March 18, 2011

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.