Khurto Hajji Ismail

Khurto Hajji Ismail (1933 – 1 October 2020, ) was the Baba Sheikh of the Yazidis until his death in 2020. He held this position since 2007. He lived in Ain Sifni, Iraq.

He played an important role in reintegrating Yazidi society by helping the community avoid feuds and reintegrating thousands of Yazidi women and girls rescued from ISIS slavery and by declaring that all those who had been forced to convert to Islam should be accepted back into the Yazidi community.

He died on 1 October 2020 in a hospital in Erbil, aged 87. He had entered hospital two days before with heart and kidney problems. His funeral was attended by thousands of Yazidis, governmental and partisan officials, and Islamic as well as Christian religious figures and was buried in Bozan village of Sheikhan district of Iraq's Nineveh Governorate. During this visit, Baba Sheikh attended a conference held in Assisi on 27–28 October, where the main theme was the peaceful coexistence of different religions.