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secretive religious practices. The religion is monotheistic and syncretistic, having
incorporated elements from several religions, including Islam. 408
The Kaka’i believe in reincarnation, with each soul having to pass through 1,001
incarnations in order to achieve the “ultimate heavenly rewards”. 409 According to the
tradition, male members of the Ahl i-Haq never cut or trim their moustaches. This habit is
prohibited by Islam, according to which the moustache must always be kept short. 410
Generally, the Kaka’i marry among their community. According to the Encyclopaedia of
the Orient, there are an estimated 200,000 Kaka’i in Iraq. 411
The group has its spiritual centre in the village of Hawar in the Governorate of
Sulaymaniyah. Most are ethnic Kurds, but speak their own language called Macho
(alternate names are Hawramani, Old Gurani). 412
The Jund Al-Islam, and later its successor Ansar Al-Islam, which are radical Kurdish
home-grown Islamist groups and said to have links with the Al-Qa’eda network, exercised
strict control over a number of villages near the town of Halabja in the Governorate of
Sulaymaniyah as of September 2001. 413 The group ruled the areas based on an extreme
interpretation of Shari’a law and launched a “holy war” against what it considered
“blasphemers and secularists”. While their primary focus was the PUK, the Kaka’i, living
in three villages in the area and considered “heretics” by the Jund Al-Islam, were also
targeted. Human Rights Watch (HRW) described that the villages were raided on
4 September 2001. The residents were rounded up and ordered to adhere to the Jund Al-
Islam’s interpretation of Islam. According to HRW,
“(T)hose who refused were apparently told they would be made to pay a “religious tax”
imposed on all non-Muslims, as well as risk having their property seized.” 414
Furthermore, several Kaka’i shrines were destroyed. Reportedly, the majority of 450
households fled the villages and have to date been unable to return due to the presence of
landmines as well as the lack of services. 415 The Kaka’i have one representative in the
408 Sometimes, it is classified as being a branch of Shi’ite Islam. See: Encyclopaedia of the Orient, Ahl-e
Haqq, see above footnote 406.
409 Ibid.
410 For more information about the religion, see, for example, ibid. See also: Izady, The Kurds, A Concise
Handbook, see above footnote 406.
411 Encyclopaedia of the Orient, Ahl-e Haqq, see above footnote 406.
412 ICG, Radical Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan: the Mouse that Roared?, 7 February 2003, p. 5,
http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/report_archive/A400885_07022003.pdf; Ethnologue,
Languages of the World, Gurani, http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=hac.
413 Global Security, Ansar al Islam (Supporters of Islam), http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/
para/ansar_al_islam.htm [last updated 6 July 2005].
414 HRW, Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan, 5 February 2003, http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/
ansarbk020503.htm.
415 ICG, Radical Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan, p. 5, see above footnote 412; HRW, ibidem; Michel Rubin, The
Islamist Threat in Iraqi Kurdistan, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 12, December 2001,
http://www.meib.org/articles/0112_ir1.htm. During the 2003 US-led invasion, Ansar Al-Islam’s training
camps in the Kurdish-controlled areas of Northern Iraq were attacked by Coalition and Kurdish forces in an
attempt to eliminate the organization accused of providing a safe haven to Al-Qa’eda and Abu Musab Al-
Zarqawi. These attacks disrupted the organization but it seems to have regrouped quickly, and continues to be
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