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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Qashqai of Iran

The Qashqai of Iran, numbering approximately 2,075,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Iran and can also be known as Ghashghai, Kashkai. They are an Indigenous people, in the Azerbaijani people cluster of the Turkic Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Kashkay.

Qashqai in Iran photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: IAWTIran - Wikimedia IAWTIran - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Azerbaijani
Primary Language(s): Kashkay (qxq)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 2,075,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024203
View on Joshua Project

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Shia Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kashkay
Language Family: Turkic

%
Kashkay Speakers

Media Resources in Kashkay:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kashkay:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kashkay bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Qashqai

The Qashqai are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Qashqai

The Qashqai are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Qashqai

The Qashqai are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Qashqai of Iran

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that those who are lost in darkness and confusion will come to understand God's ways, submit to His righteous rule, and experience the joy of His salvation.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
read1 Peter 2:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their identity as God's chosen people, royal priests, and holy nation, living out their faith with purity and devotion.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Qashqai (ROP3 - 108219) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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