October 22, 2013

Embracing the World: Rumi and Fethullah Gulen

This new book focuses on Fethullah Gülen’s understanding of Sufism in particular as found in the writings of Rumi, a Sufi thinker and poet who lived in 13th century Turkey, as well as with other earlier thinkers, from Socrates to Ibn ‘Arabi. Soltes demonstrates that, as a practitioner of Sufism, Gülen is in part inspired by legendary mystics like Rumi and Muhammad ibn Ali al-‘Arabi, but offers his own distinctive understanding of mysticism’s role in the world.

Gülen, like the early Sufis, is passionate about the concept of love—its strength, power and potential. But Gülen doesn’t believe that achieving oneness with God should be the end goal. Rather, the ability to love that is so wholeheartedly embraced by Sufism should be channeled into the service of humankind. God is best served when we direct our love for God back to the world in which we live. Because love transcends all other human attributes, we should be tolerant of all people, since we were all created by God. Even wrongdoers must be loved: one can hate stealing, untruthfulness and even unbelief but not the perpetrators of these activities—he or she is only misguided and not to be hated.

The manifestation of divine love should be service to mankind, not just the quest of finding favor with God through total devotion to Him. The author describes Gülen’s lifelong ambition of achieving world-wide peace through tolerance and also through altruistic actions; the Turkish word for service, hizmet, summarizes Gülen’s charge to those who are inspired by him to turn words into deeds in shaping a better world.

About the Author: Ori Z. Soltes is Goldman Professorial Lecturere in Theology and Fine Arts at Georgetown Univeristy; and former Director and Curator of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum I Washington, D.C., where he curated over 80 exhibitions.

Published on Digital Journal, 21 October 2013, Monday

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