The Gülen movement as a global movement: Understanding history, ideology and context

Tahir Abbas*

Distinguished guests, honorable friends and respected audience members, I thank you for the opportunity to be here with you today and to share my thoughts with you on an important topic of study that has theoretical, practical and policy implications and outcomes worthy of academic consideration and evaluation.

TUSKON to gather 2,000 businessmen from all over world in İstanbul

The Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) has organized another Turkey-World Trade Bridge summit, to be held in İstanbul starting Wednesday as nearly 2,000 businessmen from all around the world fly in to attend.

Fethullah Gülen's message to the "Ideal Human & Ideal Society Conference" in Pakistan

M. Fethullah Gülen

Honorable Chief Minister, Vice-Chancellor, academics, and dear guests,

I am very honored for your kind invitation to this conference. It is with regret and bitterness in the heart when I say I will be missing this great opportunity of visiting a sister nation and its people as dear as my own, due to my present health conditions.

Gov't needs to be more active in preventing domestic violence

The government should take a more active role in preventing domestic violence -- which is on the rise across Turkey and the world -- stated the final declaration of the conference on violence and society organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation's (GYV) Women's Platform between Nov. 24 and 26 in İstanbul.

Social, legal sanctions needed in fight against domestic violence

Social sanctions will be necessary alongside legal measures if domestic violence is to be curbed in Turkey, according to experts from a number of fields who gathered at a conference of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) in İstanbul on Sunday, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Domestic violence addressed at int'l conference of GYV Women's Platform

The reasons behind domestic violence and the role of family in the prevalence of violence in society are being discussed during an international conference organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation's (GYV) Women's Platform in İstanbul.

Deputy PM visits Turkish schools complex in Yemen

(Photo: AA)

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc visited the International Yemen Turkish Schools as well as the Yemen office of TIKA, Turkey's international cooperation and development agency, in capital Sana'a.

Hodjaefendi Fethullah Gülen - A profile by The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Jordan

Fethullah Gulen

Fethullah Gülen is a preacher, thinker and educator, who has become a global phenomenon. His popularity and authority in Turkey has been the driving force of the movement that is widely thought to have brought about the social and, eventually, political changes of which politician Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been the ultimate heir—that is the enfranchisement of Muslim politics in Turkey. Despite his peaceful means of preaching and community organization, Gülen is hated by the [ultra-]secularist establishment in Turkey and has been living in the US since 1999.

Language of Deeds

A language is at the heart of our identity. It has always been central to our nature and carried within it our spirits. Developments of the past several decades and the rhetoric of globalization have heightened even more the need for better understanding of languages. So far, however, there has been little discussion about the “language of deeds.” This article will explore some of Fethullah Gulen’s thoughts on the meaning and functions of such language.

Educational Perspective of Fethullah Gulen

Gulen-inspired schools provide a unique case in this regard, by opening schools that emphasize sound education. The success of the schools inspired by Gulen’s philosophy is renowned worldwide, and has been recognized and acknowledged by scholars, journalists, intellectuals and government authorities.

Foreign Ministry: Turkish schools Ozel visited not Gulen-inspired

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has clarified that the Turkish schools the chief of General Staff visited in Saudi Arabia were operating under the Turkish embassy, implying that they are not Fethullah Gülen schools.

The Basis for Dialogue

O people, We created you all from a single man and a single woman, and made you into races and tribes so that you should get to know one another. In God’s eyes, the most honoured of you are the ones most mindful of Him: God is all knowing, all aware.
(al-Hujurat, 49:13)

Fethullah Gulen – A humanist par excellence

Hizmet Movement was launched in Turkey with the aim of serving individual, society and religion as had been the teaching of Fethullah Gulen.

This was consensus among speakers at an international conference on “Ideal Human and Ideal Society in the Thoughts of M. Fethullah Gulen,” arranged at the Punjab University (PU) Law College Auditorium on Wednesday.

Fethullah Gülen's teachings discussed at conference in Algeria

The ideas, worldview and teachings of Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Islamic scholar known for his promotion of mutual understanding and tolerance between cultures, were discussed at a conference on Wednesday hosted by the Faculty of Islamic Sciences of the University of Algiers.

Fethullah Gulen calls on Muslims to pray for, send aid to Gaza

Fethullah Gulen

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has expressed his deep sorrow over the killings of civilians, mostly women and children, as a result of attacks on Gaza by Israel and called on Muslims to pray for the well-being of their brothers and sisters in Palestine and send them aid to help heal their wounds.

Fethullah Gülen calls on followers to pray for Palestinians, Syrians

Islamic scholar and prominent Turkish figure Fethullah Gülen has called on his followers to pray for an end to the current tribulations in Syria and Palestine, according to Herkül.org.

‘Sacred, Secular, Twin Tolerations and the Hizmet’

İhsan Yılmaz

For me, the month of November is a month of conferences that I have to both endure but also enjoy.

From New Orleans, I flew to Lahore to present a paper at another international conference titled “Ideal Human and Ideal Society in the Thoughts of M. Fethullah Gülen.” Scholars from many parts of the world presented their papers on the topic.

Faith in Divine Destiny

“And there is not a thing but its treasures are with us but we only send down thereof in due and ascertainable measures”[1]

One of the six articles of faith in Islam is faith in the divine destiny. Muslims believe that the all-knowing God knows everything before they come in to existence and nothing occurs without His will. The concept, which is at the foremost frontier of Islamic faith, is hard to grasp with our human minds so it is mostly a matter of conscious and heart.[2] This is a very influential belief in shaping Muslims’ understanding of and reaction to what is happening in their lives. Concept of destiny especially arises in difficult times when people need to seek refuge from troubles by facing towards a higher and powerful being for assistance and comfort.

Doctors Worldwide Turkey, Kimse Yok Mu set to help Gazans

The Turkish wing of the UK aid group Doctors Worldwide and Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) are set to extend a helping hand to the people in Gaza, which has been experiencing Israeli attacks since Wednesday.

Conference on Fethullah Gülen’s thoughts on ideal society to be held in Pakistan

A press conference regarding the international conference “Ideal Human and Ideal Society in the Thoughts of M. Fethullah Gülen” was held at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Professor Dr. Liaqat Ali, the Acting Vice Chancellor, Assistant Professor Maria Maldonado, Director of International Linkages, Harun Köken, Chairman of Rumi Forum, and Hakan Yeşilova, Editor of The Fountain announced the program and briefed on the conference.

Gulen moot to explore meaning of life, model of ideal human

The editor of The Fountain, Hakan Yesilova, has said that the purpose of international conference on “Ideal Human and Ideal Society in the Thoughts of M Fethullah Gulen” was to explore meaning of life and the model of ideal human and ideal society that have found their definitions in the thoughts of one of the most significant Turkish scholars Yesilova was addressing a press conference at Punjab University on Monday.

Gülen Movement in increasingly Radicalized World

Halit Kara

Eleven years after the horrible tragedy, which changed the lives of many and seems to continue effecting our lives for the years to come here at home and across the globe, as the nation is getting ready to commemorate the victims of 9/11, a religion and specifically followers of this peaceful religion are once again being put under spotlight.

‘Gülen movement challenges culture of competition’

Michael Samuel

The Gülen movement, a faith-based social movement with millions of followers in Turkey, is challenging the increasingly competitive philosophy based on marginalizing and outdoing others and offering new ways of looking at cooperation and working together, says Michael Samuel, dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in Durban and life-time educator with good knowledge of schools founded by the Gülen movement.

Gulen Inspired Schools: Glocal Schools serving with Integrity and Sincerity

Veli Keskin

Some say they are the best schools around, and some say they can’t be that good without support from global powers. Some say they serve for global peace, and some other say: “Don’t be naive they must have a hidden agenda”. I will not get into questions like “water of the mill” as they have been addressed previously. The main question I am going after is, what are really Gulen Inspired Schools? What makes them standout? How can you distinguish a Gulen Inspired School from any other public or community school?

Gulen Movement Educates Kurds, and not Everyone Is Happy

Nicholas Birch *

There is a studious silence in the basement floor of the Rose Pink Women's Education and Mutual Aid Association in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.

Evolution of the Gulen Movement [Hizmet]

Members of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) gathered in Washington DC for a follow up discussion on the Gulen Movement on October 19, 2012.

The group's director Dr. Bulent Aliriza hosted the discussion... and said that the Gulen movement, perhaps more than any other in overall Turkish picture, has been the subject of a great deal of discussion, criticism, suspicion, in spite of all the good work that is being done...

What Bishop Welby's appointment reminds: Are we responding to God's calling?

Levent Koç*

I heard from some of my clergy friends that they chose to become pastors because they responded to God's calling. In fact, you may hear from any person God has called to pursue a certain mission; he/she responds to the calling so as to become a good servant of God, serving God's creation in the way God wills it.

Record number of Turkish tweets protest plan to close prep schools

In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo,

elementary school students take

a university preparation course in the

eastern province of Kars. (Photo: Cihan)

Turkish Twitter users posted over 1.5 million tweets under the hashtag #dershanemolmasaydı (“if my university prep school didn't exist”) on Monday to protest the government's recent plan to eliminate the dershanes, private educational institutions that prepare students for examinations.

Turkish Economy Minister praises Gulen-inspired schools

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, who was on a working visit in Mozambique recently, visited Sogut International Turkish College located in the capital Maputo. This college, which is established by the followers of Hizmet movement, is one of the most prestigious educational establishments in Mozambique. School’s students organized a reception welcoming high guests from Turkey, who were very excited to see local children talk and sing in Turkish language. In the speech, which Caglayan delivered during the program, he said, “20-25 years ago it was impossible to even dream of existence of such schools around the world. If one said there are great Turkish schools around the world, I would say, “Are you kidding me?” But today, the dream became a reality. And I send my highest respect and appreciation to people who made this become real.”

Original article [in Turkish] published on Zaman Daily, 06 October 2012, Saturday
English excerpt published on fethullah-gulen.net, 13 November 2012, Tuesday

JWF Coexistence Awards Largely Honor Turkey's Minority Groups

GYV's 4th Coexistence Awards

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) has largely honored Turkey's minority groups and oppressed voices with its landmark 4th Coexistence Awards in the hope to give a stimulus to those promoting, despite scarce resources yet in a sustained effort, peaceful coexistence.

Fethullah Gülen offers condolences for helicopter crash victims

Fethullah Gulen

World renowned Turkish Islamic intellectual and scholar Fethullah Gülen has offered his deep condolences to families of the fallen soldiers who were killed in a helicopter crash in the eastern province of Siirt over the weekend.

Egyptian scholar: Hira Magazine building bridges in Islamic world

Cumali Önal

Leading Egyptian Islamic scholar Muhammad Imara has praised Turkey's Arabic language magazine, Hira, for performing a crucial role in building bridges between the Turkish and Arab world as well as for the humanity.

Swinging between hope and despair - Opposing news from Yemen

Levent Koç*

Photo: Yemeni Turkish Schools

We are in an era where we are swinging between hope and despair. More things push us towards despair than what makes us hopeful. Recently, I read two news stories about Yemen; one hurt my hope, the other refreshed it.

Do good and let it unfold: A closer look into Gulen movement and Fethullah Gulen's life

Rainer Hermann

Fethullah Gülen signs one of his books
for his guests at his home in Pennsylvania
Photo: Rainer Hermann

The Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen has been living in the United States for 13 years now. A widely branched network of followers developed also there in his name.

There is no road sign indicating the exit and the dirt track. It leads you through a foggy broadleaf forest coloured in all the shades of autumn to an estate with eight houses. Thirteen years ago, Fethullah Gülen, the most influential preacher of Turkish Islam, retreated to this secluded place.

Fethullah Gulen and Gulen movement featured in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Hermann looks closer into Hizmet movement, Gülen's life in FAZ article

Rainer Hermann speaks during
a conference in İstanbul. (Photo: Cihan)

Rainer Hermann, a respected writer for Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) daily, puts the Hizmet Movement, which includes followers of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen's principles, and Gülen's life under spotlight in an article published on Friday.

Fethullah Gulen: Islamic world does not really exist, Islam is not understood properly

Leonid R. Sykiainen*

In a number of his publications Fethullah Gülen analyses in a short but very deep manner the present situation in the Muslim world. He agrees that during a long period of time the Muslim societies have been witnessing a multidimensional political, social and cultural crisis.

Justice and the Beloved Community in Fethullah Gulen’s Thought

Dr. Joseph Stoutzenberger *

Fethullah Gulen (Photo: AP)

When I heard that the theme of this conference was to be “The Beloved Community,” I decided to revisit Fethullah Gulen’s writings about Sufism since love is so central to that expression of Islam. Sufism entails spiritual training that leads to self-purification so that one can experience God’s love for oneself the practitioner, and out of that realization of God’s love he or she goes out and loves in return—God, of course, and other people as well. As I read through Gulen’s two volumes, I realized that he was not writing about Sufism as if it were practiced by a group of specialists who live in another time and place. Rather, he was speaking about qualities that all of us should strive for.

Fethullah Gülen joins Sandy relief effort with $10,000 donation via Kimse Yok Mu

Fethullah Gulen joins Sandy relief

Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) has launched an aid campaign to help pick up the pieces in the wake of Hurricane Sandy which hit the US East Coast in late October, with Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen being the first contributor to the campaign with a donation of $10,000.

Shahbaz lays foundation stone of Pak-Turk school

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan and Turkey enjoy brotherly and friendly relations and, with efforts of the Punjab government, mutual ties between the two countries are transforming into economic cooperation.

He was addressing the foundation-stone laying ceremony of a school under the Pak-Turk International Schools and Colleges System at Khayaban-e-Amin in Lahore on Tuesday.

Fethullah Gulen as a Servant Leader

Gürkan Çelik & Yusuf Alan *

Fethullah Gulen

Fethullah Gülen was born in 1941in Erzurum, eastern Turkey, just twenty-odd years after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. The war for Independence, transition from one regime to another, the Second World War and global phenomena of modernity versus religion had all taken its toll on Turkey and its newly emerging citizens. It is within this context that Gülen grew up and experienced the difficulty, degradation and poverty of his people.

Kimse Yok Mu provides water with wells in Pakistan

Fazli Mert

The Turkish charitable organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) has dug 22 wells in various parts of Pakistan to help people meet their need for potable water.

Turkish charity reaches out to 75 countries during Eid Al-Adha

This year, Kimse Yok Mu arranged sacrifice organizations in Eid Al-Adha 75 countries including Turkey. In organizations at foreign countries, 59,471 shared animals were slaughtered, and their meats were delivered to approximately 180 thousand families in need.

Fethullah Gulen’s approach to Science and Literature

Tarık Okur

One might think that there is an unambiguous relationship between science and literature. Yet to date nobody has made a significant attempt to reveal the link between the two. While numerous studies have attempted to explain the role of science and literature in our lives, far too little attention has been paid to the impact they may have on each other.

Strategic defamation of Fethullah Gulen

Ahmet Kurucan

I would like to make an addition to a famous statement made by Sakallı Celal, “Such extensive ignorance is possible only by education.”

Prejudice should also be included in the preceding remark because Fethullah Gülen, who is the main subject matter in the book “Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gülen: English vs. Turkish” that I will discuss in this column, is victimized by the prejudices of some people who call themselves intellectuals and, unfortunately, he has been subjected to hatred and enmity as well as competition and jealousy caused by these prejudices.

Kazakh-Turkish school wins medals in Brazil

Students of the Kazakh-Turkish School have brought 1 silver and 3 gold medals for their mathematics projects from Brazil. They took part in the 27th International fair of projects in the field of technology.

A new international conference on Fethullah Gulen to be held in Pakistan

The Fountain Magazine and Rumi Forum are jointly holding an international conference "Ideal Human and Ideal Society in the Thoughts of M. Fethullah Gülen".

Columnist: Rodrik distorted Fethullah Gulen's views

Taha Kıvanç

"Ergenekon is on the attack..." This is how a friend of mine thinks.

Dani Rodrik, whose father-in-law is facing trial on the Sledgehammer Case, tweeted "My favorite defense of wife-beating, from Fethullah Gulen: if it does some good in one out of hundred women, why would Islam prohibit it?" My friend said "Hundreds of people retweeted this message in a matter of a few hours."

Fethullah Gülen writes special prayer against Sandy

Fethullah Gulen

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has expressed his deep sorrow for devastating effects of Super Storm Sandy and reportedly wrote a blessing and prayer against the storm for his followers before the US East Coast was hit by the monster storm on Monday.

Locals rename African village ‘Türkiye' to show thanks for aid

Mehmet Kuru

Residents of a village in the West African country of Burkina Faso have changed the name of the settlement to "Türkiye" (Turkey) to show their appreciation for the aid they received during the Eid al-Adha holiday from civil society organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There).

Gulen Movement Planting Seeds of Understanding

Cathy Ziengs

Imagine,

"...a world where people are deeply grounded in a moral and ethical tradition, where humility and service are highly valued and where reason, science and technology are fully utilized for the benefit of all."[1]

Does this sound like some sort of utopia that we would like to choose for the human race? A place where harmony reigns and suffering is diminished? From a Buddhist perspective, does it resonate with the ideal of following the middle path for the sake of all sentient beings?

These words, this dream, mirror the dedicated work of a Turkish Muslim scholar living in our modern times. His force of philosophy and concerns for peaceful coexistence among men has spawned a movement of believers around the world. His name is Fethullah Gülen.

Fethullah Gulen on "Islam and Terrorism"

Q: In our modern day, the relationship between Islam and terrorism is greatly debated. Can terrorism be considered a way of struggle for freedom? What is the Islamic alternative to terrorism and struggle?

Fethullah Gülen: As I said in an interview with Nuriye Akman for Daily Zaman, today, at best we can say that Islam is not known at all. Muslims should say, “In true Islam, terror does not exist.” No person should kill another human being. No one can touch an innocent person, even in time of war. No one can give a fatwa (a legal pronouncement) commending this matter. No one should be a suicide bomber. No one can rush into crowds with bombs tied to his or her body. Regardless of the religion of these crowds, this is not religiously permissible. Even in the event of war – during which it is difficult to maintain balances – this is not permitted in Islam.

Filipino-Turkish School Donates Beef

Nonoy E. Lacson

The Filipino-Turkish Tolerance School in this city yesterday commemorated the feast of Eid’l Adha or the facet of Sacrifice by slaughtering some 300 heads of cows and distributed their meat to the poor Muslim and Christian people residing in poor villages of this city.

Turkish organizations pour out aid during Eid al-Adha

The Kimse Yok Mu charity delivered packages

of meat to 15,000 families in Bangladesh
during Eid al-Adha. (Photo: Today's Zaman)

Turkish charities have taken the opportunity to extend a helping hand to those in need both across the country and around the world during Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions around the globe, delivering various relief items, including sacrificial meat, to put a smile on people's faces during this joyous time.

Fethullah Gulen on "Women in Islam"

Q: The relationship between men and women in Islam is one of the controversial topics debated in the modern day. What are your thoughts of the place of women in society?

Fethullah Gulen: The Qur’an invites people to form a family life and points out many wisdoms and benefits of marriage. “And Allah has given you wives of your own kind, and has given you, from your wives, sons and grandsons, and has made provision of good things for you. Is it then in vanity that they believe and in the grace of Allah that they disbelieve?” (16:72). The Qur’an views marriage as a serious commitment on the part of the husband and wife; it is a covenant between the husband and wife. It speaks of the rights of the husband and the wife. “If you wish to divorce one wife and marry another, do not take from her the dowry you have given her, even if it be a talent of gold. Is it appropriate to take this by making up reasons for divorce and intentionally sinning? How can you take it back when you have lain with each other and put your heads on the same pillow and entered into a firm contract? That would be improper and grossly unjust” (4:20-21).

Fethullah Gulen and his Amazing Social Reforms

Elsa Lam

Books on/by Fethullah Gulen

Hence, there is no doubt that a person who is armoured with love needs no other weapon. Indeed, love is strong enough to stop a bullet or even a canon [sic] ball.

Fethullah Gülen, Love Towards Humankind (p. 6)

We all live in this world and we are passengers on the same ship. In this respect, there are many common points that can be discussed and shared with people from every segment of society.

Fethullah Gülen, Understanding Fethullah Gülen (p. 22)