Each theme usually has a season. We have a habit of talking about Hazrat Mir Alisher Navoi rahmatullahi alayh, the imam of our classical literature, and his works mainly around his birthday. This year, on this occasion, I wanted to share with you some of my heartfelt words that have been in my heart for a long time.

When it comes to Navoi's poetry, different attitudes can be seen among the members of today's Uzbek society. Someone sees him only as a poet, while someone recognizes him as a scholar of Sharia. If someone else tries to connect that person's creativity with the beauties of nature, the people of knowledge can see in it the signs of divine love, etc.

In other words, there are basically two different approaches in our society towards our classic literature, including Hazrat Navoi's work. A group of people love him and study the works of this great poet with interest, but because they are ignorant of Islamic sciences, they cannot see enough of the beauty of this magnificent world, they cannot feel his good expressions. That is probably why it is difficult to find the reflection of the priceless teachings of our great writers in the life of such people. To be more specific, this category of people cannot adequately implement the Islamic beliefs and morals sung in our classical literature in their personal lives. There is no doubt that this is caused by factors such as our deliberate alienation from religion in the past, the secularization of our literature, the violation of the order of its study, the fact that it was not studied from the original source, and ignorance of the revolutions of mystical literature.

On the other side, there are people who have studied the sciences of Sharia and follow the religious instructions, but are completely ignorant of literature and are not interested in it at all. Even beyond that, there are those who do not understand the works of our great writers, let alone being interested in classical literature, who limit themselves to the scope of their knowledge and deny others. Many people see only superficial meanings and cannot understand metaphors or sarcasm.

It should be said that none of these cases is the right direction, there is a deviation in one direction or another. As in everything, the approach to classical literature should be based on scientificity and moderation. The fact that the general public, especially the young generation, is completely ignorant of classic literature, especially the poetry of Hazrat Navoi, is a very regrettable situation and a serious problem.

Many religious people have a wrong understanding of Islam's attitude to literature and its role in religion. There are even scholars who are completely distant from poetry and do not like it at all. It seems to them that poetry is not a very acceptable thing in Islam, as if the Arabs also ignored literature when they became Muslims. Some people generalize the content of verses in the Holy Qur'an where poets are criticized and look down on poetry. All this is the result of not studying the subject well and objectively.

Unfortunately, until today, there are very few people who understand Navoi, and they have almost disappeared. However, the people who have the right and responsibility to study and promote that person's creativity are actually people of knowledge. After all, it is impossible to understand Navoi well without studying the Qur'an and hadith.

The absence of people who are knowledgeable about Islamic sciences from our classic literature, unfortunately, creates the ground for misinterpretation and devaluing of the poems of our great poets. In fact, the negligence of scientists to socio-scientific fields leads them to deviate from the right path.

One day, during an open lesson in one of the Islamic educational institutions of our country, I witnessed a controversial discussion between the literature teacher and the students. The teacher interpreted one of Hazrat Navoi's ghazals in an apparent form. Naturally, students who are familiar with Islamic sciences strongly objected to this. However, since the objections were made by people who were completely ignorant of literature and its revolutions, and were not based on evidence, the opinions expressed were not clarified and could not satisfy the teacher. Moreover, the students did not have enough knowledge about literary pleasure and poetry terms, so they did not understand the teacher's thoughts well. The teacher also could not understand the purpose of the students because he was far from religious sciences. As a result, there was rudeness and anger on both sides. This incident that took place in one classroom was actually a small reflection of the current situation in our society as a whole.

A few years ago, in the book of an author known in the Arab world for his visionary and religious thinking, Robi'a Adavia wrote: "Allah! I am not praying to you for your paradise, nor to escape from your hell. I knew that You are the only One worthy of worship, so I will serve You," I said, seeing that his words spread into blasphemy and disbelief. Recently, in the Uzbek language videos and writings on the social network, I have come across the same kind of attitude towards some of Hazrat Navoi's poems. I found out that even those of us who claim to be scientists are very far from our classical literature, and we are completely unable to understand the words of our great ancestors.

Our classic literature is watered from the fountain of Islam, and reflects the meanings of the Qur'an and hadith in a very beautiful style, with unique literary colors. Islamic faith, jurisprudence, morals and culture are displayed in our poetry. By studying them, we can learn what beautiful meanings our great poets discovered from the Holy Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunnah.

In conclusion , today we need more than ever to study Alisher Navoi's work and promote our classic literature. As a practical measure in this regard, the following can be said:

1. First of all, it is necessary to return to our literature its original spirit. It has been more than thirty years since the time has come to eliminate this oppression during the regime of secularism and bring it back to its original form. But we still can't completely remove the dark clouds of those terrible seventies from our heads and use the sun's rays freely. It is important to know that without returning faith and Islam to our literature, it cannot be revived. It has lived on this foundation for centuries, and it can continue to live only on this foundation, because it is precisely because of this divine beacon that it came into existence. Other propaganda is nothing more than a soulless picture. We have seen this fact over and over again in a century of experience, we have been burned about it over and over again. Now we need to systematically strive to come to our senses as soon as possible and return to our true selves.

2. Interest in literature and enjoyment of it should be first of all in the family. Children who grew up listening to wise poems and witty words from their parents and grandparents at home developed literary skills along with their mother tongue.

3. It is necessary to expand the scope of teaching classical literature in kindergartens and educational institutions of the next stage, as well as in religious educational institutions, and raise the level of lessons. To do this, these subjects should be taught by experts in the field, specifically literary experts. Nowadays, in many places, ordinary teachers fail to teach literature. Therefore, although the literature class is available at school, almost no one reads it, and as a result, the students' time is wasted. No matter what subject it is, if this lesson is taught by its owner, it can attract students and the knowledge imparted will settle well in their minds.

4. Some literary works can be studied and even memorized. This tradition was actually very active in our country before. For example, if a child memorizes the work of Navoi's "Arba'in" with its hadiths, it is possible to learn forty Rubai's along with the hadith sharifs. A person who studies the works of Navoi's "Sirojul Muslimin" and Babur's "Mubayyan" will learn a lot more than jurisprudence. If Sufi studies the book "Sabotul-Ojizin" by Allahyor with its commentaries, he will have a lot of knowledge about Aqeedah and leeches. There are many similar works in our literature.

5. It is necessary to increase the number of works that reveal the true essence of our classical literature. It is necessary to publish them in a popular form, in a form that is understandable even for children.

6. Every Uzbek household should have literature books and literature dictionaries. Children learn a lot without even realizing it when they flip through them.

Hasankhan Yahya Abdulmajid , February 2020 .

You can read the full form of the article on Islam.uz