The Patricide By Khoja Behbudiy Analysis

As Central Asian scholars brought in influence from Eastern Europe, especially the Ottoman empire, they discovered the growing importance of education and attempted to further the idea among Central Asian elites. The Patricide by Mahmud Khoja Behbudiy is a play that exemplified the very values of those scholars, who were known as Jadidists. In the play, Behbudiy introduced two ranges of characters which represented the divided attitude in the acceptance of Jadidist beliefs. One side involved those who opposed Jadidist reforms, such as Mr. Rich and his son, Tashmurad. The other championed the Jadidist movement, the Mentor and the Intellectual in this play, who not only agreed with the Jadidist principles themselves, but even tried to persuade …show more content…
Rich believed no differently. When the Mentor asked how Tashmurad was being educated, Mr. Rich disapproved at the idea of education, insisting that “the reason for worldly honor is wealth,” and that his religious obligations, which he mentioned as praying five times a day, could be fulfilled through self-teaching. Due to social dominance of the uneducated population, like Mr. Rich, who held prominent positions in Central Asian societies, this community was far behind its concurrent societies. Even though Central Asian Muslims were taught about religious principles in maktabs and madrasas (Islamic schools), the institutions failed to provide much knowledge, especially because until the nineteenth century, Islamic clergies in this area had the power to limit people’s access to information, particularly foreign ideas. Pupils of these religious institutions often learned through verbal transfers from their instructors, …show more content…
The Mentor, for starters, when criticizing Mr. Rich for his refusal to educate his son, stated that learning had always been a religious deed for all Muslims and Mr. Rich’s refusal to school his son would be a sin against God. Mr. Rich, who dismissed deep understanding of Islamic law by denying education on himself as well as his son, is an exemplar of the imitators who Al-Jaza’iri condemned for their lack of engagement with the religious belief. Al-Jaza’iri asserted that when such individuals are followed by others, as Mr. Rich was followed, largely due to his wealth, without putting their own judgement on the forefathers’ beliefs, the society is no different from a blind man leading another blind man, and hence, leading nowhere. The Intellectual confirmed the need for Jadidist-style education as he stated how not only is it a duty for Muslims to complete the spiritual studies, but also to “study every sort of beneficial science from the cradle to the grave,” meaning secular sciences should be learned simultaneously. In the new schools established with Jadidism foundation, “children could acquire literacy, a basic knowledge of arithmetic, geography, history, especially the history of Islam, as well as […] proper recitation of the Qur'an, questions of faith, prayers, fasting, hajj, and almsgiving.” Adhering to Al-Jaza’iri on