ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Comparative Study of Shared Views of Muslim and Non-Muslim Scholars on Philosophy and Education Chapter 6: Comparative Study of Rumi, Saadi, Rousseau, Dewey’s Shared Views on Moral Education Introduction Throughout history many books and articles have been written regarding philosophy and education from the point of view of Rousseau and Dewey, but rarely does one see any publication on the views of Muslim Iranian scholars such as Rumi.

To have a comparative study of their points of view regarding moral education, is much more important than this. Such a comparison could reveal their shared theories and ideas, which could then useful in designing a model based on moral education that could be applied by both Muslims and Christians all through the world. A Brief Biography of Rumi, Saadi, Rousseau, Dewey Jalal al-Din Rumi (Rumi or Moulavi or Moulana), was author of a vast collection of Persian odes and lyrics.

A translation of selection of these has been offered here. Rumi was born in 1207 AD at Balkh, which now lies within the frontiers of Afghanistan, and died in 1273 A.D at Konya, in Turkey that lies in Asia.

John Murray, in his account of Rumi’s - Fīhi mā fīhi - published in 1961 AD, said under the title Discourses of Rumi - “there is nothing I wish to add to what has been written here, except to highlight the curious circumstances, which attended Rumi’s transformation from a sober theologian and preacher into ecstatic dancer and enraptured poet.” Rumi’s father, Bahā al-Dīn Valad, had attained eminence in religious circles in Khorasan before his undertook headlong flight to Saljūq Turkey when the Mongols invaded.

He enjoyed royal patronage and popular esteem as preacher and teacher in Konya, where he died in 1230 AD Rumi completed his long formal education in 1244 AD He was already thirty-seven years of age and seemingly set in his ways as a conventional mullah, when a wandering dervish named Shams al-Din - a native of Tabriz apparently of artisan origin, suddenly arrived in the capital of Saljūq and attracted attention by the wildness of his demeanor (Arberry, 2002).

Saadi’s full name was Mosharraf-e-din bin Moslehedin-Abdullah, and he was born in Shiraz, a city in Iran, in 1184 AD and died there in 1291 AD He adopted the pen name of Saadi in honor of his patron, Abu-Bakr Saadi, a contemporary king of the Atabakan dynasty in Fars, a province of Iran.