AHMAD YASAWI’S HIKMATS: ETHNOCULTURAL IDENTITY AND SOCIAL COHESION

Abstract

This article examines how the ethical vocabulary of the Yasawi tradition can inform contemporary debates on ethnocultural identity and social cohesion in Kazakhstan. Using qualitative document analysis, it reads a verified Turkish edition of the Dīwān-i Hikmet alongside recent scholarship on civic and ethnic identity, language practices, young people’s media use, and inequality. The analysis is organised around four themes: responsibility towards vulnerable people; self-discipline as a counterweight to pride and ostentation; justice in public conduct; and the integrative function of accessible language. The findings indicate that Yasawi’s legacy can furnish a shared moral vocabulary, but only when interpreted inclusively and without turning a historical Sufi corpus into a direct policy manual. Its contemporary value lies less in supplying ready-made solutions than in sustaining ethically grounded deliberation across education, cultural institutions, and digital media. Social cohesion nevertheless also depends on credible language policy, equality of opportunity, and institutional justice. The article therefore proposes a critical appropriation of Yasawi’s legacy that joins historical awareness to civic inclusion.