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…
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…
The Gülen Movement provides educational opportunities to youth, who otherwise could not attend higher educational institutions. What inspires them to eventually volunteer as educators themselves throughout the world? Since they were raised within the movement and since they were extended hands…
Helen Rose Ebaugh Establishing the First Educational Projects Mr. Gülen, together with administrators of the Kestanepazari institution and with the support of local businessmen organized summer camps for middle and high school students, as well as university students. These camps…
Gülen’s followers believe that values are taught through example, not through lecturing. Gülen teaches that the human possession of free will entails an obligation to discipline it, and it is the struggle for discipline that determines humanity. Educators in Gülen schools teach ethical values through example, rather than preaching them.…
Fethullah Gülen envisions a “Golden Generation”, that is well-educated in the sciences and well-rounded in moral training. The prototype of the Golden Generation is the teacher of the movement who works to bring on a “Golden Age.” The Golden Generation has the defining characteristics of faith and strong ethical values, which drive them to apply science for the benefit of humankind. …
Fabio Vicini The members of the movement I met and frequented in Istanbul during my brief fieldwork in summer/autumn 2005, are all teachers in a school linked to the movement. There they prepared high school graduates to the entrance exam…
Fabio Vicini When Gülen criticizes traditional forms of Islamic education for not having been able to adapt to modern conditions, he expresses something more than a simple dissatisfaction with old methods of teaching. Instead he blames other Islamic scholars because…
The challenge today, as Gülen sees it, is to find a way in which these traditional pedagogical systems can overcome the tendency to regard each other as rivals or enemies, so that they can begin to work together and learn from one another. By integrating the insights and strengths found in the various educational currents, educators must seek to bring about a “marriage of mind and heart” if they hope to form individuals of “thought, action, and inspiration.”…
The Movement’s chief priority is education. In Gülen’s view the establishment of justice is hindered by the lack of well-rounded education, as is the recognition of human rights and attitudes of acceptance and tolerance toward others: ‘If you wish to keep the masses under control, simply starve them in the area of knowledge.…