as-Semmani was one of the first Kurdish tabi'uns.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15]} Mass conversion of Kurds to Islam didn't happen until the reign of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate between 634-644.^[16][17] The Kurds first came into contact with the Arab armies during the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia in 637. The Kurdish tribes had been an important element in the Sasanian Empire, and initially gave it strong support as it tried to withstand the Muslim armies, between 639 - 644. Once it was clear that the Sassanians would eventually fall, the Kurdish tribal leaders one by one submitted to Islam and their tribe members followed in accepting Islam.^[18] Today the majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, and there are Alevi and Shia minorities. Sunni Muslim Kurds are mostly Shafiʽis and Hanafis.^[19]