Fethullah Gulen Tolerance, Dialogue and Peace
A careful analysis of Gulen’s works makes an impression that the idea to serve people was taken from the Kyrgyz principles of life. In Kyrgyz culture, it is common to give a delicious meal to a honorable guest who came from far distance, instead of eating it yourself. Moreover, it is common to feed not only the guest, but his horse as well. Kyrgyz people often used to lay a bed with the best blankets for their guests. If a son was born to a Kyrgyz father, he taught him to serve others from the very young age. If a daughter was born, her family used to treat her as a precious guest in their house and prepared her to become a good wife and house keeper in the next one. The Kyrgyz, who always used to respect the adults and treated the youth with understanding, have never put “Me” – the essence of a personality, on the first place; instead, they considered other people and relatives to be more meaningful and important.
Wise teachers were capable of evaluating children’s mindsets, abilities, talents, sensitivity, and guided them accordingly. The Kyrgyz used to take children to feasts and holiday events and made them listen to advices of respected people, to learn their history and to master speech from manaschi (storyteller) and poets. Intelligent, quick-witted, sagacious, careful, teachable children were taught to be governors, ambassadors, and critics. They used to give different tasks to children, they asked them to study various riddles and master tongue twisters. Intellectual exercises were also relevant to the age of children.
The Kyrgyz sages, who highly valued intellectual and mental wealth, knew well one could solve any problem based on common sense, and they knew that only spiritually pure and highly intellectual leaders could lift people out of labyrinth and could decide people’s destiny as well. We consider that creation of such story tales as ”Wise Farmer”, “Akyl Karachach” could testify this reason vividly. Kyrgyz people used to educate extremely strong, adroit, brave, but excessively naughty young people in order for them to become men of courage who could defend their people and feed them by hunting. By demonstrating practical skills Kyrgyz taught how to shoot an arrow, shoot a gun, race a horse, look after the cattle, and they cared about the deepest feelings in the hearts such as love for people and lands, love for the motherland and parents.
M.Fethullah Gulen in the works dedicated to education and upbringing expressed a lot of ideas how to direct youth to the right path, to demonstrate them good examples to follow, to educate them in compliance with their age and aptitude peculiarities. We can provide many examples from the Kyrgyz ethnic pedagogy that coincide with his ideas. For instance, the following wise proverbs express ideas that young people should be educated since their early age: “A child should be educated at early age, and a bride - at the beginning of her family life”, “You should keep your reputation from childhood”, “If a young fellow became reproached, it means he is dead. If a young branch is bent, it means its broken”, “A man educated by his father is able to defend his family, a man educated by his mother is able to run a household”, “That saw in the nest, will catch when fly”, “Experience is the mother of wisdom, the more you speak the more you sharpen your speaking”, “A younger brother is educated by his elder brother, a young sister is educated by her elder sister”.
“When a child is born, we cannot seat him at the table to feed him, a child needs to start with milk first, then little by little he gets used to other foods. The same goes with education, we need to feed and educate the child according to his age, mental possibilities, and development of his spirituality. The best way to understand a child is to treat him/her with kindness, because kindness is the warmest feeling we could perceive from adults since childhood. A child should fear not punishment from his parents, but the loss of their kindness”, - in such a way Gulen inspired to start educating children at the age of three.
Since Kyrgyz people have paid great importance to the culture of speech, education by word was well developed, and ethnic education was in most cases provided with assistance from traditional folklore. Fairy tales, riddles, proverbs, sayings and folk songs have played a significant role in moral education. However, national education is not limited only to them. Playing national games, demonstrating national customs and traditions, reciting folk songs, epic, heroic stories, teaching children to play the national musical instruments and educating harmony through other pedagogical activities, as Gulen underlined in his works, helps to educate the integrity of mind and sense. For example, children games such as Top tash – ball pebbles, rounder, Chikit, Chuko atmay –play with bones, Ak cholmok - stick search in the dark , Kunan jarysh - horse racing and other games contain various elements helping to develop mind, body, ingenuity, dexterity, and also some elements forming sensitive features. Gulen has provided hundreds of examples proving the statement that educational process using direct examples is much more efficient than just telling. “If moral admonitions won’t be implemented in practice by parents themselves or a child does not see his parents following morality, instead of the positive impact that parents expected the negative results may be achieved. Parents’ word will have an impact on children if parents are careful about their own behavior”. Empty words have no influence in education of children. Usually children immediately perceive what they see, this is clearly stated by the following proverbs and sayings: “If you speak a lot you become a chatterbox, if you pass through water many times, then you will only produce mud;” “A man will follow what he saw, a poker will prod what was suggested”. Teaching children various skills and competencies through practical means is relevant to demonstrative principle of pedagogy. As stated in the Kyrgyz proverb: “Better to see once than to hear many times.” For example, instead of teaching the Kyrgyz child how to tie “kurmep” by explaining, it would be much more efficient to demonstrate it by real example.
The leitmotif in M.F.Gulen’s works is tolerance, magnanimity, and forgiveness. These concepts cross his works as a red line. “Render good for evil. Do not pay attention to mean people. Everyone reflects his/her personality by actions. Choose the path of benevolence and don’t be the one who disrespects traditions”, - Gulen said.
The ideas that were emphasized in every of Gulen’s words such as being excusable and understandable, being patient, positive, etc. were also present in Kyrgyz proverbs and sayings such as: “The result of patience is a sparkling gold”, “That man who is inpatient may become ashamed, that man who is patient may achieve the goal”, “The man who speaks out without thinking may come across with a trouble”, “Measure twice, cut once”, “A finger that was cut off as a result of everyone’s agreement, does not hurt”, “Abandon your father’s revenge if you are asked to do it sincerely”. The Kyrgyz used to appreciate generosity and doing good deeds for somebody. In Manas epic it was the benevolence that made Manas to be loved by the entire nation. The above mentioned idea was expressed in the following proverb: “Doing good deeds for a blessing is a matter of anybody, doing evil for evil is a matter of an envier, returning evil for good is a matter of the wicked one, returning good for evil is a matter of a real human”.
Gulen in the article Mind, logic and sense published in the book Shadow of trust, and in the article Balance between mind and sense of his book The broken jug has broadly covered the important points of training and educating process such as developing consciousness, treating everything with common sense, etc. And in the Kyrgyz ethnic pedagogy we have mentioned above, intellectual upbringing, developing culture of speech, training good qualities are considered as the core of the whole education. In tales, proverbs, songs and other kinds of traditional folklore, we can come across with such striking contrasts expressed in actions and behavior; for example, clever man - stupid man, good fellow – bad fellow, nice girl – bad girl, wise woman – silly woman, good person – bad person etc. For example, “Speech of the clever is short, and if he tells something, it is an example for others”, “A good girl is like a fur fringe of the coat, a good boy is like a star in the sky” and etc.
Living in yurts under the open sky, migrating all the time to choose the best pasture and place for living, the Kyrgyz who used to live in the arms of the nature, considered themselves as being derived from the nature. They taught their children to treat water, moon, sun, and even wind properly. “Don’t abuse a wind”, “Don’t spit in water’, “Don’t tear a green grass’ such kind of prohibitions contain the ideas of careful attitude to the environment.
“Nature and secrets of nature is the way to understand that God is our Lord”, - was written by M.F. Gulen in his book “Metaphysics of living and non-living creatures” in which he considered Nature a gift presented by Creator. He urged that everyone should treat Nature with careful attitude and love.
In this constantly changing world, an importance of ethnic pedagogy is being reduced and people are developing egoistic attitudes such as not caring about others.
“This is the era
That depends on care
It yields a harvest as much as grain
Thanks to the moral gained
The era might be a favorite man”, - the greatest poet Nurmoldo used to sing like this.
Therefore, there is a necessity to turn to the ethnic pedagogy of our people in order to retain the lost values, the necessity to pay attention to M.F. Gulen’s teachings and implement what he suggests.
The ideas of teaching and upbringing in the Kyrgyz ethnic pedagogy, including “Manas” and other folklore works during the centuries have had a positive impact on people. Therefore, the ideas of great contemporary educator M. Fethullah Gulen whose thinking is conformable to the Kyrgyz ethnic pedagogy can play the vital role in strengthening of the foundation for the future of our people.
