Peter J. Mehl “Life is a shared bridge of “passing over” and “coming back.” It is a passing over to other cultures and faiths, not to disown one’s own heritage, but to come back to incorporate new wisdoms and insight into one’s own worldview. The Gulen Movement is one such bridge.” What the religious scholar […]
A true Muslim is a person whom other Muslims are secure from (possible harms to come through) his tongue and hand. The noun “Muslim” is an active participle, functioning as the subject, from the same verb, as it means “one who surrenders to God.” It also bears the meaning, “one who lets others be safe and sound, feel secure, and one who establishes peace and mutual freedom from harm.”
Although Rumi lived about 800 years before Gülen, they both lived in cosmopolitan environments and thus both made intercultural dialogue their main tool of social innovation and conflict resolution for social inclusion, coherence and peaceful coexistence. They inspired the lives and practices of their students, sympathizers, followers, scholars, and the larger community to contribute to solutions that better the world.
When his discourse and actions are observed over an extended time period, the obvious conclusion is that Gülen’s aim is to reconcile tradition with modernity. According to him, a healthy modern society has three attributes: communal harmony, hard work, and productivity.
The Gülen Movement arose among pious men and women who wanted a modern interpretation of religion. In the dynamics of the transformation of the movement, the social milieu also played an important role. The movement became a spiritual refuge for those who searched for an interpretation where Islam was in harmony with modernity. The followers of the Gülen Movement do not describe themselves as a political movement.
Diversity is a natural dimension of our society and geography. It would be a great mistake to claim that Anatolia is racially pure Turkish. Accepting and pronouncing this truth would be an important step toward a final solution showing that in the future diversity is not going to constitute a problem for us.
It is imperative that alliances do not harm other countries and extra precautions must be taken to avoid causing tensions. In this regard, Gülen states: For alliances and peace, it is not absolutely necessary to have various organizations; extreme caution should be applied not to give way to the establishment of opposition camps; all humanity needs it.
Fethullah Gülen: Everyone can and should serve in their own way by remaining respectful to others. We do not have the right to open the door to conflicts and dissension. Once we have found what’s good for us we should not quarrel about what’s better.
The Gülen movement offers a new sociopolitical language to expand and deepen public discussion, and mobilize traditional social sectors that had hitherto been strictly marginalized. Its rival vision of society did threaten the official authoritarian Kemalist dogma. The movement posed an alternative mode of modernity; one that does not exclude religious norms and lifestyle.
The claim “the Gülen Movement (Hizmet) is working to establish a political party” has been voiced by different individuals and circles time and again. The Movement is determined to spend all its potential and energy to boost peace for mankind both in Turkey and in many countries around the globe.