Justice, fairness and [Fethullah Gulen] Hocaefendi

Ahmet Kurucan *

According to Islamic teachings, oneness of God (tawhid), prophethood, resurrection and justice (adl) are fundamental principles advocated not only by Islam, but also by all religions.

These form the essence of what all prophets from Prophet Adam to Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, offered to humanity as beliefs and deeds.

In this respect, protecting these principles essentially serves the protection of religion(s). The reason why Islam describes some divine religions as altered or modified is that these principles are modified or altered from their original state by their respective practitioners.

The subject matter of this article is to discuss justice as one of these essential principles, as well as fairness, which can be considered one aspect of justice, and how Hocaefendi [Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen], performs with respect to fairness. I have discussed with Hocaefendi my assessment of the conference on Gülen held in Germany which I attended, as well as the critical stances which were expressed and responses to these criticisms during this conference. He listened to me with extreme caution and interest. He voiced his own assessments. I will try to convey these assessments in three categories and with special emphasis on justice and fairness as I noted above.

The first category consists of Hocaefendi's assessments made in response to what may be described as criticisms. "We cannot expect everyone to express opinions that would be in perfect harmony with our feelings. Being an academic entails objectivity. In such meetings, the primary intention is to ensure the exchange of opinions. The topic at hand is discussed exhaustively with its good or bad aspects," he said.

If you are to name it...

He also touched on the manner in which these criticisms are voiced. "There can always be criticisms. But these should be constructive. They should aim to eliminate our faults, errors or defects. In addition, they should be voiced in a manner that would encourage us to tackle these faults. They should even create enthusiasm in us. It is not in our hands to acquire perfection, which can only be done by God. However, we should exert efforts to do so," he noted.

Yes, but what should we do if this is not the manner by which criticisms are voiced? For instance, suppose that academics who are supposed to be objective are instead subjective, tend to use an ideological language and express their ideas in a provocative manner. He provided an answer to this question, not only between the lines, but also directly. "Some may choose to act by their fancies in uttering their criticisms. For instance, they may think ‘Since everyone utters words of praise, let me talk in a critical manner.' What they say may not be based on sound proof or academic criteria. This is the human nature. Then, we should deem it as natural. However, this does not mean that you accept the claims. What should be done is to give reasonable response to the suspicions raised," he said.

Hocaefendi returned to the matter of inability to acquire perfection, and sent considerably clear messages to all groups: "The plans and projects' development may be quite perfect, and may even be guided by divine instruction, but during their implementation human nature will always step in. And since this nature is crippled with defects, it will disrupt some aspects of these plans and projects."

His ideas, which I will discuss as part of the second category, concern the concept of the "Gülen movement." As I noted in a previous article, I had witnessed a meeting between Hocaefendi and a distinguished social scientist and academic. The academic had pointed out that the movement is quite different from other movements and cannot be easily categorized into existing schools in social sciences, and asked him to give it a name. "If you are to give it a name, then you may call it the movement by the people who gathered around supreme human values," he had replied.

Secret agenda of Hocaefendi

He reiterated the same stance during his assessments about the conference. "Our nation has been reaching out to all parts of the world to conduct beneficial services in education, economy or other fields there and establish dialogue and at the same time fulfill their obligations toward God; and it is the grave sin of associating partners with God to attribute the outcome of these efforts to one person. This is a tyrannical approach. Thus, do not idolize individuals.

“From a different perspective, today's movement is the outcome of the past's development. Some people had engaged in serious work and made sizable progress and made remarks and suggestions and explained experiences to guide you when you take your turn. In other words, they sowed seeds in the soil, irrigated them, tended them and then left when they were about to bear fruit. It would be unfair for us to ignore this fact. This must be always kept in mind in naming this movement.

“This does not mean that no mention of the people who have contributed to this movement should be made. This, too, is in human nature: that everyone wants to lionize the people they like and talk about them. However, we should not let this quality assign what belongs to efforts of a nation to a single person. But if we still feel the urge to make such attribution, then we must attribute it to the love of mankind an entire nation extends to the entire humanity and to their unswerving enthusiasm in this regard. God is the Everlasting One, and deeds of human beings are transient," he said.

The third category actually consists of several sentences. Yet, it is crucial in making friends or foes understand Hocaefendi's world of beliefs and thoughts. Those with typical biases and a-century-old conditioning will continue to have the same suspicions, but this must be said. It is what Hocaefendi does at every opportunity. When I quoted an academic as saying, “Sincerity and secret agenda do not coexist," he said the following: "This is my secret agenda: I regard it as ‘religiously forbidden' specifically for me to perform any act without God's consent in mind." He paused for several seconds and said with added emphasis: "Religiously forbidden."

I do not know what you gather from Hocaefendi's words, which I tried to present in three categories, but I would like to express my feelings based on his remarks on another occasion. "It is said that fairness is half of religion. If fairness is half of religion, then unfairness is half of unbelief," he said. I personally discerned justice and fairness, which is the most important ingredient of justice, in every sentence, word and letter of his assessments.

* Dr. Ahmet Kurucan is a theologian

Published on Today's Zaman, 16 June 2009, Tuesday