An Honorable Girl is Mother of the Nation

by: Kanibaeva Gulzhanat

KazNU Student, Almaty Kazakhstan

“[A] woman is the owner of a cradle. It means if we  don’t straighten them up,  we won’t  be able to straighten up our cradles, we won’t be able to straighten up our nation”. President  of Kazakhstan  N. Nazarbaev

Kazakh people have a proverb which says: “To prohibit a girl from forty things is like to prohibit a black slave from everything.” They believe that in education of a girl is not her mother’s responsible but the whole tribe. To respect a woman, you don’t use taboo words and have to be gentle. That’s the culture, which has been passed from generation to generation.

Kazakh people treat girls in their childhood in a way that will make them “mothers of the nation” one day. Women who treated honorably are respected by everyone.

The future of Kazakhstan is definitely in the hands of honorable women. That is why it is very important to find a sort of relationship between tradition and today’s world in order to be able to connect the dots. To educate girls in a very authentic and faithful way, there are 30 of the 40 things in Kazakh’s tradition that a girl needs to follow:

1.     Greet elders. Don’t cut their way. Never walk on your own.

2.     Not to talk loudly in front of elders.

3.     Not to sit down disgracefully.

4.     Always keep in mind not to embarrass your people in front of others.

5.     Not to lie down disgracefully.

6.     Not to deal with something that is not your business.

7.     Don’t lie, don’t gossip. And listen to people who do it.

8.     Dress properly. Hide your private parts of body.

9.     Do not be physically abusive and yell

10.                        Not sprawl and yawn while looking at someone else

11.                        Sit properly at the dining table. Behave decently during meals  

12.                        Do not steal from people

13.                    Don’t walk away from a place where there is a funeral. 

14.                        Do not flirt with boys

15.                        Do not sleep until the afternoon

16.                        Laziness and untidiness are prohibited

17.                        Don’t change in front of others

18.                        Whether you’re hungry or full, don’t forget God.

19.                        Don’t speak without morals.

20.                        Enter with your right foot to sacred places

21.                        Don’t drink alcohol and don’t smoke

22.                        Do not provoke and insult each other

23.                        Respect and agree with your elders

24.                        Do not to be masculine in your wear

25.                        Don’t envy someone’s position or money

26.                        Don’t go to take water alone at night

27.                        Respect your husband  

28.                       When someone’s reading Quran or praying, don’t talk and walk.

29.                        Behave yourself. Don’t laugh loudly.

30.                        Being selfish and arrogant is prohibited.  

It is very important for parents to educate their daughters. In order to nourish their beautiful flowers they have to consider the forty rules. When a girl gets married and goes to another house, one has to take all her good qualities and moral’s with her as well. All these morals are important for the sake of the entire nation. That is why for Kazakh people, girls play a very important role. Girls are honorable, girls are intelligent, and girls educate our nation.

Please don’t think that Kazakh girls are not open minded. Nowadays, we have Kazakh girls who dress like westerners and use IT technologies. Yet on the other hand, it is girls who are maintaining our culture and tradition.