“Almost everyone has dreams, which are the visions of the spirit. Through these visions, people can experience dimensions outside of material or physical existence, and thereby penetrate some way into many of Destiny’s mysteries.” –M. F. Gulen
In his meditation on dreams, Fethullah Gulen explains the importance dreams have in the life of a human being, especially those who are spiritually inspired, and of the saints and prophets. Read rest of the story
A seminar held recently at University of Technology Malaysia (UTM), discussed the influence and positive impact of the teachings of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. The seminar, under the theme of “Religion Inspired Private Foundations and Educational Development: The Case of Hizmet Movement of Turkey”, focused on understanding the underlying values, philosophy and dynamics of the Movement which is inspired by M. Fethullah Gülen. Read rest of the story
Review of Helen Rose Ebaugh’s The Gulen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam. 2010. New York, NY: Springer, 134pp. ISBN 978 1 4020 9893 2.
Over the past couple of decades there has been a dramatic increase in interest in civil society and grassroots movements as agents of change in society. The past twenty or thirty years have seen increasingly rapid advances in the fields of social development and human rights advocacy. Civic movements have become a central issue for governments around the world, community leaders, and active citizens who want to improve the ability of individuals, organizations, and businesses to build their community’s capacity. Read rest of the story
The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) is a Turkish organization whose honorary president is Fethullah Gulen and which works to promote understanding and dialogue among people of various cultures. The members of the organization are famous Turkish writers, authors, journalists and public officials of different backgrounds and affiliations. Recently the organization has issued a message about the position of Hizmet (Gulen) Movement explaining that the movement is strictly civilian one and does not have any political agenda. Read rest of the story
Review of Robert Hunt’s and Yuksel Aslandogan’s (Eds.) Muslim Citizens of the Globalized World: Contributions of the Gulen Movement. 2006. Somerset, NJ: The Light, 190pp. ISBN 978 1 59784 073 6.
One of the most significant current discussions in legal and moral philosophy is the role of religion in liberal democracies. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the religious diversity and its impact on confessional relations in an increasingly globalized world. Today, interfaith dialogue is at the heart of our understanding of a diverse, modern society.
In recent years, many researchers have shown a particular interest in civil society movements and their contribution to the waves of democratization, changing gender roles, and a peaceful humanity in general. Very few, however, have focused their attention on the Gulen movement – a transnational movement, which represents novel approaches to the “synthesis of faith and reason,” peaceful coexistence of education and spirituality.
An interesting article that highlights the contemporary efforts of the Gulen Movement in their peace building efforts in South East Asia. In light of the difficulties that can exist between ‘different’ communities, it is heartening to know that serious effort is taking place in the realm of dialogue: Read rest of the story
Be so tolerant that your heart becomes wide like the ocean.
Fethullah Gulen
The notions of dialogue, tolerance, and education probably have never been so central to public discussions as they are today. Their contemporary resurgence has in part been triggered by an alarming increase of xenophobia and confessionally motivated antagonisms. Although both the scholarly community and a wider public have long argued about the role of interfaith dialogue, cultural tolerance, and education in shaping our identities and history, very few attempts to increase people’s mutual understanding have succeeded in reality. While clashing civilizations debate still continues to preoccupy intellectual domains, a slowly growing movement inspired by teachings of Fethullah Gulen aimed at serving the humanity is preparing the world to a new paradigm shift. This essay will focus on Fethullah Gulen’s vision of these concepts and his attempt to make the world a better place to live.
Unlike proponents of the anarchic vision of human relations, who often neglect the behavioral aspects and put material forces upfront, Fethullah Gulen devoted himself to the realization of social peace and has spoken and written a lot on reconciliation of religion and science. His tireless work for the achievement of an effective dialogue, unrelenting attempts to create an atmosphere of tolerance, great respect to the followers of different confessions, and his idea to achieve this through education make his sui generic approach a promising bet for the future. Read rest of the story
The Gulen Movement (aka Hizmet Movement) is known to be active in more than 130 countries around the world. Activities that are pursued include education, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, cultural activities, businessmens’ councils, media, relief organization and healthcare – amongst numerous others. Recently in Istanbul those involved in the various dialogue activities came together to highlight their programs and learn from each others activities. Below is an article from the press covering the event… Read rest of the story
While striving in the way of God and for the benefit of people, we try to do good deeds everywhere.
– Fethullah Gulen
“Is anybody out there?”— the outcry rising from the ruins of the devastating earthquake of 1999 – was once the terrible expression of the human tragedy that took lives of more than 17,000 people in Turkey. Back then, it was impossible to predict that within a decade, thanks to the efforts of the homonymous relief initiative, the outcry would become a new slogan for reviving civil society, which had been silent in Turkey for decades. Unbelievably, within the past few years, Turkey has developed into a country whose voluntary rescue teams reach disaster victims across the globe and support those in need. Read rest of the story
Unfortunately some people make the mistake of labelling the Hizmet Movement (aka Gulen Movement) as either a sect, sufi order, school of thought or cult. This comes from not knowing the dynamics of the movement or Fethullah Gulen. In this light the below article sheds light on the identity of the Hizmet movement and the character of its nature. Read rest of the story
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