IIUM JoUrnal of EdUcatIonal StUdIES, 4:1 (2016) : 100 – 119
Copyright © IIUM Press
ISSN: 2289-8085
Pedagogical Approaches in the Light of Rumi:
From Relections to Integrations
Siti Noor Fauziah Abd Rahima
ABSTRACT: A soulful curriculum acknowledges and places an importance
to life’s ultimate questions and man’s inner dimension. It pursues a balance
and convergence between our inner and outer lives. In Islam, there is no
separate discipline of ethics and religion. Islam is founded on the principles
of belief and righteous action. In this sense, a meaningful education should
not only focus on training the mind to retain and retrieve knowledge per se but
to nurture a personality with good characters and behaviours. However, the
reality that we are facing today in the education system is the reverse of that.
The exclusion of ethical and spiritual dimensions in pedagogical approaches is
not only observed in present practices but also in existing references, concepts,
and theories in the ield of education, philosophy, and psychological literature.
Modern theories are inadequate to act as a drive for the transformation of an
individual’s personality. Therefore, this paper aimed to explore the pedagogical
approaches relected from a prominent Muslim philosopher and spiritual master,
Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273 A.D) towards fostering a balanced and
excellent personality through education. The main contributions of Al-Rumi
that are of great importance for today’s educators are: God-consciousness as
the foundation of learning; the need to instill love and compassion through
service learning; making learning enjoyable; and emphasis on experiential
outdoor learning. Practical pedagogical implications of these were discussed
in the light of educational psychology perspectives for educators to integrate
these approaches in their teaching and learning activities in the classroom.
KEYWORDS: Pedagogy; Rumi; soulful curriculum; spiritual; meaningful
education
a Ph.D. Researcher (Educational Psychology), Department of Educational
Psychology and Counselling, Kuliyyah of Education, International Islamic
University Malaysia. Email: sn.fauziah@gmail.com
Introduction
Education is the process of growth in manifold dimensions of human
being; intellectual, physical, spiritual, emotional, and social. These
experiences serve as the basic elements to equip human life for living,
in which through these, an individual adapts, adjusts, learns, and
manages their surroundings, and makes a healthier development in life.
Therefore, to ensure the experiences gained through education system
are meaningful and signiicant, the role of teachers and the approaches
undertaken are crucial.
It is without a doubt that effective and meaningful teaching which
involve accomplishing what the teacher desires are among the most
delicate, challenging, and exciting journey. Good teaching demands
teachers to gradually become well-equipped and self-taught, develop
abilities to interact with learners successfully, and deepen one’s
own understanding and effectiveness in coordinating various social
and academic interactions. It is a matter of fact that teachers vary
considerably in how they attempt to approach teaching and learning
depending on a number of factors such as consideration of learner’s
level of development, teacher’s goals and motivations, content of
course materials and environmental elements such as time, physical
location and resources (Petrina, 2004). Some instructional strategies
adopted, to mention a few, are didactic-direct teaching which includes
typical oral lecture, modelling-direct teaching that refers to visual
demonstration and practice, managerial-indirect or interactive teaching
which relies heavily on facilitation and sharing among learners that may
include whole class discussion, individual or small group work and also
dialogic-indirect interactive teaching that comprises Socratic method,
questions and thought provocations (Petrina, 2004).
The great Islamic heritage indeed offers a wide-array of teaching
approaches to be explored and practiced by teachers especially for
relective practices which emphasize ethical and spiritual values as
the core. Islamic past civilization which started centuries ago had once
reached its peak of civilization known as Golden Age of Islam during
the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809 A.D) and succeeded by
his son, al-Ma’mun, reigned from 813-833 A.D (Tschanz, 2003). The
legacy of Muslim pursuit of knowledge was then continued by renowned
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Muslim philosophers and scientists like Al-Khawarizmi (d.850 A.D),
Al-Kindi (d.873 A.D), Ar-Razi (d.925 A.D), Al-Farabi (d.950 A.D), Ibn
Sina (d.1037 A.D), Ibn Haitam (d.1040 A.D), Al-Ghazali (d.1111 A.D),
Ibn Tufayl (d.1185 A.D), Ibn-Rushd (d.1198 A.D), and Ibn Khaldun
(d.1406 A.D). These great minds indeed had embarked on scholarship
journey and contributed their valuable thoughts and innovations through
diverse disciplines such as kalam, philosophy, education, eschatology,
political philosophy, medicines, physics, astrology, chemistry, algebra,
and many more. These passions and intensities that previous Muslim
legacy brought to every ield of life endeavours had undeniably produced
tremendous lessons and relections for today’s applications and should
be explored, presented, and integrated into our current practices and
curriculum for effective instructions and betterment of Muslim Ummah.
The Purpose of the Paper
This paper intends to analyse some practical pedagogical approaches
from signiicant works of renowned Muslim polymath and intelligentsia;
Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273 A.D). Rumi was born in the
heartlands of Khurasan in Persia, fascinated not only in the Muslim
world but also globally due to his universal messages he conveyed and
the use of metaphors derived from sources that mostly shared by human
experience (Rumi & Chittick, 1983). In Islamic history, there are other
thinkers from other corners of the world; however, this writing focuses
on this prominent intellectual igure as he exempliied interesting notions
to beneit soulful and relective pedagogical approaches for today’s
practices. In an attempt to analyse Rumi’s pedagogical approaches, the
focus of this writing would be based on his spiritual values which have
guided his views on the nature of human being, the reality of truth,
and the relationship of a man with fellow man and a man with God.
This paper also outlines some practical pedagogical approaches in the
light of educational psychology perspectives as the guidelines and
recommendations for educators.
Rumi: Centennial Review and Lifetime Works
Jalal al-Din Rumi (known as Rumi) (1207-1273 A.D), is one of the
utmost spiritual masters in Islam, and the most celebrated and studied
mystical intellectuals in the West and Orientalist after al-Ghazali,
perhaps (Chittick, 2005). Rumi was born in Balkh, Khurasan in Persia,
in 1207 A.D into a religious family, especially the father, Baha’al Din
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Walad, a man who is acknowledged for his knowledge and himself
as a Sui. The family moved and settled in Konya (in the present day,
known as Turkey) after the conquest of Mongol when he was 6 years
old. Interestingly, traces of Sui’s descent and religious scholarship on
Baha’al Din Walad have found its trail to al-Ghazali as Baha’al Din
Walad was unexpectedly involved in the several feuds with Fakhruddin
al-Din al-Razi (d.925 A.D) who attacked al-Ghazali’s rigorously on the
philosophers, especially Ibn Sina (Arberry, 1961).
Rumi, under his father’s grooming, learning, and piety during his
early age, had studied deeply important poem of mystical life from which
he was very fascinated. His father wedded him (18 of age) to a daughter
to Lala of Samarqand, apparently a member of the fugitive party, Gauhar
Khatun (Arberry, 1961). After the demise of his father in 1231 A.D,
Rumi at the age of 24 succeeded his father erudite position and religious
duties. Since then, Rumi became more engrossed with Sui’s teaching
like his father, and became the disciple of various spiritual masters
during his time. Rumi was also reported to be one of the disciple of
his late father’s follower, Sheikh Burhanaddin-I Muhakkik-I Tirmidhi
(known as Sayyid-I Sirdan) (Citlak & Bingul, 2014). At the same time,
Rumi expended successful time with his followers and colleagues and
established his reputation as a prominent igure in Konya. Rumi’s social
life began when he was hired as an Islamic Jurist, assigning fatwas, and
delivering lectures in the mosques of Konya. He also was an Islamic
preacher and taught his students in the madrasah.
The most signiicant occasion that happened to Rumi was in 1244
A.D. when he was 37 years old. He met Shamsaddin Muhammad-I
Tabrizi, or Shams of Tabriz, in Konya. The prompt outcome of that
deep spiritual and emotional experience had changed the chart of his
life from an established teacher and jurist into an ascetic as expressed in
the irst verses by Shams, according to the version of Sultan al-Walad
(Rumi’s son), as follows;
Suddenly Shamsaddin came and reached him; shadow
perished in the light of his light. The sound of love, free of
tambourine and saz (a stringed musical instrument), came,
emulating, the world of love.
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He explained him in the states of the Beloved; thus ascended his secret
to the highest of the highest, He said: You have become a hostage of the
inward; but know that I am an inward” (Citlak & Bingul, 2014).
Rumi has been described by notable accounts for being an
acquaintance to Shams of Tabriz for more than two years in which
he learned a remarkable devotion and love. Both of them remained
inseparable. The mysterious Shams of Tabriz, cut off Rumi’s attention
in entirety to his teaching, religious duties, and his circles which stirred
up threats of violent among Rumi’s followers to Shams of Tabriz. The
outburst jealousy eventually made Shams of Tabriz left Konya and led
to Damascus but he had been brought back by Sultan al-Walad, the son
of Rumi. The followers of Rumi repented only for a short period and
assailed this intruder once again, causing Shams of Tabriz to disappear
for the second time, eventually without any trace behind this time (in
1947 A.D). The departure and disappearance of Shams of Tabriz had
affected Rumi badly in which he illustrated his longing for the bosom
friend in his couplets in Divan-I Sham-I Tabriz (Aksoy & Tenik, 2002).
Rumi’s inluential work, Divan-I Sham-I Tabriz which consisted
of 40,000 couplets, started from his expressions outpouring his feeling
in the form of ghazals (Persian poems). After searching for Shams of
Tabriz couple of times, Rumi came into realization of his departure and
accepted the fact. Rumi later made deep companionships with Salah alDin Faridun Zarkub (d.1258) and Hussam al-Din Chelebi (d.1284-850)
(Papan-Matin, 2003, p.246). Hussam al-Din Chelebi was his favourite
student and he had encouraged his Master, Rumi to write a book as a
console to many readers. Thus, Rumi started to compose his Masnavi
which dictated six volumes (25,700 couplets) of his 12 years of work
in Anatolia. Rumi fell ill in 1273 A.D. and died in the same year in
Konya, his body was buried beside his father, and a splendid tomb was
constructed over his place of burial.
Rumi, has been speaking to people from various backgrounds and
cultures through the language of love in his works for centuries. Rumi,
as he is known mostly as Rumi in the Western world and Mawlana in
the Eastern world, is one of the extraordinary persons who had applied
a great inspiration on both space and time; in fact, his works are more
revealing now as he is better known in the modern world. Rumi’s path
of love within Suism’s breadth has always fascinated millions of people
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all over the world. Rumi’s divine love calls not only for theory but also
for operative system. Among them are the union with God, the nafs,
the knowledge and method, and the limitations of rational knowledge.
The knowledge and method for instance, take the heart as the core and
central of a human being. It is identiied according to the Sui’s point
of view as the innermost nature of a man in which holds the man’s
archetype or principal possibilities links him directly to the world of
Spirit (Chittick, 2005).
Rumi’s studies among German orientalists, in particular Friedrich
Ruckert (d. 1866), managed to present the divine love uttered by Rumi
in his poems to the Germans by employing the couplet form in Germany
for the irst time. Ruckert learned Persian, Arabic and, Turkish in order to
understand more Rumi’s masterpieces and later on translated forty-four
of Rumi’s couplets into the German verse (Arberry, 1961). Furthermore,
Ruckert also sought to exemplify Europeans the prominence of the Suis
of Islam and made them feel the divine love described by these Suis.
Another orientalist, Professor Annemarie Schimmel has also published
a substantial number of books and articles on Rumi in several languages;
German, Turkish, and English (Arberry, 1961).
Rumi and Pedagogical Approaches
Rumi’s view on reason is a faculty which is centred in the heart and
not in the mind. It exists in a man so he can distinguish between real
and unreal. A man’s desire and ego are often in conlicts which can
distract him from the true knowledge. The true intelligence, according
to Rumi, is to see things as they are through God and it cannot be other
than him (Chittick, 2005). To Rumi’s observation, God is as the Sun
where in order to reach it, the veil of symbols is essential and referring
to Schimmel (1980), Rumi’s allusion of symbols are the every signs and
events on earth. Indeed, these symbols and signs on earth can convey
such powerful meanings, help a learner to understand different aspects
and attributes of God as well as to approach the true knowledge. In other
words, the process of learning should inform a man about himself, his
surrounding world, other creations and the purpose of existence which
at end these understanding should bring him closer to God, the real
Truth.
Relecting Rumi’s inspirational messages and bold adaptations of
poetic odes into pedagogical practices in present-day, there are four
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integrations that could be implemented in educational settings; (1) drive
holistic excellence through God-consciousness in life and actions, (2)
create enjoyment in learning through self-regulation, (3) instil love and
compassion through service-learning, and (4) reveal the Truth through
outdoor learning in nature. These practices could occupy as indirect
instruction and be applied as a complement element of other teaching
methods. Guided by educator, these four integrations would facilitate
learning by giving opportunities for learners to connect between theory
and action, to construct their understanding of themselves and the
world around them, to discuss their emotions, to critically evaluate
their perspectives, to relect their values, beliefs and apprehensions, to
invoke the inner soul, and to transform a learner to be a better person
accordingly. Henceforward, the treatments of Rumi’s pedagogical
approaches in this following discussion are derived from the relections
of his selected poems and couplets; the Divan-I Kebir, Meter 1 and
Masnavi i Ma’navi.
Relecting Rumi: Applications in Today’s Education Setting
Drive Holistic Excellence through God-Consciousness in Life and
Actions
How we think about ourselves and how we behave can determine how
we think about God. How we perceive God in our mind can affect our
self-understanding. The cardinal importance of all religious belief in
this world put emphasizes on knowing ourselves. This is very crucial
for spiritual growth and also for personality or self–development; in
other words, makes a person ethical. The state of shaping ourselves
indeed needs justiication and mirror as it relects the perfection. Having
God consciousness or God presence in everyday life is a motivation for
human beings to strive and to actualize the potentials given by God to
the fullest degree.
Rumi’s love and admiration for God combined with his poetic
magical charms transpire in his insight that love is an inspired power and
the raison d’être of the whole existence and it encompasses all beings
in this universe (Anushiravani & Nasseri, 2005). A man’s potentials for
growth and development become active and meaningful through the
acknowledgement of God’s traits in oneself through the internalization
of God’s attributes in a man. In order to reach this manifestation,
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travellers (Salik) should disengage themselves from the rust of this
worldly life and set themselves free in order to allow the ‘divine light’
enters their hearts and leads them towards the source of that light. Rumi
describes;
When the body bows in worship, the heart is a temple,
And where there is a temple, there bad friends are weeds
When a liking for bad friends grows up in you,
Flee from them, and avoid converse with them.
Root up those weeds, for, if they attain full growth,
They will subvert you and your temple together.
(Masnavi i Ma’navi, 2001, Book Four, p.276)
True reason is to be found where He is.
Men of wisdom direct their reason heavenwards,
Vain babblers halt on earth where no “Friend” is.
(Masnavi i Ma’navi, 2001, Book Four, p.279)
These two stanzas could be referred as unveiling and divine exposure
which directs a man to the path of God. This type of experience and
acquisition leads one to love and feel the God’s presence in his heart.
And when the heart is enlightened by God’s light, actions by body and
taught by reason would be relected on its faithful engagements with
an endless range of beautiful manners and etiquettes. Therefore, the
process of teaching and learning should translate this concept of Godconsciousness in the daily life of each and every learner not only to
inspire them to strive for excellence and determination in their study but
also to manifest this awareness into virtuous actions, peaceful heart and
serene taught as illustrates in the below stanza;
The knowledge of men of heart bears them up,
The knowledge of men of the body weighs them down.
When ‘tis knowledge of the heart, it is a friend;
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When knowledge of the body, it is a burden.
(Masnavi i Ma’navi, 2001, Book One, p.77)
Therefore, in order to draw relection about God in learners’ minds
through classroom practices, course materials and learning processes
involved in classrooms are crucial. Learning through relection
according to Rogers (2001), is the process that could allow the learner
to “integrate the understanding gained into one’s experience in order
to enable better choices or actions in the future as well as enhance
one’s overall effectiveness” (as cited in Ash and Clayton, 2004). This
process which is known as ABCs approach comprises three important
components namely; (1) affective (exploring learner’s feelings and
emotions), (2) behavioural (action) and (3) cognitive (the learning
input) (Welch, 1999). The ABCs approach is a generic template to assist
learners to evaluating their relective process (Welch, 1999). In essence,
relection process requires active contribution of a learner to drive forth
their thoughts to critically make careful considerations, generalizations,
correlations, comparisons and evaluations of their past experiences and
memories, interrogate their feelings and eventually prompted these
elements to consider how their beliefs, knowledge, learning inputs and
actions have shaped the interpretation and apprehension of an issue of
concern in their life (Mezirow, 1990) and could perhaps results in a
changed of conceptual perspective (Boyd & Fales, 1983). There are
numerous methods of relective activities that could be planned carefully
in classroom to accommodate this orientation such as reading, writing
and learning by doing to it learner’s preferred learning styles. Among
these activities are journals, quotes exercises, relective essay, directed
readings, photo relections, structured classroom discussions, classroom
presentations, guided imagery, 3 minutes speeches, building solutions
and life stories (Reed & Koliba, 1995).
Consequently, teachers’ role is essential as a democratic and nondirective facilitator as described by Brookield (1995) in relective
process. More importantly, in order to foster God-consciousness through
this process among learners, a teacher should be able to bring out the
three important components of relective process mentioned before
through relective activities and guide the rumination of leaner’s beliefs,
experiences, values, personalities and knowledge by placing them
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within a broader and more meaningful understanding of the purpose
of existence including themselves as human beings, other humankind
and other creations in this Universe. The aim of this process is to instil
a constant reference to God in learner’s heart and mind, to ensure that
knowledge he or she seek and everything he or she does is in accordance
with God’s pleasure. Through this process, it is hope to strengthen the
inner submission and love for God and mirrored as godliness characters
in deeds which ultimately would produce a harmonized and holistic
learner who understand profoundly his or her roles coming to this world
and excels in performing the roles by using all the tools (sight, hearing,
thinking etc.) given to him or her excellently.
Create Enjoyment in Learning through Self-Regulation
Self-regulation could be understood as self-rule or self-autonomy. It is
an internal process of deliberation within an individual, thus signiies
that an individual is capable of independent functioning (Bodrova &
Deborah, 2007; Gillespie & Seibel, 2006). Rumi argued that every
creature has a special force and form of free will. According to him, a
being will be elevated gradually, in stages by God’s will. He asserted
that, one’s justiication and decision should be respected if it is taken
autonomously with ‘ilm (knowledge) and that person has to hold the
responsibility for it;
Freewill is as the salt to piety,
Otherwise heaven itself were matter of compulsion.
In its revolutions reward and punishment were needless,
For ‘tis freewill that has merit at the great reckoning.
If the whole world were framed to praise God,
There would be no merit in praising God.
(Masnavi i Ma’navi, 2001, Book Three, p.224)
In an educational setting, self-regulation is related to a complex
processes which allow a learner to appropriately respond to their
surrounding environment (Bronson, 2000). Derryberry and Reed (1996)
referred to this capacity as ‘thermostat’ which regulates by sensing
and measuring immediate temperature and compares its reading to
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a present ambiance. With appropriate social skills acquire through
educational process, regular practices and everyday experiences, these
elements will prepare a learner to receive and adapt to any possible
situations. In early childhood education context, for example, children
improve their self-regulation as they are exposed to more socialized
environment compared to home setting. Children are expected to
familiarize themselves to the new environment by collaborating with
the group members in doing tasks, interacting with friends and teachers
during classroom activities, as well as expressing their emotions and
sympathy throughout their time spent in school. Indeed, the classroom
environment serves as a constructive ield for children to learn selfregulation as learning activities take place there.
However, children are young creatures who are young and fresh
to undertake their self-regulation by themselves. Therefore, the role
of teachers in helping children to manage their emotions and bodily
functions are crucial and undeniable in order to avoid ongoing stressful
feeling in children which could lead to mental dificulties (Kostelnik,
Whiren, Soderman, Stern & Gregory, 2002). Children are vulnerable
to some little things in the eyes of elders; they could cry and feel
deeply sadden with the loss of their pet, family or friends separation
or even change in their napping time. Children could exercise external
behaviours such as throwing a tantrum or crying loudly and internal
behaviours such as avoiding people or be in a silent mode. Hence, how
teachers can help to recover this stressful state? Rumi in two of his
beautiful verses recite;
Actions go with ideas; Goods come from the earth.
This situation appears in words; The words are the sign of
situations.
(Divan-I Kebir, Meter 1, 1995, Vol.1, Verse 1, p.3)
Touch your cheek to the cheek of sugar.
Get the taste of it. Give perfume to it.
Try to alleviate the pain of separation
With the help of sugar.
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(Divan-I Kebir, Meter 1, 1995, Vol.1, 4 Verse 73, p.11)
From these lovely words, they have implied that teacher could play
a role in calming down the children through positive responses with
gentleness and kindness in words and actions. With soft spoken words,
attend with tenderness in behaviour such as holding their hands,
responding attentively, and hugging them, children learn how to regulate
their feelings, they reconnect with their teachers after a stressful event
and feel safe in a new situation, and trust that their teacher will take care
of them and move on from their distractions. Children learn to regulate
their temporary distressful emotions through overcoming their small
conlicts in everyday life and with teachers support, it will help them to
feel better and to cope with bigger future challenges. In brief, Rumi’s
wisdom recommends to attend to children’s emotion as it teaches them
to learn through pain, embrace the process, mend the distress and enjoy
learning process in contentment.
Instil Love and Compassion through Service-Learning
Rumi’s teaching appeals for love and compassion of human being with
God and also with fellow man. Good deeds and acts of benevolence are
the essential subjects for ethical and morality theories which uphold
good deeds for mankind in general. Rumi believed that religion is not
only for a certain group of people or ethnic group but it is also for all
humanity. Every deed begins from God and proceeds to Him. Thus, the
purpose of life is to make a meaning and be better than the previous
day. Doing good things is a form of ‘ibadah (religious duty) as it is
commanded by God and deinitely no good deed for the sake of God
will be unrewarded. For Rumi, he describes the good exemplar for this
noble action was Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who has been sent by
God as “a Mercy for all creatures” (Qur’an, al-Anbiya’, 21: 107) as he
depicts in his verse in Divan-i Kebir;
Look at the One
Who is the compassion of the universe.
Look at how He uplifts, gives status to the poor.
Mantles are as bright as the moon.
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Shawls smell like roses.
(Divan-I Kebir, Meter 1, 1995, Vol.1, Verse 1, p.3)
Speaking of the educational application on this notion, pedagogical
approaches should encourage and foster learners to be conscious,
internalize good values, and develop the sense of civic responsibility.
Service-learning is “a structured learning experience that combines
community service with explicit learning objectives, preparation, and
relection. Learners engaged in service-learning are expected not only
to provide direct community service but also to learn about the context
in which the service is provided, the connection between the service and
their academic coursework, and their roles as citizens” (Seifer, 1998).
This service-learning strategy adopts experiential learning, learning
through actions, and learning a process which integrate learners’
experience through effective change, develop a sense of belonging, as
well as improve their skills.
By using service-learning as one of the pedagogical approaches in
learning, learners do not only obtain knowledge for themselves through
acquisition of facts, information, skills, and self-esteem, they also have
the opportunity to link service experiences to the academic content of
a classroom (Barret, 2002). In addition, service-learning is important
as it moves beyond the four walls learning in normal classrooms. The
inspirations could touch the heart of learners in which the pursuit of
making difference in the community becomes the way of life, they obtain
the soul-infused personality, encourage them to relect on the reality of
life, learn to operate with humility and compassion, nurture their ego to
be in harmony with the soul in a positive manner, and foster them to be
a good citizen by creating a better place of living and by contributing to
alleviate community urgent needs as conveyed by Rumi’s message of
love and compassion through his wisdom;
If you sow one seed,
You’ll harvest a hundred ears of com.
Why are you scratching your ear?
Give something to the poor.
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Give a little, see more returned.
Make heart, watch being praised.
Solve problems, see your problem solved.
Come, give something to the poor.
Respect, you’ll be respected.
Bless and you’ll be blessed.
Show compassion, you’ll get the same.
Give something to the poor.
(Divan-I Kebir, Meter 1, 1995, Vol.1, 4 Verse 73, p.615)
Undeniably, Rumi message of love and compassion could be realized
by practising service-learning in more creative and effective ways
depending on the target groups as well as the objectives to accomplish.
Reveal the Truth through Outdoor Learning in Nature
Rumi’s teachings drive for seeking knowledge of Truth through
contemplating over the signs and symbols on earth that could only
possibly attained by using physical senses and faculties of learners
such as sight, hearing, smelling, savouring, touching and reasoning.
Foundational to this, Rumi also encouraged a man to strive to be in the
path in order to disclose the boundaries of physical senses and faculties
and to attain the true knowledge (Chittick, 2005).
As a matter of fad, He is the one who asks and desires.
We are like shadows.
All our talks, our conversations belong to the Beloved.
In reality, He is the One who does the talking.
He tells about Himself.
Sometimes we go to the creek of the Beloved,
Like a cascading, running stream.
Sometimes we ill the jar of the Beloved,
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Like water, and stay still there.
Sometimes we are boiled down like
Water in a cooking pot.
He stirs us with a skimmer.
That’s the habit of the Beloved.
He puts His mouth to our ear,
Keeps saying something in order
To have our soul get the smell the Beloved.
(Divan-I Kebir, Meter 1, 1995, Vol.1, 15 Verse 2473, p.656)
The universe is like a mirror.
Love is the relection of Absolute Beauty.
O people, why should the One who sees the whole
Look only at the parts?
Be on foot, like the green
At this rose garden;
Because the Beloved is the only one
Who rides a horse.
The rest of them here are on foot.
(Divan-I Kebir, Meter 1, 1995, Vol.1, 99 Verse 3038, p.406)
Look at the particles on the earth,
How they move and dance.
Once this group stops, new ones come.
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115
Light and exaltation for the Soul
Are from Him on the earth.
Time and power to grow the body,
Like a seed under the ground
Are also from Him.
(Divan-I Kebir, Meter 1, 1995, Vol.1, 74 Verse 680, p.555)
Learners learn best when they could connect what they learn with the
real context of applications. By taking a signiicant wisdom of Rumi’s
ideas on the fact that our physical and rational abilities are illusions
of the true knowledge, outdoor learning appears to have the quality of
“eco-spirituality” and an apt context for learning where learners may not
only discover natural creations in their environment but also understand
the God’s signs (ayaat) in nature as the the Open-Book as explains in
Qu’ran in surah Al-Baqarah (2:164):
Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the
alternation of the night and the day: in the sailing of the ships
through the ocean for the proit of mankind; in the rain which
Allah sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives
therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds
that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds,
and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the
sky and the earth;-(Here) indeed are Signs for a people that
are wise.
Nature has signiicant resources of real and concrete materials for
learners to enhance their learning experiences through natural world
engagement. Events such as playing in the ield and woods, greening
activities, rambling freely to the nearest streams, forest or bushy areas,
and educational trips offer a suitable platform for learners to discover
their abilities, learn, and relate to different things in nature with minimal
assistance from their teachers. Numerous studies have revealed that
outdoor learning activities which take place in natural setting has a great
potential to provide plentiful signiicant, positive and, effective impacts
on children cognitive and socio-emotional development (Bergen, 2002;
Harrington, 2009; Blair, 2009; Munoz, 2009; Charles, Louv, Bodner &
Guns, 2008; Kellert, 2006).
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Through choosing outdoor learning activities freely, children learn
and absorb information by integrating natural world experiences with
the subject matter, for example, seeing and trying out the processes and
be in the real context. They also learn some necessary skills for their
adult life such as problem-solving, leadership, self-esteem, teamwork,
self-conidence, social competence, and safety. Outdoor activities also
offer children the chance to discover their community, appreciate their
sensory experiences with plant, water, sand, and mud, create their own
places for play, gather stuff and develop favourite pastimes, increase
their liking for physical activity, and emphasize the interconnectedness
of all things (Clements, 2004).
At an age where technology grows rapidly and children regularly
stare at screens, outdoor learning activities bring the children outdoor to
learn in a natural atmosphere. According to Richard Louv, in his book
‘Last Child in the Woods’, he describes human beings, particularly
children, who spend less time outdoors, resulted in many problems
such as attention span issues, childhood obesity, and depression. This
has been termed as ‘nature deicit disorder’ (Louv, 2008). Promoting
outdoor learning activities to a typical restrained classroom can give a
lot of beneits in terms of living healthily and encouraging children’s
aesthetic appreciation of nature. Richard Louv calls for more outdoor
classroom to be implemented by teachers in school due to the positive
consequences and advantages for children and their learning experiences,
as well as their development.
In sum, Rumi calls for a return to nature as it has more to offer, not
just for physical, emotional, and intellectual development of a learner,
but also to nurture and cultivate their spiritual domains.
Conclusion
The positive aspects of Muslim historical accounts and past civilization
should be learned, relected, and treasured. Same goes for the advice
and pedagogical approaches that have been highlighted by a Muslim
philosopher and a great thinker in this paper in order to produce a
harmonious and well-rounded personality through the education system.
Rumi’s approaches encompass the acknowledgement of the purpose of
life through God-consciousness and have a balanced knowledge for
livelihood and also for hereafter. The pedagogical approaches by Rumi
PEdagogIcal aPProachES of rUMI/ sItI Noor FauzIah
117
are like whispering breezes; they are discrete, hush, soft, and indirect
which work from ‘within oneself’ or ‘teaching from the heart’ through
transforming a human being by the love of God to the love of the whole
humanity.
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