Fethullah Gülen: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox philosopher

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| name = '''Muhammed Fethullah Gülen'''

| birth_date = 1941, [[Erzurum]], [[Turkey]]{{fact}}

| death_date =

| citizenship = [[Turkey]]

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'''Muhammed Fethullah Gülen''' (born [[27 April]],[[1941]]){{fact}} is a [[Turkey|Turkish]] [[philosopher]],

<ref name=autogenerated4>[http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4349 Foreign Policy: The World’s Top 20 Public Intellectuals]</ref>{{vs}}<ref name=carroll>{{cite book

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modernist Islamic [[scholar]], writer, and leader of the [[Gülen movement]]. He is the author of over 60 books.<ref name=enbooks>[http://en.fgulen.com/content/category/9/264/6/ Fethullah Gülen's works: English books]</ref>{{rs}}<ref name=trbooks>[http://tr.fgulen.com/content/section/30/3/ Fethullah Gülen's works: Turkish books]</ref>{{rs}}

Gülen's proclaimed ideal is to promote [[peaceful coexistence]], and dialog of civilizations<ref name=zaman144511 >[http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=144511 Academic says West knows little of Gülen's contributions], Zaman</ref>{{rs}} at the international scale,<ref name=zaman144646>[http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=144646 Gülen movement invites people to unity, says famous rabbi], Today's Zaman</ref>{{rs}}<ref name=zaman146073>[http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=146073 Former Norwegian PM: Our center takes same approach as Gülen]</ref><ref name=prospect>[http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/printarticle.php?id=10263 A modern Ottoman]{{Dead link|date=February 2010}}, Prospect, Issue 148, July 2008</ref>{{rs}} and to see a

name=forbes0118/> and offer a moderate vision of Islam in Muslim countries.<ref name=nyt080504/><ref name=cuttingedge>[http://www.weeklycuttingedge.com/national%202.htm Cutting Edge: An icon of universal peace]</ref>

Gülen teaches an [[Anatolia]]n version of traditional mainstream [[Islam]],<ref>[[Sunni]] /[[Hanafi]]</ref>. Gülen condemns any kind of [[terrorism]],<ref name="Gulen peace and humanity">[http://en.fgulen.com/content/view/1052/14/ Fethullah Gülen: A life dedicated to peace and humanity- True Muslims Cannot Be Terrorists]</ref>{{rs}} and supports [[interfaith dialog]] among the [[people of the book]]. He initiated such dialogue with the Vatican and some Jewish organizations by meeting [[Jewish]] and [[Christian]] leaders, including the [[Pope]].<ref name=gulendialog>[http://tr.fgulen.com/content/view/12077/14/ Fethullah Gülen: Interfaith-intercultural dialog meetings]</ref>{{rs}}<ref name="Toward a Global Civilization">[http://www.amazon.com/dp/1932099689 Toward a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance]</ref>{{vs}}

name=economist10808408 /> Gülen has been the subject of several academic studies.<ref>[http://en.fgulen.com/conference-papers.html Academic Conference Papers]{{Dead link|date=February 2010}}</ref>{{rs}}<ref name=scholar>[http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=fethullah+gulen&hl=en&lr=Google Scholar Search]</ref><ref>[http://www.gulenconference.org.uk/ House of Lords: Gülen Conference]</ref><ref name=autogenerated3>[http://www.gulenconference.us/ Georgetown University: Gülen Conference]</ref><ref>[http://fethullahgulenconference.org/oklahoma/speakers.php University of Oklahoma: Gülen Conference]</ref>

Gülen and his movement have been praised by Islamic and non-Muslim organisations.<ref name=zaman144646 /><ref name=zaman146073/><ref name=zaman145137>[http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/yazarDetay.do?haberno=145137 Alevi respect to Gülen]</ref>{{rs}}<ref>{{cite news

|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=135316 |accessdate=2008-07-06 |date=2008-03-01 |first=Idris |last=Gursoy |title=Feb. 21 declared ‘Gülen Institute Day’ in Houston |work=Today's Zaman }}</ref>{{rs}} These supporters tend to view the

news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/asia/04islam.html?ex=1367640000&en=625b88103a702f94&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink|first=Sabrina|last=Tavernise|authorlink=Sabrina Tavernise|title=Turkish Schools Offer Pakistan a Gentler Vision of Islam|date=2008-05-04|work=New York Times}}</ref><ref name=tavernise>[http://graphics8.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/04/25/25worldview.mp3 Interview with Sabrina Tavernise, World View Podcasts, New York Times, May 4, 2008]</ref> His movement has its base in [[Turkey]] and forms a significant factor in Turkish society.<ref name=prospect/><ref>[http://meria.biu.ac.il/journal/2000/issue4/jv4n4a4.html Meria Journal: Fethullah Gülen and his liberal 'Turkish Islam' movement]{{Dead link|date=February 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://tr.fgulen.com/content/view/15245/12/ Fethullah Gülen Web Sitesi – "I.lhan Selçuk Türkiye'dir"; Öyle mi?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>{{rs}} There are also some controversies around Gülen. Some [[Secularism in Turkey|secularists]] claim that his objective is to abolish Turkey's

secular state; although court rulings have not supported this.<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=135894 Appeals court unanimously upholds Fethullah Gülen acquittal]</ref>{{rs}} On the other hand, some hardline radical groups criticize his interfaith dialog efforts.

Gülen was born in the village of Korucuk, near [[Erzurum]]. His father, Ramiz Gülen, was an imam. Gülen started primary education at his home village, but did not continue after his family moved, and instead focused on informal Islamic education.<ref>[http://www.zaman.com.tr/webapp-tr/haber.do?haberno=459999 An interview with Fethullah Gülen's primary school teacher]</ref> He gave his first sermon when he was 14.<ref>http://tr.fgulen.com/a.page/hayati/hayat.kronolojisi/a4443.html</ref> He was influenced by the ideas of [[Said Nursi]] and Maulana Jalaluddeen [[Rumi]].<ref>[http://ijh.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.26/prod.1529 The Gulen Movement: Communicating Modernization, Tolerance, and Dialogue in the Islamic World. The International Journal of the Humanities, Volume 6, Issue 12, pp.67-78.]</ref>

Gülen retired from formal preaching duties in 1981. From 1988 to 1991 he gave a series of sermons in popular mosques of major cities. These activities elevated him to a public figure. In 1994, he participated in the founding of "Journalists and Writers Foundation"<ref>http://www.gyv.org.tr/changelang.asp?lang=2&page2go=http://www.gyv.org.tr/</ref> and was given the title "Honorary President" by the foundation.<ref>[http://www.gyv.org.tr/bpi.asp?caid=157&cid=226 The Journalists and Writers Foundation Official Web Site<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He did not make any comment regarding the closures of the Welfare Party in 1998 <ref name="biu.ac.il"/> or the Virtue Party in 2001.<ref name="eupjournals.com">[http://www.eupjournals.com/book/978-0-7486-1837-8 Clement M. Henry, Rodney Wilson, The politics of Islamic Finance, Edinburgh University Press (2004), p 236]</ref> He has met some politicians like [[Tansu Çiller]] and [[Bülent Ecevit]], but he avoids meeting with the leaders of Islamic political parties.<ref name="eupjournals.com"/>

Gülen does not advocate a new theology but refers to classical authorities of theology and takes up their line of argument; his understanding of Islam is thus conservative and mainstream.<ref>[http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8412.html/ Robert W. Hefner, Muhammad Qasim Zaman, Schooling Islam: the culture and politics of modern Muslim education (Princeton University Press, 2007) p. 162-3.]</ref><ref>[http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-216/i.html Portrait of Fethullah Gülen, A Modern Turkish-Islamic Reformist]</ref> Though he has never been a member of a Sufi ''tarekat'' and does not see ''tarekat'' membership as a necessity for Muslims, he teaches that Sufism is the inner dimension of Islam and the inner and outer dimensions must never be separated.<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FFVBFC Thomas Michel S.J., Sufism and Modernity in the Thought of Fethullah Gülen, The Muslim World, Vol. 95 No. 3, July 2005, p.345-5]</ref> His teachings differ in emphasis from those of other mainstream, moderate Islamic scholars in two respects, both based on his interpretations of particular verses of the Qur'an: he teaches that the Muslim community has a duty of service (Turkish: ''hizmet'')<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=r04OPJArUPQC&pg=PP1&dq=A+Civilian+Response+to+Ethno-Religious+Conflict#v=onepage&q=&f=false Mehmet Kalyoncu, A Civilian Response to Ethno-Religious Conflict: The Gülen Movement in Southeast Turkey (Tughra Books, 2008), pp. 19-40]</ref> to the “common good” of the community and the nation <ref>[http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?isbn=0804755019 Berna Turam, Between Islam and the State: The Politics of Engagement (Stanford University Press 2006) p. 61]</ref> and to Muslims and non-Muslims all over the world;<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FFVBFC Saritoprak, Z. and Griffith, S. Fethullah Gülen and the 'People of the Book': A Voice from Turkey for Interfaith Dialogue, The Muslim World, Vol. 95 No. 3, July 2005, p.337-8]</ref> also, the Muslim community is obliged to conduct interfaith dialogue with the "People of the Book" (Jews and Christians).<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FFVBFC Saritoprak, Z. and Griffith, S. Fethullah Gülen and the 'People of the Book': A Voice from Turkey for Interfaith Dialogue, The Muslim World, Vol. 95 No. 3, July 2005, p.337-8]</ref>

Gulen movement participants have founded a number of institutions across the world which promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue activities. While Gülen's earlier works are (in Bekim Agai's words) "full of anti-missionary and anti-Western passages",<ref>http://en.fgulen.com/conference-papers/294-the-fethullah-gulen-movement-i/2132-discursive-and-organizational-strategies-of-the-gulen-movement.html</ref> during the 1990s he began to advocate interreligious tolerance and dialogue.<ref name="Toward a Global Civilization"/> He personally met with leaders of other religions, including [[Pope John Paul II]], the Greek Orthodox [[Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople|Patriarch Bartholomeos]], and Israeli Sephardic Head Rabbi [[Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron]].<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/dp/0970437013 Advocate of Dialogue: Fethullah Gülen]</ref> In recent years, movement initiated dialogue with also those of no faith. For example, the Dialogue Society in London, which is inspired by Gülen’s teaching, has more atheist and agnostic members of its Advisory Board than it has Muslims.<ref name="European Muslims">[http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=157777&SearchType=Basic European Muslims, Civility and Public Life Perspectives On and From the Gülen Movement]</ref>