An American Way of Peace Building, Paul D. Hughes, Colonel

BANGKOK POST: Islamic scholar gave Buddhist point to ponder

I have just returned from Turkey, one of the world's most beautiful countries. What has stayed deeply in my mind, however, is not the country's picture-perfect postcard beauty, but its people, its modern take on Islam and a host of questions for my own country.

During the visit, we _ a group of media people from Thailand _ met a number of socially engaged entrepreneurs, charity groups, news media organisations and universities whose works are inspired by Turkish spiritual leader and Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gulen.

Forgive my ignorance, but I had never heard of his name before my visit, although he was voted by the award-winning Foreign Policy magazine as one of the world's top 100 public intellectuals in 2008. The readers, however, voted him the world's No.1 thinker, thanks to a global network of millions of his supporters.

Is this a cult or what? That was the first question that sprang to my mind. But a cult operates in a closed, hierarchical organisation with a central leader who often boasts divine connections and an ultimate answer to save the world. Cults are dangerous.

The messages from the Gulen or Hizmet (service) movement, however, are compassion, humanism, tolerance through inter-faith dialogues, community service and the pursuit of modern education, particularly the study of science to discover God's laws in the natural world.

An advocate of moderate Islam, Mr Gulen condemns all forms of terrorism while believing Islam is compatible with globalisation.

His supporters are the upwardly mobile entrepreneurs and professionals who embrace the social service encouraged by Mr Gulen. They insist there is no central organisation, just a network of like-minded civil society.

"The problem now is in representation of Islam, the wrong interpretations," said one Gulen-inspired businessman, Mustafa Sasmaz.

"In Islam, you cannot kill people for religion. In today's world, the true jihad is in education, in our giving to help others. If we help one kid to have an education, we're helping society. We're only temporary caretakers of God's properties. Why hold on to it without sharing?"

Like his peers, he is donating a sizeable amount of his income to support the Gulen-inspired schools, mass media and charities that are branching out overseas, thus stirring up some paranoia among outsiders as well as Turkey's own strict secularists.

Despite my usual journalistic scepticism, I was impressed by the sincere commitment to social service and cross-cultural dialogues of the Gulen-inspired entrepreneurs and mass media _ which raises questions about my own country.

Buddhism also teaches compassion and indiscriminate giving. Why hasn't Buddhist giving grown into social service movements? Why has it stopped at being an individual's merit making to reserve a place in heaven?

Thailand also has its own inspirational spiritual leader in the late Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. But most of his followers prefer to practise his teachings to improve their minds, not society.

Is it because our Theravada Buddhism is intrinsically individualistic in spiritual pursuit?

We also have our own brand of capitalist Buddhism. The Dhammakaya Temple is supported by powerful politicians and billionaires. Yet the money mainly goes to feed the temple's grandeur and influence over the clergy, not to social services to help humanity.

While the Gulen-inspired businesses generously support education of the needy and tolerance through cross-cultural dialogues, the Dhammakaya followers believe the more they give to the temple, the closer they are to nibhana, or enlightenment.

Islam has no priests. Does it mean each individual Muslim has the duty to live a religious life while Buddhists can transfer such responsibility to monks?

Is community service strong because the zakat donations for the weak and poor are mandatory in Islam while giving is voluntary in Buddhism? Do the compulsory Friday prayers at the mosques strengthen social organisations that are generally weak in Buddhist cultures?

Despite the differences, Turkey and Thailand similarly need to transcend bloody ethnic conflicts through tolerance and cross-cultural dialogues. Here, our Muslim communities must be more outspoken in advocating moderate Islam instead of being held hostage by the radicals. Buddhists, meanwhile, need to rise above Buddhist nationalism. Only when there is mutual trust can there be any fruitful dialogue.

SOURCE : http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/298974/islamic-scholar-gave-buddhist-point-to-ponder

Gülen Institute awards student essay winners on Capitol Hill (Washington DC)

The Rumi Forum along with the Gulen Institute organized the Annual Essay Competitions Award Presentation program in Washington DC recently

Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ileana Ros-Lehtinen stands with the winners of the int’l essay contest. (Photo: Today's Zaman)

31 May 2012 / ALI H. ASLAN, WASHINGTON

Houston University's Gülen Institute bestowed awards on 35 young people from 65 countries and 45 US states for their winning essays on how to address crimes against children around the world on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.


Nearly 1,300 compositions had been entered into the Gülen Institute's international essay competition. The award ceremony was held at the House of Representatives' Rayburn House Office Building.

Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and lawmakers Gene Greene and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Tom Petri of Wisconsin attended the ceremony.

Calling Turkey and the United States “unwavering allies,” Ros-Lehtinen said “Our two countries have been steadfast allies for the past six decades and continue to cooperate closely on so many of the challenges that we are facing today.”

She continued to speak of Turkey's actions in Syria and Afghanistan with praise and added that “generations of Turkish immigrants have come to the United States, enhancing our society with their talents and their skills.”

The first place $3,000 prize went to Alexander Kamberov from Bulgaria for his essay on child soldiers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ruby Guo from the United States took second place for her work on child workers. Jae Woo Jang from the Philippines, who addressed the issue of human trafficking, won third place.

Members of Congress David Dreier of California, Joe Heck of Nevada and Greg Walden of Oregon awarded the students with certificates of recognition from Congress and congratulated them on behalf of their constituencies.

Gülen Institute Youth Platform Head Dr. Tom Gage, University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work Dean Dr. İra Colby and think tank Rethink Institute President Dr. Fevzi Bilgin also attended the ceremony.

The 35 young winners were also awarded a five-day trip to Washington and New York. Gülen Institute Executive Director Ali Rıza Çandır said of the trip: “The young people will not just visit these cities as tourists. They will learn about different cultures as they dialogue with other young people from different countries.”

James W. McJunkin, deputy director of the FBI's Washington office, discussed the methods of fighting crimes against children with the contestants. The contestants visited the Turkic American Alliance (TAA), a leading Turkish-American umbrella organization, and the United Nations office in New York.

SOURCE: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-282059-gulen-institute-awards-student-essay-winners-on-capitol-hill.html

HUFFINGTON POST: Can Washington Ever Welcome a Nonviolent Muslim? (Fethullah Gulen)

Michael Shank

U.S. Vice President, Institute for Economics and Peace

Can Washington Ever Welcome a Nonviolent Muslim?

Posted: 06/04/2012 2:42 pm  

CBS News' 60 Minutes recently produced a show about Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen, spurred by concern about the so-called Hizmet movement's alleged connection to a growing network of high performing and nationally ranked charter schools in the U.S. These schools rank in Newsweek's top ten miracle schools in America and have a waiting list of 30,000 students, a testament to their academic rigor and reputation.

So what's wrong with these schools and what in the world would merit investigative journalism on this topic? Could it be because Fethullah Gulen is a Muslim scholar, the movement is historically comprised largely of Muslims, and Turkish Muslims built and teach at the charter schools in the U.S.? I'd say yes. CBS would likely say no, citing public concern about potential for Islamic teaching in the classroom, Turkish teachers taking American jobs, and a Muslim scholar who was disinclined to be interviewed.

Despite CBS host Leslie Stahl's attempt to show both critique and compliment -- and in most cases, to her credit, she walked a fair and balanced line -- the script was loaded with innuendos,describing Gulen as a "personality cult", "wizard of Oz" and "prophet."

Why is this troublesome? And why do I feel compelled to write about this a second time, having written on it once before last year? It's problematic because there's a trend here. When the West finds a Muslim scholar that preaches tolerance, nonviolence and education -- which Gulen does ardently --- it immediately becomes skeptical. You would think the west would welcome such a nonviolent Muslim witness.

Western audiences often criticize Islam -- and this is particularly the case post-9/11 -- for not producing more imams that preach and teach nonviolence, despite their prevalence globally. Even CBS's Stahl recognized that Gulen's movement evokes a "seems too good to be true" response -- i.e. that a Muslim scholar is encouraging education, science, nonviolence and tolerance. Yet Stahl went further, seeking confirmation that Gulen wasn't the Osama bin Laden-variety Muslim. Remarkable that this was her point of reference.

Having written about other nonviolent Muslim leaders like Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan -- who hailed from northwest Pakistan's tribal areas and who promoted and practiced nonviolence to the point of imprisonment and ultimately death -- I've experienced this cynicism and skepticism before among western audiences. One critic went so far as to categorically disbelieve and discredit Khan's efforts.

With Gulen, the treatment has been little different. I found the same critique among disbelieving congressional staffers, with whom I traveled to Turkey last year, after meeting multiple Gulen supporters. It felt like they were looking for a conspiracy; they wanted something nefarious to emerge within the Gulen network.

When in Turkey as part of this congressional staff delegation, the scrutiny laid on Gulen by fellow congressional staffers seemed unusually harsh, as does the CBS portrayal of Gulen at times. Where is the scrutiny about charter schools that have Christian prayer in the schools and bury creationist thinking within science curriculum? In none of Gulen-connected Charter schools is there any religious teaching, at all. Where is the scrutiny about business projects in the U.S. that recruit from a specific immigrant group and coordinate with the home country to bring more of the same? This is happening in myriad circumstances already (although there's no need to castigate any group here in defense of another), but arguably flies largely under the skeptic's radar because the immigrating population is not Muslim.

Or where is this scrutiny about transparency in other taxpayer-funded endeavors? Gulen gets criticized for not being more transparent about his connections, whether in Turkey or Texas. Yet, these same critics, some of whom are Hill staffers who traveled with me to Turkey, are silent about the pervasive corruption in the defense community, as disclosed by the inspectors general in charge of monitoring funds spent by Pentagon and defense contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq. I, too, support calls for transparency and accountability -- but to highlight one and overlook another is equally nontransparent.

It is hard not see all these inconsistencies as indicative of something more endemic, that of an anti-Islam bias. Not possible? Not true. CBS News' 60 Minutes show comes on the heels of news that New York City Police Department engaged in systematic and widespread discriminatory practices, and that the U.S. Defense Department engaged in equally discriminatory anti-Islam training among its military cadets.

Discrimination and prejudice is quite possible in the U.S. and it seems ever apparent in all things arguably related to Fethullah Gulen. It is time for a clear-headed approach to this. America should be welcoming a Muslim scholar promoting secular education, science, tolerance and nonviolence -- not castigating him.

Michael Shank is in the PhD Program at George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, an Associate at the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, and serves on the board of the National Peace Academy. Follow Michael on Twitter.

Follow Michael Shank on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Michael_Shank

SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-shank/can-washington-ever-welcome_b_1568380.html