A Comparative Approach to the Quranic story “Moses and Khidr" and Tolstoy's “The Godson” story

The East, as the cradle of human civilization, appeared more and more in the works of Russian thinkers and writers since the 1940s. The name of Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy is also connected with the culture and philosophy of the East, and the influence of the philosophy of the East on the formation of his worldview is very great. He considered the oriental way of life, the peacefulness and hard work of his people, and the cultural heritage of the Orient as the saviors of humanity. Tolstoy's familiarity with Eastern culture and wisdom goes back to his teenage years, when he moved to Kazan, an ancient and Muslim city on the banks of the Volga River, at the age of thirteen, prepared to enter the Faculty of Philosophy, the Department of Arabic and Turkish Languages of Kazan University. The young count learned Arabic and Turkish languages under the supervision of the great scientist Mirza Kazem Beyk, one of the first founders of Oriental studies in Russia. By studying Mirza Kazembeik's works (Persian literature, Iranian epic, and Iranian mythology from Ferdowsi's point of view), he got acquainted with Ferdowsi, Rumi, Saadi, Hafez, Jami, and other great Persian poets and literature.By serving in the Caucasus and participating in the Crimean War, the young Tolstoy became more familiar with Islam, Eastern culture and the temperament of the Crimean Muslim Tatars, and he did not stop learning more about Eastern religions and wisdom until the end of his life. In this way, it can be said that Eastern religions, especially Islam and Islamic mysticism, have played a significant role in the formation of the author's intellectual and worldview.Tolstoy, a great Russian writer, was well aware of the literary role of language in education. He used literature to explain moral, religious, philosophical issues, and the impact of his words and created works whose educational aspects are as rich and strong as his literary aspects. Tolstoy defined a new semiotic system by creating allegorical stories for audiences who were often deprived of reading and writing or had little benefit of knowledge. He sought to teach religious and moral concepts to the mass of people, especially children, with narrative, simple, and clear language.

Review of the Literature:

Tolstoy's works were created in different genres, including novels, long and short stories, folk tales, etc. The audience of the works of this well-known writer and thinker was different strata of society, from children and teenagers to adults, from ordinary people to educated people and intellectuals. If it is mentioned, Tolstoy suffered a mental crisis in the 1970s, a crisis that ultimately led to the formation of a new worldview in the author's life and works, and religion and spirituality became the focal point of his works: he turned to create moral and instructive short stories in simple language and tried to create works for common readers.Tolstoy, as a teacher at Yasnaya Polyana School, dealt directly with children and attached great importance to their education. He believed that teaching with the help of epic and historical stories, allegorical stories, and stories taken from legends and popular culture, songs, and stories is far more efficient than teaching with the help of common scientific sources.Also, he was of the opinion that, to educate the common people, it is necessary to have books with a lot of content, which should have a simple language, and that great literary works belong to the educated stratum of the society and are not useful for the common people. It should be noted that the emergence of this type of Tolstoy's works was not only for the purpose of creating literature with simple and understandable language for the common people, but he wanted to convey his worldview and beliefs and tell people about the meaning of life. He believed that the most important duty of a writer is to teach the right way of life.Tolstoy's folk stories were created between 1880-1890. These short religious-philosophical stories have signs of allegory, legend, admonition, story, and anecdote.The story of ‘the godson’ (Крестник) can be classified under folk stories and in the genre of allegorical instructive stories. Tolstoy wrote this story in 1886. He started writing, but the audit did not issue permission to publish this work as an independent book, and in a letter to the publisher, he called it "the most anti-God work". Finally, in 1906 AD, he succeeded in obtaining permission to publish the work ‘Posrednik’ (Посредник).The Qur'an, as a religious book and a true guide for mankind, contains many instructive stories and anecdotes. The story of ‘Moses and Khidr’ is one of the wonderful and mysterious stories of the Quran and it is mentioned in Surah Kahf, verses 60-82. Human wisdom is hidden in the story of ‘Moses and Khidr’ about the external and internal aspects and destinies of this world, and the philosophy of creation is in line with Tolstoy's religious and moral thoughts. Therefore, knowing that the author is familiar with the Qur'an and has even mastered it, it is possible that the wonderful story of ‘Moses and Khidr’ in the Qur'an is one of the sources of inspiration for the author in creating this work. In the following, we will examine the stories ‘the Godson’ and ‘Moses and Khidr’ in terms of their structure and content.

In this descriptive-adaptive study, we examine the quranic story ‘Moses and Khidr’ and Tolstoy's ‘the Godson’ story in Surah Kahf from the Qur'an. By delving into the structural and content elements of these two stories, we find remarkable similarities that cannot be considered coincidences. In this research, we try to answer three research questions: 1) Can these similarities be considered proof of Tolstoy's influence from Islam and the Quran? 2) What truth do these similarities come from centuries of time and cultural differences? 3) Can we come to the conclusion that the spirit of truth is a constant thing and has found a different form and language only in the eyes of each nation?

With a comparative approach to the Quranic story ‘Moses and Khidr’ and Tolstoy's ‘the Godson’, we reach remarkable similarities in terms of structure and content: 1) the central existence of the guide (first the godfather and then the deserter of the world in the story of ‘the Godson’ and the Lord and Khedr in the story of ‘Moses and Khidr’), 2) the existence of allegorical income (the story of the bear and its cubs in the story of ‘the Godson’ and the story of the fish coming back to life in the story of ‘Moses and Khidr’), 3) three events that are unfair on the surface and force the disciple (adopted son/ Moses) to break the covenant and do prohibitions, and 4) interpretation of the wisdom of those events by the mentor (adopted father/ Khidr).A similar message is also hidden in the heart of both stories, that the fate of this world is not incalculable, and knowing the mystery that is covered by wisdom and expediency on people requires a special ability and capacity. Both stories invite their audience to patience, inaction, submission and satisfaction, and unquestioning following of the mentor. Therefore, by putting these two stories together and examining them, we reach almost identical and similar results, a similarity that helps us to answer the question raised in the introduction with more certainty.Tolstoy was most likely influenced by the Quranic story ‘Moses and Khidr’ in creating this story. He benefited from other religions and rituals, especially Islam, and was constantly searching and accepting for knowing the truth, and avoided dogma, religious fanaticism, and belonging to a religion and culture. By comparing these two stories, we realized that the truth is a constant issue and continues to live beyond time and place and religious and ethnic affiliations.