Unlike political organizations, Hizmet, as a civil society movement,does not compel its participants to cast a particular vote or choose a particular party. The influence of such orders or instructions in a civil society movement is limited and, furthermore, risky. But of course, sociologically, it is possible to talk about the impact of the values […]
No, it is not. The noble position of motherhood aside, our general opinion about women is that, while taking into account their specific needs, it should be made possible for them to take on every role, including the jobs of physician, military officer, judge and president of a country. As a matter of fact, in […]
Doğu Ergil* Those who are within the Gülen Movement do not consider themselves the continuation or the extension of any other movement. At a certain time and under the perfect circumstances in Turkish History, the teachings of Gülen coincided with what a broad sector of Turkish society was searching for in their hearts. This is […]
Yuksel A. Aslandogan, Muhammed Cetin The land where the world-renowned poet and Sufi Master Rumi lived and taught is now witnessing an unprecedented development with global effects. Teachers, parents, and business owners are participating in a sociocultural movement, which is primarily driven by activism in the field of education. This civic initiative has been inspired […]
Graham E. Fuller One of the Gülen movement’s greatest accomplishments—and a demonstration of its search for greater universalism—has come through a remarkable process of intellectual outreach, a series of annual roundtables called the Abant Forum. These roundtables have brought together Turks of diverse intellectual backgrounds—Muslims, secularists, traditionalists, modernists, atheists, Christians, leftists, and conservatives—to hammer out some common […]
Heon Kim Gülen’s perception of humanism is at the heart of his thought, so much so that it serves as the reason for the existence and activities of the Gülen movement. My attempt here is to lay bare some constructional and distinctive characteristics of Gülen’s humanism. As a leading contemporary Islamic theologian, Gülen proposes his own […]
Gülen is primarily a scholar, who, while far from establishing a Sufi order, aims to revive and combine the activism of Prophet Muhammad and his companions, the asceticism of the first generation Sufis, and the Sufi terminological knowledge and consciousness of the later Sufi scholars. This approach offers a new equilibrium within the Muslim world and promotes a peaceful and tolerant understanding of Islam coexisting peacefully with the non-Islamic communities.
Jill Irvine The issue of the integration of the Turkish community into German society has grown in importance since the events of 9/11 and the ensuing “war on terrorism.” There are two, perhaps contradictory, forces presently at work in Germany concerning its large, mainly Turkish, Muslim population. On the one hand, there is a growing […]
How does Gulen manage to oversee a network of schools, media companies and other for-profit or non-profit organizations that are run based on his teachings? First of all, the word “oversee” means, “supervising (a person or work), especially in official capacity”. Therefore, by definition, it is not possible for Mr. Gulen, a man residing in […]
On gender roles, Gülen thinks that there is no obstacle in front of women in having equal rights and responsibilities with men; however, women and men have been physically and emotionally different so that gender roles have had to suit these differences. In contrast with the conservative point of view, Gülen thinks that these differences could not be used as bases for gender hierarchy. Islam does not separate men and women since both are human beings and have fundamental rights.