Baqar Syed *
A variety of fears have been expressed regarding "Gülen" charter schools in Texas, from possible financial irregularities to indoctrination of children in Islam. However, neither official state inquiries nor academic studies have found any evidence to such effect. A look at the history of the movement can help us understand it as an attempt by Muslims to contribute positively to modern life while maintaining their beliefs and values.
September 10, 2011
September 9, 2011
Anatolian Muslimhood: Humanising capitalism?
Max Farrar *
A week in Istanbul can hardly fail to be an enriching experience for the intellectually curious visitor - even more when this great city, and Turkey generally, is at the heart of so many of the world's shaping concerns of faith and politics. This was certainly the case for me, when I stayed in Istanbul as a guest of the London-based Dialogue Society which supports the ideas and aims of the influential Islamic thinker Fethullah Gülen.
A week in Istanbul can hardly fail to be an enriching experience for the intellectually curious visitor - even more when this great city, and Turkey generally, is at the heart of so many of the world's shaping concerns of faith and politics. This was certainly the case for me, when I stayed in Istanbul as a guest of the London-based Dialogue Society which supports the ideas and aims of the influential Islamic thinker Fethullah Gülen.
September 8, 2011
Core Values of the Gülen Movement: Worship and Servanthood
Thomas Michel
1. Oğuz and Erol, typical members of the Gülen cemaat
Oğuz comes from a casually practicing Muslim family in Malatya, Central Anatolia.1 He first came to know the Gulen movement as a high school student in Ankara and shortly thereafter moved into a yurt, or residence, run by the community. He spent his last two years of high school there as he prepared for the dreaded Öğrenci Seçme Sınavı (ÖSS), the Student Selection Examination. The ÖSS is the college entrance and placement exam taken annually by over 1.5 million students in Turkey, which determines both the universities and programs that a student can enter. Oğuz placed within the top 1% of his examination year and was thus able to enter the Middle East Technical Institute in Ankara, one of the best universities in the country. There he took a bachelor’s and master’s degree in physics and had a scholarship offer from a prestigious university in the United States. However, instead of pursuing this enviable career opportunity, Oğuz took up a job teaching physics in a high school in Kyrgyzstan. There he married a Kirghiz colleague and after eight years they are still living and teaching in that country.
1. Oğuz and Erol, typical members of the Gülen cemaat
Oğuz comes from a casually practicing Muslim family in Malatya, Central Anatolia.1 He first came to know the Gulen movement as a high school student in Ankara and shortly thereafter moved into a yurt, or residence, run by the community. He spent his last two years of high school there as he prepared for the dreaded Öğrenci Seçme Sınavı (ÖSS), the Student Selection Examination. The ÖSS is the college entrance and placement exam taken annually by over 1.5 million students in Turkey, which determines both the universities and programs that a student can enter. Oğuz placed within the top 1% of his examination year and was thus able to enter the Middle East Technical Institute in Ankara, one of the best universities in the country. There he took a bachelor’s and master’s degree in physics and had a scholarship offer from a prestigious university in the United States. However, instead of pursuing this enviable career opportunity, Oğuz took up a job teaching physics in a high school in Kyrgyzstan. There he married a Kirghiz colleague and after eight years they are still living and teaching in that country.
September 7, 2011
Glocal Education
Mustafa K. Erol
The reason that the Hizmet movement concentrates on the few areas that it does has to do with the importance and centrality of those areas in our lives. Providing services in education is a core commitment of the Movement because it is so vital for just about everyone and for one’s whole lifetime. The right education can not only improve employment opportunities and self-esteem, it can also enable individuals to look for and find meaning in their lives. It is an essential, vital need of human nature to seek knowledge and understanding, a need that has both intellectual and spiritual dimensions.
The reason that the Hizmet movement concentrates on the few areas that it does has to do with the importance and centrality of those areas in our lives. Providing services in education is a core commitment of the Movement because it is so vital for just about everyone and for one’s whole lifetime. The right education can not only improve employment opportunities and self-esteem, it can also enable individuals to look for and find meaning in their lives. It is an essential, vital need of human nature to seek knowledge and understanding, a need that has both intellectual and spiritual dimensions.
September 6, 2011
Traffic fatalities soured the Eid
Ekrem Dumanlı
A total of 87 people lost their lives in traffic accidents during the first six days of the nine-day Eid al-Fitr national holiday period. The deaths of more than a hundred people while returning home from the holiday has plunged their families into grief. Traffic accidents have left behind not only dead people but also disabled ones as well as orphaned children. The material damage is immeasurable.
A total of 87 people lost their lives in traffic accidents during the first six days of the nine-day Eid al-Fitr national holiday period. The deaths of more than a hundred people while returning home from the holiday has plunged their families into grief. Traffic accidents have left behind not only dead people but also disabled ones as well as orphaned children. The material damage is immeasurable.
September 5, 2011
End of the story
Etyen Mahçupyan
The case against Ergenekon, a clandestine organization nested within the state trying to overthrow or manipulate the democratically elected government, was first perceived as an accident by the Kemalists of Turkey.
The case against Ergenekon, a clandestine organization nested within the state trying to overthrow or manipulate the democratically elected government, was first perceived as an accident by the Kemalists of Turkey.
September 4, 2011
Sign of peace from Turkey is a lesson for us on 9/11 anniversary
John Kass
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — committed by Muslim terrorists who murdered thousands of our countrymen — we should prepare ourselves.
We should prepare for the memorials and the tears, and we should brace ourselves for something else:
The hate.
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — committed by Muslim terrorists who murdered thousands of our countrymen — we should prepare ourselves.
We should prepare for the memorials and the tears, and we should brace ourselves for something else:
The hate.
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