Gonenli Mehmet Efendi's Life, Personality and Understanding of Education

Gonenli Mehmet Efendi (1903-1991), who lived in the Republican era, is a versatile religious educator who played an active role in different fields with his duties as imam-hatip, preacher, Qur'an course instructor, Reîsu'l-Kurrâ and foundation. In this study, it is aimed to examine Gonenli Mehmet Efendi's life, personality and understanding of education in the context of informal religious education. In this context, Gonenli Mehmet Efendi's understanding of education; it has been put forward through the principles and methods of widespread religious education studies and the contribution of society to religion-moral-value education. In the study, the scanning method was adopted and the literature review and document review methods were used with the historical method. In this context, the literature on the subject was scanned and works related to Gonenli Mehmet Efendi and similar studies on the subject were used. Documents and findings reached; the aim of the study was classified under certain themes within the framework of its method and evaluated in the light of the literature. In the examinations made, it is seen that Gonenli Mehmet Efendi's personality and the world of thought are at the forefront of a human-centered approach in general, love, respect, tolerance, sharing, empathy and solidarity. The Prophet said, “Make it easy, do not make it difficult; gospel, but do not hate it” (Bukhari, Science, 11) it is understood that he based his understanding of education on the axis of hadith and did not leave education activities until the end of his life. It is influential on society with different duties in informal religious education; It can be said that society (children, adolescents and adults) plays an important role in the education and transformation of religion-moral-value with word-behavior adaptation, role modeling features and a pedagogical / andragogic approach.

Keywords

Gonenli Mehmet Efendi, Education, Religious Education, Informal Religious Education, Imam Hatip, Preacher, Qur'an Course Instructor, Reîsu’l-Kurrâ, Balikesir.