Mulla Nasruddin Khodja a Major Character of Muslim Satiric Literature
Mullah Nasruddin Khodja is a wise man famous throughout the Muslim and some parts of the non-Muslim world since the 16th century. Historical documents show that he lived in the 13th century in Anatolia (today Turkey). He was a scholar (âlim) or at least an educated man. His jokes were narrated for centuries between people for different purposes, some for humour and some to tell as stories full of meaning and wisdom.
Introduction
Nasruddin Khodja, known also as Mulla Nasruddin or simply Nasruddin, is the starring character in a vast number of amusing tales told in regions all over the world, particularly in countries in or near the Middle East. Each tale depicts Nasruddin in a different situation, and through his viewpoint they humorously reveal commentary and lessons on various life themes. The great allure of the Mulla Nasruddin tales is that they are funny as well as lesson filled, philosophical, and thought provoking.
According to different sources, Nasruddin Khodja was a philosopher, wise, witty man with a good sense of humour. His stories have been told almost everywhere in the world, spread amongst the tribes of the Turkish World and into Persia, Arabia, Africa, and along the Silk Road to China and India, later also to Europe. Of course, all these stories currently attributed to the Khodja for about 700 years haven't originated from him. Most of them are the product of collective humour of not only Turks but also other people of Islamic and Asian cultures. Nasruddin is known to us under different names in the world. The main variants are: Turks say "Nasreddin Hoca", for Kazakhs he is "Koja Nasreddin"; Greeks call him "Hoja Nasreddin", whilst Azerbaijanis, Afghans and Iranians refer to him as "Molla or Mulla Nasrudin;" in the folklore of Arab peoples in the Middle East and North Africa, he is "Juha". Some spellings of the Arabic form of his first name Nasr al-Din are: Nasreddin, Nasruddin, or Nasr ed-din. The year 1996 was proclaimed "Nasreddin Hoca Year" by UNESCO. He is, now in 2007, 799 years old
A Few anecdotes of Khodja
You can't please everybody
The late Nasruddin Khodja was on his way to the village with his son. The boy was riding their donkey. They met two women on the road and they heard one say to the other.
"Oh, for the days of youth! The boy rides in ease while his old father walks. Amazing!"
"Father," the boy exclaimed, "you insisted I ride, didn't you? Come on, don't be stubborn. You ride the donkey!" and they went on down the road, Khodja riding, the youth walking after awhile they met two old men limping alone. "Hey, old man!" they said,
"Your bones are already old and dry. You've got one foot in the grave. But this young sprout, does he deserve to dry up like you? Let him ride!"
After they had passed, Khojda pulled his son up onto the donkey with him. They went along under the hot sun and then they came to a group of busy bodies sitting beside the road.
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Figure 6: Taken from Ahmet Yakupoglu, Stories of the late Nasr Ed-Din Hodja (Istanbul: Konya Büyüksehir Belediyesi, 1999).
"Oh, the cruelty! That poor animal. It's too much, two people riding! The poor beast it's about to die. Look at this guy, and he's even a Khodja!"
"Oh, for God's sake," Khodja said. He got off the donkey and they walked along together, driving the donkey in front of them.
But in the next moment they encountered two men standing beside the road.
"Allah Allah, look at these idiots! The donkey goes on ahead, jumping and hopping with no load on its back, and they walk behind, streaming with sweat and covered with dust. What stupid people there are in the world!" Finally Khodja turned to his son and said,
"Look here! Hooray for the one who can escape from the tongues of people! There will always be someone who is not pleased with your doings. So work only to please Allah.
Untrustworthy calculation
One Ramadan the late Nasruddin Khodja said to himself, "why should I fast like everyone else? I'll find a pot and every day I'll throw a stone into it. When there are thirty stones in it, I'll have a feast!"
But afters a few days, his daughter saw what he was up to and she threw a handful of stones in, too!
A few days later- someone asked, "Khodja, what day of Ramadan is it?"
"Wait awhile and I'll let you know," he said. He went home, emptied out the pot, and began to count the stones. When he found a hundred and twenty stones, he thought to himself,
"If I tell them the truth, they'll say I'm crazy." He went back to them and said,
"It's the forty-fifth of Ramadan."
"Khodja, whatever are you saying? There are only thirty days in Ramadan!"
"Oh, but I'm being very reasonable indeed! If you go by the pot's calculation, it would be the one-hundred-twenty-fifth of Ramadan!"