Fethullah Gülen's message to the conference entitled "Establishing & Sustaining the Culture of Coexistence and Mutual Understanding"

Distinguished members of the Ethiopian - Turkish Necaşi School and the African Union,

Dear guests,

Please accept my warmest regards. I sincerely congratulate any effort to promote mutual understanding and the culture of co-existence which we so desperately need the world over today.

Distinguished guests,

The Creator of the Universe, our Lord says: "You will not see any transgression or disorder in whatever the Lord the Compassionate creates. Just look around and try to find a defect, an error? Then, look around again: your eye, in its hopeless endeavor (to find a defect in His creation), will rest in futile exhaustion." This proper and wondrous balance and order in the universe is possible because no being transgresses the domain of the other but exists in coherence and cohesion with the others in its own place. This cohesion and solidarity is in such a harmony that the day and the night, the seasons, the sun and the earth, the air and water and the soil have to cooperate in a perfect and most delicate balance and measure just for a single fruit of a tree to come into being. Therefore, the price of a single fruit should be the whole universe in unison. The same truth manifests in living organisms, say, a human being that represents a smaller version of the universe. That very cohesion and solidarity is very easy to observe in a human being, too.

Dear friends, this unity, integrity, peace, cohesion and order and the excellent system of living organisms as well as the solidarity and cooperation among them has been possible as every element, organ and component never attempts at transgression the space of the other but lives by respecting the others' existence and tasks. Allah, our Lord, demands the same order, cohesion, solidarity and cooperation from us, humans, whom He has honored as the most glorious of beings. As such, Allah abhors bloodshed and discord among human beings and encourages peace, order and cohesion as the best of conduct and behavior. The Islam religion which denotes peace, serenity, unity, cohesion and well-being demands that human beings live in mutual understanding, peace, calm and harmony. Therefore, it is obvious that we are in a position to and do need to realize this very unity, cohesion and harmony within our bodies also for the sake of the well-being and welfare of mankind.

Distinguished guests, Today, the world needs mutual understanding, peace, dialogue, solidarity and cooperation more than ever. Globalization which is the natural outcome of the advancing means of travel and communication both urges and provides unprecedented opportunities for improving mutual understanding, dialogue, peace, solidarity and cooperation. However, it is sad that our earth which is supposed to be a cradle of fraternity for people represents an arena of warfare and conflict because of conflicting interests, policies dependent on such interests, polarized ideologies and misunderstood and badly practiced religions. It is particularly sad to see that certain groups develop misconceptions about Islam and abuse it whereas Islam is a religion which does not allow violence, killing of human beings and discord among human beings. Therefore, our first and foremost task is to follow the divine purpose which requires us to meet and know and understand one another as different nations and communities, to come closer and cooperate. This is incumbent on us as individuals, communities, nations and countries so that we can get to know and properly communicate, make this world a land of peace and serenity and ultimately know ourselves better by knowing each other better.

In concluding, I have this unshakable belief in your deep comprehension of and endeavor for this divine purpose and I extend my thanks to the International Ethiopian-Turkish Necaşi School, the Journalists and Writers Foundation and to members of the African Union for this beautiful event. May Allah's assistance be with you in your work and efforts.

Fethullah Gülen

Published on fgulen.com, 15 May 2013, Wednesday