Nasrudin: The Sufi Seinfeld

Nasreddin Hodja in Ankara
Photo by Nevit Dilmen

Nasrudin is to the Sufis what Seinfeld is to the Jews.  Both serve as reflections - not only of cultural idiosyncrasies, but also of the complex human condition.

Mulla (aka Mollah, Mullah, Molla, Hoca, Hodja...) Nasrudin (aka Nasreddin, Nasreddine, Nasrettin, Nasr Ed Dine...) is said to have originated with an actual person who lived somewhere (Afghanistan? Iran? Turkey?) around the 1300s (perhaps the 1200s).

Nasrudin's many names and stories pop up routinely in today's Near East, Middle East, and Central Asia.  Because Idries Shah popularized Nasrudin and the Sufis all in the same book, Nasrudin is now widely associated with the Sufi tradition.

There are some (in every crowd) who directly equate piousness with solemnity.  These are the same folks who might condemn dancing with God in public (see King David).  Others, however, cherish the smiling Buddha and the laughing Jesus.  These are the folks who might love this quintessential Nasrudin story:

Judge Nasrudin was listening to a case.  After hearing the plaintiff present his side, Nasrudin remarked, "You are right."

Then the defendant presented his side, and Nasrudin remarked, "Yes, you are right."

Nasrudin's wife had been listening to the case, and incredulously remarked, "Nasrudin, that doesn't make any sense - how could you say that the plaintiff is right, and then also say that the defendant is right?"

Nasrudin responded, "You know what - you are right, too!"

It is said that the power of the Wise Fool is that s/he disarms the intellect (often with its own devices) in order to zap us into the essence of each moment.  That is why - when intellect asks, "How do I get to the other side?" - Nasrudin replies (with one story or another), "You're already there."

Resources

https://www.nasruddin.org/