Fethullah Gülen: Contributions to Global Peace and the Inter-religious Dialogue

Prof. Greg Barton, Monash University

There are many ways of summarising Fethullah Gülen’s thought and describing his social activism. He is, first and foremost, an alim, a traditional Islamic scholar with a deep understanding of the Qur’an, the Sunnah, Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic history. He is also a Sufi, though he does not belong to any particular tarikah, or Sufi brotherhood. His most immediate source of influence is the writings of the great Turkish Sufi scholar Said Nursi (1878-1960), writer of the influential multi-volume commentary on the Qur’an, Risale-i Nur, and who himself was a Sufi in the line of the great Persian/Anatolian poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-1273). Gülen shares with Nursi the conviction that interfaith dialogue and cooperation between Jews, Muslims and Christians should be key concerns of modern Muslim intellectuals. But whereas Nursi, principally through the legacy of the Risale-i Nur, has inspired millions of followers who meet regularly to read his work, Gülen has inspired a vast social movement concerned with practical religious philanthropy on a grand scale.

This religious philanthropy can be understand simply as revolving around three axial themes or elements: a deep desire for dialogue, a love of learning and a passion for service.

Gülen’s profound interest in dialogue can readily discerned in his writing and in his personal activism. In February 1998, for example, Gülen met with Pope John Paul II, having already met with many of the senior religious leaders in Turkey and surrounding nations. The most overtly dialogue-orientated group associated with the Gülen movement is found in the Journalists and Writers and Foundation (JWF) established in 1994. This very influential NGO goes beyond straightforward journalistic reporting and analysis to support strategic public intellectual initiatives in the promotion of dialogue.

One of the Foundation’s most important activities is the hosting of a high level annual summer dialogue forum known as the Abant Platform (named after the lakeside location of its annual meetings) designed to bring together disparate elements of the political and cultural elite to talk face to face about issues of pressing national importance. Each Abant Platform produces an Abant Declaration summing up the issues discussed. The first Abant Platform was held in July 1998 on the theme of ‘Islam and Secularism’. Subsequent Abant Platforms dealt with the related themes of ‘Religion and State Relations’ (July 1999), ‘Islam and Democracy’ (July 2000), and ‘Pluralism’ (July 2001). In April 2004 the Journalists and Writers Foundation took the Abant Platform offshore to America and held a successful forum meeting at Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C. around the theme of Islam and Democracy. Subsequently the Abant Platform has also met in Europe and has planning for an ongoing series of international meetings.

In a broader sense, the fact that since 1983 the Gülen movement has established more than 500 schools across Turkey and throughout Asia, Africa and the western hemisphere, all of which are secular, and many of which are located in areas of socio-economic hardship in both Muslim and non-Muslim communities, can also be seen as an exercise in practical dialogue. Similarly, the commercially successful and broadly influential Zaman newspaper global network, and its television analogue Samanyolu TV, with their focus on objective, professional journalism and wholesome, but not overtly religious, entertainment and education, can also be seen as exercises in dialogue. The closest equivalent in Christian publishing is arguably the surprisingly professional Christian Science Monitor.

The second element in Gülen’s thought and in the Gülen movement’s social activism is a love of learning. This can be readily discerned in the aforementioned schools. In addition to these schools there also a handful of well regarded secular colleges and half a dozen universities such as Fatih University in Istanbul and Ankara. These schools, many of which have been deliberately established in some of the poorest and most needy parts of the word, are generally very well regarded and achieve a high standard of scholastic achievement in neighbourhoods, districts and nations not normally accustomed to excellence in education. What makes them so remarkable in the context of the Muslim world is their commitment to secular modern learning open to students of all backgrounds. The schools, regardless of the nation in which they operate and the legislation that pertains to religious instruction in schools, adhere consistently to a secular curriculum. In this and many other respects they are very much like modern Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist or Catholic schools. Zaman newspaper, Samanyolu TV and many of the books and magazines published by Gülen movement publishers such as Isik Publishing van also be said to concerned with education in the broadest sense, much in the manner of America’s Reader’s Digest magazine.

The Gülen movement speaks of itself as being the Gülen hizmet and of its members being engaged in hizmet. The Turkish word hizmet translates as ‘service’ and for the members of the Gülen movement hizmet – ‘service’ is understood in much the same way as active Christians use the word service to describe their religious activism and philanthropy.

Some institutions associated with the Gülen movement, such as Zaman and Samanyolu TV have become so commercially successful that they have been able to run along regular business lines. But many other aspects of the movement’s work, such as Fountain magazine rely, at least in part, on the contributions of volunteers. The schools, in particular, are very much the product of volunteer activism. The seed capital to set up a new school, often in a remote part of Africa or Asia, is typically generated through the philanthropy of a community of Gülen movement businessmen meeting in a certain town or suburb. The idea is that the schools ultimately become self-sustaining but before this is possible they rely on teachers leaving behind the comforts of Istanbul, Izmir or Ankara to travel to the likes of Kazakhstan, Nigeria or Cambodia to serve out several terms as ‘secular missionary’ teachers. This, more than anything, embodies the movement’s notion of hizmet, or service.

This is much more that could be said about Fethullah Gülen and the philanthropic movement that he has inspired. And there are many elements in addition to a deep desire for dialogue, a love of learning and a commitment to service. But these three elements – dialogue, learning and service – sum up the core passions of Gülen. And they explain why it is profoundly apposite that the ACU National Chair for the Study of Islam and Muslim-Catholic Relations should be named the Fethullah Gülen Chair.

As Christians and Muslims seeking to promote dialogue, deepen understanding and build relationships we do indeed live in the worst of times and the best of times. We certainly live in interesting times, in challenging times. But tonight we should take heart. This new century promises to see so much more achieved in Muslim-Christian relations and in the scholarly understanding of religion and religious communities than was achieved last century. The launch of this Chair at this university, I believe, represents something very good and something of great significance that goes well beyond any one institution and any one appointment. This, insallah, God willing, is the start of something big.

Excerpted from the paper read at the launch of the Fethullah Gülen Chair in the Study of Islam and Muslim-Catholic Relations at Australian Catholic University (ACU National), on 23 November 2007, Friday