Last Updated on Thursday, 22 June 2006 17:46 by Muhammed Çetin Friday, 11 November 2005 05:00
The Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance at Rice University, the A. D. Bruce Religion Center University of Houston and the Institute of Interfaith Dialog, Texas, are sponsoring a conference on the activities of the Turkish Scholar Fethullah Gülen, his efforts for dialogue and tolerance, his views on education and service to humanity via schools, as well as what has motivated him to pursue such a noble, altruistic mission and to work toward a peaceful civil society and collaboration of civilizations for over 40 years. The Conference will be held November 12-13, 2005 at Rice University, Houston, Texas
The conference aims to explore the appeal, meaning, and impact of Fethullah Gülen and the Gülen Movement on Turkish, regional, and global societies in terms of their peaceful coexistence, cooperation, and prosperity.
Fethullah Gülen is one of the most prolific and sagacious, scholars, writers, and activists of the twentieth century. He is considered to be the leader of an intellectual, social, and spiritual revival both within and beyond Turkish borders. Fethullah Gülen started from humble beginnings and has, by any measure, accomplished great achievements.
Gülen was born in Turkey in 1941. Coming from a family steeped in religious devotion and scholarship, Gülen embraces knowledge that encourages the pursuit of scientific and technological advances. He is well read in European philosophy and literature, and has a commanding knowledge of modern science. When his views are sought on how to best serve others, his advice is always, "education, education, education."
Gülen is a retired religious cleric who has spent his professional life as a preacher working for the Ministry of Religious Affairs. He has spoken and written a great deal about the reconciliation and balance of religion and science. To this end he has neither displayed nor engaged in any political activity and violent means and methods. He has devoted himself to intellectual and spiritual enlightenment, the well-being of people, and the realization of social peace. In addition, he has worked for the actualization of effective dialogue, as well as for establishing an atmosphere of tolerance, respect, and understanding, specifically among the followers of different religions. He is widely known for his ideas to promote education, both in Turkey and beyond.
He has made it his life's work to find and to engage in solutions to overcome the tremendous sense of strain, alienation, weakness, defeat, and disintegration felt by Muslims for over three centuries.
Gülen neither denies reality nor does he turn his back on scientific and technological advancement; he exhorts Muslims to educate themselves, utilize self-discipline, and use the resources at hand to regain and restore their culture, their identity, and the observance of their religion. In doing this Muslims will then have the privilege of being contributors to the world community. His is essentially a message of peace and hope.
Gülen's main focus and the focus of his followers has always been religious, scientific, and cultural education. He repeatedly points out that service to one's country and community, and humanity in general, should take place in a principled framework:
- Constant positive action that leaves no room for confusion, fighting, or anarchy.
- Absence of worldly, material, and other-worldly expectations in return for service.
- Actions adorned with moral virtues that build trust and confidence.
- Activities that bring people and society together.
- Patience and compassion.
- Working with people who are positive and action-oriented, rather than creating conflict or being reactive.
Gülen has always made it clear that even though he advocates action, activity, and activism, he is not a political leader in the narrow sense of the word, and nor does has no ambition to become one. He has no party political affiliations; his work can only be described as political in the sense that it is social thereby affecting society.
In his call for dialogue and tolerance, and in his personal participation in this vital communication, Gülen remains authentic to Islamic history which encourages treating everything within creation with respect and dignity. Gülen has supporters who number into the millions who dedicate themselves to the love and service of others and society as a whole; yet, until recently he has remained largely unknown outside the Islamic world.
Whereas some have expressed the conviction that secularists and the religious cannot live peacefully side by side in the same society, Gülen is convinced that dialogue, education and tolerance will ensure that which has up to this moment in history has seem impossible, can indeed come to fruition.
Gülen adheres to the Qur'anic injunction that different nations, which were all made by God, should learn from one another; and hence, he does not reject the technical, political, and cultural aspects of democracy, parliamentarianism, and scientific education. Rather he advises giving such institutions an Islamic dimension and in this way avoiding the limited outcomes of a singularly secularist or religious ideology.
His work illuminates the Muslim chorus that espouses peace over war, for he started his dialog activities in 1990s, long before the heinous world wide attacks of terrorism. Although Fethullah Gulen's work toward peace began over forty years ago, the problems of the planet have remained relatively unchanged, thus, his message is a poignant today as it was decades ago.
Gülen undertakes the task of an authentic leader by telling his supporters the truth. He does not simply support the status quo, nor does he avoid holding himself and others accountable for their actions.
Gülen points out that democracy has developed and evolved over time. Just as it has gone through many stages in the past, it will continue to evolve and to refine itself into the future. If the realm of the human beings are considered as a whole, without disregarding the spiritual dimension of their existence and their spiritual needs, and without ignoring that human life is may not be limited to this mortal life, democracy could reach its peak of perfection and bring even more fulfilment to humanity. Islamic principles of equality, tolerance, and justice can help in this regard.
He does not advocate and has never advocated the use of violence to attain political ends. "The days of getting things done by brute force are over," he tells us. 'In today's enlightened world the most effective way to demonstrate the validity of an issue is via persuasion through reasoning. In the words of F. Gulen, Those who use brute force to reach their goals are intellectually bankrupt." The renewal of society cannot be achieved via the clenched fist but by the heart. While acknowledging the importance of law and order in society, he does not believe that respect for others can be instilled by force or that a fully functional society is built by repression. Far from it, he protests whenever he sees freedom unnecessarily restricted.
According to F. Gulen Islam is not the fragile, fossilized museum relic which many people claim in to be. For him, and for the multitudes who agree with him, it is not only vital and alive, but it is our only way, our true connection with the Real, with the True, with the Source of our lives. As such, the injunctions of the Qur'an and the Sunnah and those in the universe must be re-examined, rebuilt, restored in every age in light of advancing knowledge and changing states. His efforts are not the dark sinful despair and desperate struggle of extremism which sees itself pitted against a too-mighty enemy, but rather they are efforts made with the calm confidence of faith, the optimism of one who believes that God has placed in human hearts the desire for goodness and wholeness, endowed them with understanding, and the belief that the Muslim's task is to draw this out gently and bring it into bloom.
The central theme of the collection of his writings is an exhortation to this determined self-improvement in his followers and amongst Muslims in general. Gülen echoes the great teacher Rumi in telling us not to ignore the doctrine of causes, not to sit around heedlessly waiting for God's favor, but rather to exert ourselves endlessly in order to transform this broken world into the world of peace and justice.
As a teacher of minds and hearts, Gülen serves as the inspiration for a drive toward a scientific and reasoned education on a scale that is perhaps unique in diverse ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. As of this writing, more than 500 schools and universities have been opened from Europe and the Balkans to Central Asia, from Africa to the Far East. There are also dormitories and student hostels, community centers, supplementary schools, and hospitals. There are publishers who produce books, magazines, journals, and newspapers and run television and radio stations.
The purpose of these schools is to provide young men and women with the skills and sound ethics that will make them valuable assets to their societies, and to give them the skills necessary to raise their standard of living. The emphasis is science (e.g., chemistry, mathematics, engineering, physics, computer science), for this is the knowledge suitable to our age.
Gülen is widely known for his ceaseless quest for interfaith dialogue between Muslims, Jews, and Christians; however, F. Gülen does far more than just utter pleasant words about the need for dialogue in a theoretical context-he lives it. In his capacity as a Muslim citizen of Turkey, he has met such non-Muslim luminaries as Pope John Paul II, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomeos I, and Israel's Sephardic Head Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi Doron. He speaks to all of them with one voice:
All of us believe in the same God. We might understand certain things differently, but why should that keep us from working together to uplift humanity and turn it toward God? Why should we let our differences divide us against the onslaught of unbelief and common concerns sweeping the modern world? We should come together to establish a closer relationship among the true believers of all faiths and thus encourage people to develop a co-operation against the danger of war and frequent clashes, water and air pollution, hunger, illiteracy, the increasing erosion of moral values, obscenity, racism, terrorism and human rights.
F. Gülen continually meets with people from all social segments of Turkey: artists, entertainers, journalists, scholars, and politicians. And to all of them, he gives the same message: "Show tolerance to those with different ideas and beliefs, love one another, work for common values, and serve others by educating them." No one is turned away, even those who oppose what he is doing. In his early 60s and suffering from diabetes and other health problems, he remains an active author and speaker, a person wholly committed to the uplifting of humanity through education and moral regeneration irrespective of his personal comfort or needs.
The Gülen movement represents a peaceful, non-political, non-ideological, non-sectarian, civil society initiative, leading to the consolidation of democratization, pluralism, and the opening of cultural and intellectual spheres to previously excluded issues, such as interfaith and intercultural dialogue that will lead to the cooperation of world civilizations. It contains a broad social critique of violence, terrorism, racism, radicalism, and fanaticism as well. This reinforces the sincere and genuine decision of the Gülen movement to employ exclusively non-violent methods. The use of Gülen and his community of non-violent tactics and their resolute attachment to the core value of opposition to coercive methods and means stem from Islamic injunctions. This non-violent identity, along with the civil, democratic, pluralist, voluntary, altruistic, educational, and cultural vision of participants in the movement, helps to account for both the appeal and the impact that the Gülen movement has had on Turkish, Muslim, and global societies. For this reason, Fethullah Gülen rightly deserves his own place among the few prominent peaceful heroes and civil society leaders that should be extensively studied academically.
Muhammed Cetin is a Visiting Scholar at the Religious Studies Department of the University of Houston. He was a Visiting Scholar at Sociology Department of UT Austin from 2003-2004. He is currently a PhD candidate in Sociology at School of Education, Human Sciences and Law of the University of Derby, UK. He received his master's degree from the Education University of Leicester and both a Diploma in Social Sciences and ELT and a bachelor's degree in English language and literature from the University of Ankara. He has worked as lecturer, Vice-Rector and Ministerial Adviser in Turkmenistan. Cetin was co-a founder and editor of Fountain magazine, and served as editor, translator, and contributor. He is the President of the Institute of Interfaith Dialog and has served as organizer and speaker for Interfaith Dialogue and Tolerance Conferences and cultural activities held at universities and other institutions. He is the author and producer of Rumi and Universal Love, Tolerance and Dialogue and The Adhan: Call to prayer DVD documentaries. Cetin's translation of Saparmurat Niyazov's Ruhnama (2001) earned him an award for cultural service to Turkmenistan.
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