Koya University researcher Dr Haidar Lashkry from Depratment of History at Faculty of Education has published a new article on Sanctification of the Language, The status of the Kurdish language in religious discourse of the Middle Ages. The article is published in Fritillaria Kurdica, No 7-8, March 2015.
The publication explains that the Arab - Islamic conquest of Kurdistan led to a lot of political, social, administrative and religious developments. As a result, in the longue durée of the Middle Ages, the Arabic language becomes a legitimate language used in the areas under the Islamic caliphate, especially in the religious field. Consequently, the local languages had lost their position especially in the religious sphere.
The Kurdish language was one of those languages. However, the Kurds consort with the new religions’ doctrine and become part of what they call the Islamic nation. However, the Kurdish language was not up to the level of expression of the religious sacred. Kurdish political discourse, which represents a system of independent Emirates, had not been able to develop an internal religious heritage which depends on the local language. With the advent of Sufism and spread among the Islamic societies - including the Kurds - changed the status of languages in the religious sphere. Sufism has a mystical association with the social reality of the Kurds, and for some Kurds Sufi appeared because they do not know the Arabic language or are not very familiar with Arabic religious sciences. So they tried to use non-Arabic language to express their Sufi opinions and beliefs. They used Languages which preceded Islam, such as the old Pahlavi language and they put their ideas and Sufi poems in this language. This use of the local language has far-reaching effects, including reverence for the language spoken in the social sphere, which believed in the Sufi and followed their rituals.
Koya University is escalating its presence in the global academic arena. In the latest Webometics ranking of 2014 Koya University has been ranked as 20th best university in Iraq and 12096 globally. This is a remarkable achievement by a young and dynamic university such as Koya University in the Middle East.
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