What happened before and after the elections can be read as a clear demonstration of the distinction between the Hizmet movement and political Islam. In short, we can say, like water and oil, Hizmet –a social-cultural movement pursuing educational, interfaith and charity activities- do not mix with political Islam –a pure political interpretation of Islam. The longer version of this conclusion requires more analysis than the scope of this short note, but we can point out a few factors that clarify the distinction.
First and may be the most relevant factor for this distinction is that Hizmet is not a political entity. Back in 1990s, after thirty years of community service in Turkey Fethullah Gulen had met with several well-known political figures, including then the president and prime minister of Turkey. Even then, several journalists interpreted these meetings as influencing the political agenda in Turkey although people from both sides of the meeting made it clear the conversations had nothing to do with the daily politics. Fethullah Gulen, as a published thinker and concerned citizen, never intended or tried to form a political party, moreover kept his distance to politics except for rarely expressing his opinions on important issues concerning the wider community. Journalists and Writers Foundation, a non-profit organization of which Fethullah Gulen is the honorary chair, have recently held several press conferences to address any allegations in this regard and emphasized the following three points:
1. It is absolutely out of the question, both in theory and practice, that Hizmet, which has volunteer supporters from a diverse spectrum of political ideology, would establish a political party or would assign others to form a party on its behalf. It is equally impossible for Hizmet to be deeply engaged with any specific political party.Ihsan Yilmaz, a political scientist at Fatih University, discusses the main reasons why Hizmet is not and cannot be a political party in his article “Hizmet, Politics and Political Parties” in the daily paper Today’s Zaman. He emphasizes very similar reasons as listed above, beginning with that Hizmet has always opposed to the use of religion as a tool for politics, and therefore the movement has no intent or drive to form a party or some sort of state, which brings us back to the major distinction between Hizmet movement and political Islam:
2. Hizmet is devoted to no purpose other than serving humanity. Hizmet advises its volunteers to define their relationship with politics on values and principles such as human rights, democracy, transparent and fair governance, pluralism, the rule of law, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression. These principles should lay the foundation for people to vote for any political party as long as that party is able to prove they represent these values.
3. On the other hand, individuals’ engaging in active politics is legitimate and useful service for our country. An individual who has been influenced by Hizmet’s cultural basin may choose to participate in active politics “by his or her own account”. This personal choice does not conflict with Hizmet’s very own principle that “Hizmet as Community neither will form a political party nor will engage with any that is in existence”.
"Hizmet movement is not Islamist, hence does not support or favor political Islam in any way. Answering a related question back in 2005 in an interview in the Muslim World “In a time when political Islam has become very popular, what are your thoughts on the relationship between Islam and politics? ”, Gulen clarifies that, “It would not be a correct understanding of Islam to claim that politics is a vital principle of religion and among its well-established pillars.. Although one cannot ignore the effects of ruling and administration in regulating communal relationships between individuals, families and societies, yet these, within the framework of Qur’anic values, are considered secondary issues. That is because the values that we call major principles (ummuhat), such as faith (iman), submission (islam), doing what is beautiful (ihsan), and the acceptance of divine morals by the community, are references that form the essence of administrative, economic, and political issues.”In a more recent interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Fethullah Gulen, exemplifies this point from his past:
“First of all, I must note that this Movement does not pursue political aims, but aims to serve humanity through educational, social and cultural activities. It invests all its time and energy in these services. It aims to solve social problems by focusing on individuals… If we nurtured any political aim, such as establishing a political party, various signs of our aim would have become manifest during the past 40 to 50 years. Over time, various political positions and ranks have been offered to me and my friends, but we rejected them all. If the Movement had political aspirations, it would have established a political party in 2001, when the political scene was quite suitable for such an initiative, but it did not. Likewise, if we really wanted to, we would have ensured that we had many supporters in the ruling parties that have come to office to date, but we did not. Until very recently, there had been only two Members of Parliament associated with the Hizmet Movement in the ruling party, which is known to everyone.”He continues to explain the extent of any political involvement of Hizmet supporters as follows:
“I have never approved of the instrumentalization of religion or religious values to attain political ends, the abuse of religion with political motives, or the use of religious slogans in political contexts. Of course, it is legitimate for people to engage in political activities, and although we are not involved in politics—such as by establishing a political party—we do not preclude others from doing so. Indeed, political parties are essential constituents of any democratic system. Of course, the Hizmet Movement does not seek to establish a political party. Yet the Movement’s fundamental dynamics and common universal values, which I tried to elucidate in response to an earlier question of yours, do have political implications. Individually or collectively, participants in this Movement who are engaged in educational, social and charitable projects may have demands from politics and politicians. But these legitimate demands are always sought through legitimate means and, in this process, unlawful, illegitimate or unethical methods are strictly avoided and counseled against. Participants in and supporters of the Hizmet Movement naturally expect its administrators to promote the rule of law, human rights, freedoms, peace, freedom of thought and enterprise, and stability and order in the country, [and they also expect] that they [the political leaders] work to eliminate chaos and anarchy and ensure that everyone is accepted as they are. Such participants resort to civilian and democratic means available to them to raise their voices about shortcomings in this regard. Raising public awareness is both a civic duty and one of the goals of civil society. No one can be forced to establish a political party in order to do this, and those who raise public awareness about these shortcomings cannot be accused of pursuing political goals, trying to partner with the ruling party, or meddling with democratically elected representatives. This is how it works in any true democracy.”As can be seen from Gulen’s explanations above, Hizmet movement supports or opposes certain causes due to very basic principles not because it is voiced by certain factions. And when they do they always act within the lines of participatory democracy. As such, some did support AK party in the previous elections for the reason that AK party was promising a new constitution with improved rights and freedoms. In another recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Gulen clarifies that one more time:
“To repeat, we have never formed an alliance or partnership with a political party or candidate. Our support or criticism has always been around values. Such an alliance will not be made in the future either. As civil society actor, it is imperative for us to be open to everybody in the society. But our values are clear. Democracy, universal human rights and freedoms, transparent and accountable governance are among these values.”Reading all these statements by Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement, one can conclude that the main agenda of Hizmet movement is to “support the principles of democracy, equal opportunity and emphatic acceptance of religious and cultural diversity” which has been stated by Alliance of Shared Values, Rumi Forum or Gulen Insititute or many other local Hizmet affiliated institutions. The principles and chemistry of Hizmet movement do not let it mix with the political Islam. The main agenda of Hizmet is always to serve all people without any expectations; and any other politically ascribed goals are baseless allegations due to the narrow perspectives of the specific observers.
Published on fethullah-gulen.org
