Egyptian professor impressed with Fethullah Gulen

Mohamed Sharkawy, the prominent Egyptian professor of philosophy at Cairo University, was at a TV program aired on Mehtap TV. Sharkawy spoke on his encounter with the Hizmet Movement and Fethullah Gulen and the Arab World’s view of both.

Sharkawy said he earlier read a book by an American professor and was fascinated by the way the author referred to Fethullah Gulen. He continued: “I heard Gulen’s name for the first time eight years ago. I initially thought he was just a religious scholar. As we have many of them in Egypt, he didn’t really attract me indeed. Then I read a book by an American professor. It was talking about intercultural dialogue and putting the honorable Gulen next to the world’s old and contemporary prominent philosophers, which grabbed and captivated me. And I said to myself: ‘There’s a thinker, a scholar engaged in philosophy in a place like Turkey. And he is compared to philosophers like Plato, Confucius, Kant and Sartre.’ I knew them very well as philosophy is my expertise. So, I wanted to get to know Gulen. I researched his views and theses and what I found out fascinated me. And this person is living among us today.”

Published [in Turkish] on Samanyolu Haber, 16 February 2014, Sunday