"The Cry of the Nightingale": Fethullah Gulen – A Modern-Day Rumi?

Catherine B. Eustis

Fethullah Gulen

As one of the best selling poets in North America, Rumi’s message of love and tolerance, representing Islam as a religion of peace and brotherhood, is beginning to be heard today by spiritual seekers as a positive model for interfaith dialogue in this troubled world. His religion was Islam, yet he was an advocate of unlimited religious tolerance, and accepted Muslims, Jews, and Christians with the same loving eyes and heart. In return he was respected and revered by people of all faiths. Interestingly enough Gulen’s words describing Rumi as inspiring duality of one foot in his own faith tradition while the other roams freely to the faiths of others can also be applied to Gulen himself.^[132] Though many today have read about or heard about Rumi, few feel the pain of mankind, or have a heart burning with love of God, or seek an era of love, tolerance and peace as much as Fethullah Gulen. Few understand and exemplify the depth of Rumi’s message as Gulen does.

This Turkish scholar, spiritual leader, teacher, author, and peace activist is a modern day legacy bringing us Rumi’s message of a love that embraces all of humanity; that says love of God is the essence of everything. According to Gulen, “A soul without love cannot be elevated to the horizon of human perfection. Even if he were to live hundreds of years, he could make no advance on the path to perfection. Those who are deprived of love, entangled in the nets of selfishness, are unable to love anybody else and die unaware of the love deeply implanted in the very being of existence.”^[133]

In his preaching, poetry, and teaching he hears not only the laments, but the hopes and dreams of humanity. He bears his own sorrows, but those of others crush him, feeling every blow delivered at humanity to be first delivered to his own heart. His beliefs and feelings are so profound that his preaching his often accompanied by his tears. For Gulen, there is no time to waste in trying to change the world into a place where love and peace replace hatred and violence. Everything in his life has been dedicated to this end. Esteemed by many as charismatic spiritual intellectual, Gulen has shown no interest in achieving political power, personal acclaim, or sainthood. In fact, he shuns it, preferring to remain quietly behind the scenes inspiring others by his example. Gulen firmly believes that true religion preaches love not hatred, tolerance not judgment, compassion not callousness, peace not war. According to Gulen, true religion leads people to a life of virtue and perfection.
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Gulen has dedicated his life to studying, writing, teaching and working tirelessly towards strengthening the bonds between people of different cultures and religious beliefs. In effect, Gulen has been able to take Rumi’s message of universal love and tolerance and bring it to life by applying the mystical to the practical. Rumi and Gulen are like “brothers” whose system of thought and philosophy are derived from the same source. Read on the deepest level, Rumi’s poems speak of much more than just the simple images such as a rose, a cup, a tavern, a garden, a reed, a nightingale convey - they are a handbook for finding God. Gulen understands this handbook and exemplifies his legacy as a way to get along not only with God but also with our fellow men. Like Rumi, Gulen is living a life deeply rooted in love and passion for God. Through their constant remembrance of God, they have become like shining beacons beckoning people to true love found in Divine Presence.

References (for the excerpted section only)
[132] Kurtz, Lester (2005) “Gulen’s Paradox: Combining Commitment and Tolerance,” The Muslim World, Special Issue, July 2005, vol. 95, Issue 3, p. 373-381
[133] www.fgulen.org/a.page/life/biography/a756html

Excerpted from the article presented at Second International Conference on Islam in the Contemporary World: The Fethullah Gülen Movement in Thought and Practice, on March 4-5, 2006, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX