Hizmet Movement through the Eyes of an Indian

Kashif Ihsan Khan*

On 21 June I returned to Delhi from Turkey, after spending three weeks in some 6 cities including Konya, Bursa, Ankara and Istanbul. It was my second trip to Turkey. The first was confined to Istanbul as it was aimed at having a deep insight into the functioning of Islamic banks in Istanbul for my doctoral thesis. During the second visit to Turkey, I visited major sites in Istanbul and other cities, including the magnificent edifices of Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Suleymaniya Mosque, grave of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, Ulu Jami in Bursa, etc. I also visited schools sponsored by Hizmet and Fatih University in the western suburbs of Istanbul, an English-language university supported by Hizmet.

The purpose behind this second visit was to have a vast look at the Hizmet movement in Turkey, the birthplace of the movement. Hizmet is translated as Khidmet in the Urdu language and service in English. The very purpose of this movement is to do social service, in other words serving the cause of humanity and thereby seeking reward from Almighty. Like all other movements, this was also started by a devotee who has no other desire but to see the world in peace, spread education, reduce poverty and revitalise the faith of the people. It is Mr. Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish by nationality, a thinker, an author, a preacher, and an intellectual; he has been one of the foremost and influential opinion makers in Turkey.

During my visit I kept asking Turkish people about Gulen and his movement. I found he is known to everyone living in Turkey, be it an opponent, supporter, or indifferent. My Turkish friend told me that some persons who are involved in Hizmet are forced to conceal this fact in certain places or times due to the opposition. Leaving all the worldly pleasures behind, Gulen devoted his entire life to do Hizmet (Khidmet) and expecting people who are inspired by him to come up with the notion of brotherhood and making his ideas global in scope. Hundreds of people are now showing interest in spreading the message of Hizmet through the ideas of Gulen and he is also acknowledged among his people as Hoca Efendi (respected teacher). Gulen channelizes his entire endeavour to encourage his followers to disperse into every realm be it media, politics, education or business, from tiny jobs to high class jobs, which is the essence of Hizmet movement.

I joined Hizmet in 2011 after my first trip to Turkey. During that visit I stayed some 20 days with the students who were associated with the Hizmet movement; I found them extremely loving to me; I felt like living in a family as if we were known to one another for years. Turkish people are very famous for their hospitality and when they are of Hizmet then hospitality goes par excellence. We dined together the traditional way, sitting on cushions around the room, tablecloth spread on the floor, eating in group of five or six from common platters. Sometimes I did not feel hungry but sat down to eat anyway with other abis. After food, one of us made dua raising hands and rest of us said Ameen loudly, we did not even hesitate to abandon it at gardens, parks, restaurants, etc. The term abi is also used in the Movement to show closeness. Abi means in the Urdu language bhai and in English brother. This respect, which indicates some measure of influence, does not derive from a formal title, position or status within the group of hizmet. I felt like I am a part of a worldwide family as the members of this global family can be found in every nook of this world.

Several writings of Gulen depict that he is transforming the ideas of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi into reality; Nursi in turn drew upon the great Anatolian Sufi Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi (d. 1276) and the Indian Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi (1564-1624) and Shah Wali Allah al-Dihlawi (1703-1762) among others. He was unjustly accused and arrested many times and put on trial for his life, received innumerable torments throughout his life.

During the World War I, he established a militia force, together with his followers, and played an active role in the defence of the country. He showed great success as the voluntary regiment commander, ultimately he was taken as a prisoner of war by the Russians. Once Mustafa Kamal Ataturk personally invited him and offered the post of deputyship but he rejected and remained distant to politics. In 1925, Said Nursi was taken from Van province where he secluded himself and was exiled to Burdur, and then to the Barla district of Isparta, a remote village located near Egirdir Lake. I happened to visit there; I also visited the garden that is some 200mtrs from the hut hanging up on the tree, clung to the structure shaped by Nursi himself. In that hut he used to do zikr of Allah. Having reached there I felt the sense of seclusion, torment, isolation, love for Allah and desire to sacrifice life in the way of the Almighty. I stayed there for some three hours, recited the Qur’ān and prayed in the garden where Bediuzzaman wrote a great part of his work the Risale-i Nur Collection in the period of exile. He spent 30 years of his life in prisons and exile, spent all his life under these harsh conditions to advocate the Unity of Islam.

Hizmet came into existence in late 1960s after the death of Said Nursi. Gulen took an initiative for creating educational opportunities in the form of scholarships, dormitories, schools and tutoring centres. Having come back from Turkey, I can surely say that the roots of Hizmet are deeply rooted in Turkey; it is flourishing successfully and has expanded and takes claim to its own TV network, think tank, newspaper which is produced in Turkish and in English, a bank, a shipping and packaging company, a radio station, and a non-profit that focuses on international relief, Kimse Yok Mu, among other things.

On the 18th day of the journey I visited Istanbul, the crown of the Muslim world. Turkish people have decorated this city as one decorates his own house. There I witnessed the stunning success of Hizmet in media and education. I came across Samanyolu TV launched in 1993, a weekly magazine started in 1994 and many radio stations around the country were opened in 1990s. Literature on Hizmet running into volumes informs us that in 1979 a group of teachers inspired by Mr. Gulen’s ideas of education established the Teachers’ Foundation to support education.

This Foundation began publishing its own monthly journal, Sizinti, which became the highest selling monthly journal in Turkey. Its mission was to relate science and religion, to show that the two were not incompatible and that knowledge of both was essential to a successful education. Each issue of the journal carries an editorial written by Mr. Gulen. Several participants of the movement bought Zaman newspaper in 1986 to be the voice of the unheard, weak and ignored. I don’t remember not having found this newspaper in dormitories or houses that I visited. Zaman newspaper is the largest circulating daily in Turkey. The Fountain, a magazine of scientific and spiritual thought, is published in English-speaking countries.

Another thing with the movement that fascinated me is the strategy of raising funds. I learnt from the Hizmet people how they raise funds to make Hizmet run smoothly. The basic money-raising drive is carried out in the establishment of local circles of businessmen, teachers, principals, professionals, and students who meet regularly to discuss the activities of Gulen and consider how his ideals can be applied in their local communities. One of my friends from Fatih University informed me that the profit earned by the canteen of the Fatih University goes to the canteen of one the universities in Africa, which is new and not able to meet the expenses.

My purpose of sharing views on Hizmet is to seek and learn some chapters from it and try to implement them in our vicinities in the best possible manner. The Gulen Movement sets an example in the Muslim world not only with its activities but also how it generates financial support for these activities. And examples from the lives of the Companions of the Prophet strengthen the Gulen Movement’s position and impact within the Muslim world. One of the greatest contributions of Hizmet is to bring people with common interests who otherwise would likely not know each other.

*[Research fellow at the Centre for West Asian Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.]

Published on Radiance Views Weekly, 20 July 2013,