Mehmet Gündem, Yeni Şafak
Fethullah Gülen is neither the Calvin of Islam nor a political figure. He is neither an alternative to politics nor the state, but he is the hundreds-of-years-old interpretation of Islam that originated in Anatolia.
Getting his inspiration not only from the practice of the Era of Happiness, the time when Prophet Mohammed was alive, but also from the deep-rooted Islamic life of Anatolia,
Gülen has become a Muslim pioneer who has always remained loyal to both the essence and form of Islam while at the same time managing to address contemporary issues on a global scale.
Gülen's power essentially comes from his comprehensive faith and his scholarship, characterized by practicing what he preaches. The main reason for the appeal of Gülen's ideas to large groups inside and outside the country is his heroic effort to become a true Muslim. As this aspect of him is not well known,
Gülen cannot be sufficiently understood. When our world of knowledge and feeling is shallow and alien to man and Islam, we lose the potential to understand the
Gülen movement.
Published on
Today's Zaman, 26 May 2008, Monday
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