The Shabak people (, ) are a people with a disputed origin. While some scholars argue that Shabaks are an ethnic Kurdish group, their origin is disputed. They live in Iraq and speak Shabaki, a Northwestern Iranian language of the Zaza–Gorani group. The Shabaks live in a religious community ("ta'ifa") in the Nineveh Plains. The ancestors of Shabaks were followers of the Safaviyya order, which was founded by the Kurdish mystic Safi-ad-din Ardabili in the early 14th century. The primary Shabak religious text is called the Buyruk or "Kitab al-Manaqib" (Book of Exemplary Acts), which is written in Turkmen.