Hizmet from the Heart - Dr Jon Pahl, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia

Jon Pahl

As delivered at “Friendship Dinners” in Portland, Maine, and Boston, Massachusetts

For the past six years, since attending an event very much like this one, I have been fortunate to meet thousands of individuals around the world inspired by a single ideal:  Hizmet.  

I could tell you tonight about my scholarly “take” on this Hizmet movement as a historian of religions. I could introduce you to or deepen your understanding of the thought of the Turkish public intellectual Fethullah Gülen. I could describe the roles of Turkish Muslims in building science academies and schools in some of the poorest places on the planet. And I could talk about how individuals inspired by hizmet are building peace through interreligious dialogue, civic engagement, and social enterprise.

But instead, tonight, I want to talk about hizmet from the heart.

I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, in a devout Lutheran family  From as early as I can remember, we played church in my home. I’d dress up in one of my father’s white dress shirts, and my mother had a fancy cross that I would wear around my neck as I dressed like a “pastor.” We would process into the living room of our tiny story-and-a half home, and there I would preside over church: we would sing a hymn, say a prayer, and then I would collect the offering….

Church was the center of my family’s social life. That meant potlucks and confirmation classes and youth group — all the things Garrison Keillor has made a fine living poking gentle fun at. But it also meant that I learned, in many and various ways, to live with a paradox that Martin Luther articulated in a 1520 treatise entitled Christian Liberty. “A Christian,” Luther wrote, “is a perfectly free servant of none, subject to none.” That sounds pretty good to most of our Western ears. Freedom! But as I grew up I also learned that this freedom — the freedom of the gospel that flows from grace, had a purpose. “A Christian,” Luther continues, “is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” That complicates things, doesn’t it? Perfectly free; perfectly dutiful. But that paradox—we might call it the freedom to serve, has been at the core of my lived experience.  

Now, six years ago, I attended an event very much like this one in Philadelphia, where I was first introduced to Fethullah Gülen’s book Toward a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance.  At that event, I also first met individuals inspired by the teachings of Mr. Gulen. And since that time, my life has been changed in countless ways for the better. . . by hizmet.

Sociologist Muhammad Cetin — now serving in Parliament in Turkey, in a brief book Hizmet: Questions and Answers on the Gulen Movement (pdf), describes how Hizmet is an Islamic-inspired “movement to mobilize huge numbers of religiously-minded and observant individuals not only to accept but to cherish a secular, pluralist democratic social and political order.”

OK — you might be thinking at this point, that sounds pretty heady — Muslims, secular, pluralist, democratic -- what does that have to do with “Hizmet from the heart?”

In addition to being a historian, I am the father of three children. I trust many of you here tonight are parents, and those of you who are single—since you are attending an event like this, probably participate on some level in what Jonathan Schell called “universal parenthood:” working on behalf of a better world for coming generations.  

And I don’t know much at all about your lives, but in my experience of parenting, for all of its joys — and they are many: raising children and fostering a new generation has also been the most difficult, demanding, and anxiety-producing calling of my life.  

Yet here’s where it all comes together. In 2009, my wife Lisa and I took a trip to Turkey, sponsored by our local Dialogue Forum — a group of individuals in Philadelphia inspired to hizmet. Lisa wasn’t sure about the trip. She was worried.  

But once we arrived in Istanbul, she fell in love — as did I, with the layers of history in Turkish culture — going back millennia to the dawn of civilization. We fell in love -- with the beauty of the Bosphorus, the mosaics of the Blue Mosque, the splendor of Aya Sofya. In 2011, we returned to Turkey to begin studying the language. When she left — a few weeks before I did, and when I asked her on the phone how it felt to be back home in Philadelphia, she said: “I miss Istanbul!”

Now this nostalgia was not only for a place: it was also for people — for their hopes and dreams, fears and concerns, anxieties and aspirations — which we learned to realize that we shared across the Atlantic, across the language, across religions. We discovered people — Muslims, who cherished their freedom — freedom that they see as coming from God — as did Martin Luther, but that they articulate in secular terms and democratic political structures. AND we discovered these same people who cherish freedom were also dutiful and devoted and decent and kind. What my wife Lisa and I have learned to love, and what I miss even now, and find endlessly fascinating in its similarities to and differences from what I grew up with, is a Turkish version of the paradox of the freedom to serve -- which is what the word hizmet means: “service.”

Hizmet motivated Turkish engineers and businessmen and teachers to move to Kampala Uganda and start a school — Turkish Light Academy, that I was privileged to visit in 2010. The school has a beautiful modern campus with soccer field, dormitories, and hi-tech classrooms. 75% of the students at that school, started by Muslims, were Christians. When I spoke at the school, I talked about the power of religion to move societies toward justice and peace — as in the US Civil Rights Movement, and I urged the young men to learn tolerance in their relationships with people of different faiths. During the question and answer session, a young man named Andrew D’Aloi Ayeni stood up and asked me: “Could you name a time in your life when you practiced tolerance, sir?” It was the perfect question — and since then Drew and I have kept in touch — he’s on Facebook, and he has now graduated from college with a degree in Economic Development and hopes to study for his masters — if he can round up the resources -- here in the U.S.

And Hizmet motivated Emine Unal — the mother of two and a student in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, to undertake studies in religious peacebuilding with me at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. And Hizmet motivated my friend Naji Yazicioglu to study genetics in a Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania, and now go back to Turkey to teach.   And Hizmet motivated Emre Celik — an Australian Muslim of Turkish descent from near Sydney, to move to the U.S. to lead Rumi Forum — a think tank and advocacy group in Washington, DC.  

These names may mean nothing to you, but what they mean to me is that I now have colleagues and friends — sisters and brothers, around the world who share with me — for all of our differences, in living out the paradox of the freedom to serve  I have learned from them. We can all learn from them.  

Some of these friends have been to our home; and I’ve been to theirs.  So it did not surprise my wife Lisa and me, at all, when our son Justin — 27 and finishing his first novel, announced after he had saved enough money that he was moving to Istanbul. He now lives there and works as an editor at The Fountain magazine. The point? We have entrusted our first child to Turkey, toHizmet! Late last week he wrote to me a long email about an academic conference he had attended, where the speakers from Pakistan and Turkey and the U.S. talked about faith and doubt, religion and sexuality, politics and service — in a word, abouthizmet.

And also last week Justin published an essay in Today’s Zaman — an Istanbul newspaper. What motivated the column was his trip home to the U.S. this summer, where when he told his old high school and college friends that he was living in Turkey, they’d ask him: “Aren’t you afraid? Do you feel safe?” Slowly, as he was asked these questions over and over, his patience gave way. He narrates in the column how he did some homework. In 2012, Istanbul — a city of nearly fourteen million, had 111 murders. Philadelphia? A city of 1.3 million — 335. What does the FEAR that so many Americans project onto Turkey, onto Muslims, say about the state of our own civil society, Justin asked! And then he wrote: “The graciousness I've encountered in Turkey has shown me that I can live with less, and give more.” 

That’s hizmet. And yet it is also the path to a meaningful, rich life — rich in the things that matter, the things that endure, the things that aren’t things.  

Rabbi Michael Lerner has insistently made the point that we need in America to get beyond pervasive and paralyzing cynicism to a new politics of meaning — open to the wonder of life, its variety and beauty, and yet also working ceaselessly with the rigor of science to promote understanding, justice, and peace. That’s hizmet: freedom from fear, secure in the ultimate mercy and grace of a compassionate God, yet freedom to serve: recognizing the needs and suffering of one’s neighbors, and the strength and joy found in solidarity and community.

Thank you for coming tonight. Thank you for your work on behalf of future generations — whatever you do. Thank you for being a person of hizmet — even if, like me six years ago, you’d never heard the word before tonight.

SOURCE: http://ltsp.edu/hizmet-heart

"Is the Gülen Movement a continuation of any other previous movement?" by Doğu Ergil

Those who are within the Gülen Movement do not consider themselves the continuation or the extension of any other movement. At a certain time and under the perfect circumstances in Turkish History, the teachings of Fethullah Gülen coincided with what a broad sector of Turkish society was searching for in their hearts. This is what allowed for the birth of such a movement.

The movement, in the words of Fethullah Gülen himself, has produced a link between tradition and modernity. It has produced its own traditions, improved on the commonly held concept of Turkish society and moral life, and marked its own positions from which to view the world. Additionally, it has developed its own organizational model, and has shouldered a universal mission to disseminate its views throughout Turkey and the rest of the world.

Never before has such a social movement, which is able to spread the same message abroad that it teaches within its borders, arisen in Turkey. “There has been no heritage offered to us of this level, be it ideological, political, socio-cultural, or Islamic.”

Then, how does the movement produce the internal cohesion, which is a source of dynamism and strength? Stated differently, how does the movement maintained and how does it generate the motivation necessary to maintain internal solidarity? The questions can be answered in two ways:

1. The values that Gülen represents and the interpretations are in harmony with the time in which he delivers them to a society that is searching for the exact message of solidarity and spirituality that he is delivering.

2. Gülen stands out as a strong and trusted leader. He, unlike others who quickly disappoint after the most brief encounter, does not contradict what he preaches with what he does; he is not after any material or political interest; he does not demand any position; his actions alone convince others of his integrity. He engenders loyalty among his followers, and he serves as both a civic leader and spiritual guide.

The movement is distinguished from the other Islamic movements. There are religious movements today involving many political and sociological researches in the East and the West, but they were born as a continuation of experiences in the past. They claim that they are the inheritors of a past socio-political movement. The fact that these movements anchor their future in the past throws them into an unrealistic thought-space: The tomorrow that they offer is a yesterday that they cannot bring back. Thus, they are attempting to construct an artificial “today.” This often leads to fanaticism or violence, at times as far as justifying suicide bombings of innocents.

On the other hand, the Gülen Movement appears to have succeeded, in part, by correctly reading the change necessary in Turkey. The members of the movement are those who found meaning in the teachings of Gülen at a juncture when a traditional society was transforming itself into a modern one. Gülen encourages people to embrace the change and not to limit themselves to small worlds, but to become part of the larger one. They, in turn, have come to see the whole world, not only their own country, as the terrain of their mental and spiritual land. The fact that they go to every corner of the world as students, teachers, technicians, and businessmen is an indication that they have been united with this teaching and became citizens of the globe.

Above all else, Gülen is a religious leader and his followers are religious people. It is immensely satisfying to them that they have been carrying out the requirements of their religion through the inspiration that they draw from Gülen. They see their success as an indication that God is pleased with their work. While some certain men of religion interpret their religious texts and principles in a way, which constrains abilities of the believers and limits their freedoms, Gülen interprets the same texts in a way that advocates individual initiative, self-improvement, and entrepreneurship. This provides the movement with a great dynamism and influence.

Another common characteristic of the followers of Gülen is that the majority has great upward mobility. They are among the modernizing population and they are seeking a foothold in this new space. For this reason, the Gülen Movement does not harbor any animosity towards other groups, which may be slipping from their current position.

If there is any oppositional stance within the group, it is against those who do not sufficiently understand the movement, or against the practices that perpetuate moral degeneration. However, even in these instances, they prefer to express these disagreements with a cultural nomenclature (enlightenment and communication of the message}, rather than with a political terminology.

The movement places great emphasis on both education and knowledge of world affairs in order to achieve this upward mobility. This motivates them to learn different languages and to live and work all around the globe. This sort of effort is a cure for both fundamentalism and obscurantism. This desire for cooperation and communication is further emphasized by the efforts for intercultural and interreligious dialog in the areas where they operate.

The movement takes extra care to share the common language of peace that it has developed with other religious and cultural groups. Followers view themselves as belonging to a social movement, a nation, a religion, and the great family of humanity. To neglect any one of these would make them lesser individuals. Because of this way of thinking, they do not see themselves as an isolated group. They have one foot in the circle of the nation and religion and the other in every corner of the world.

When the members of the Gülen Movement describe where they stand, it becomes easier to understand why they have no quarrel with the universal values of the West, as they have none with the values of their own country. This keeps them at a place away from political disputes and polarization. They simply do not have any time to worry about petty political matters. They are too busy working, teaching, talking, and learning under many different administrations within all sorts of cultures, all around the world.

Their concern is not with the behavior of political systems, but with people. How do they define this ideal that they are striving for? Is it simply religious, obedient, and otherworldly? After all, this is the classical definition of what it means to be a pious person. This is not the sole type of person that the members of the movement aspire to become. Through the inspiration and exhortation of Gülen, they seek to think, learn, work, produce and transcend themselves in order to be of the world and make sure to share with the needy the value produced in the process. Their lower limit is their families and the relatively modest situation from which they came, but they have no upper limit.

It can be observed that these views give the movement a great flexibility and compatibility. As followers become successful, their trust in Gülen’s leadership and their loyalty increases. They no longer wait on the concrete directives of Gülen to act. Instead, they consult among themselves with the direction or inspiration they get from him. They make decisions on their own and move forward. Because the sense of solidarity and sacrifice among the members is so strong, the time between making the decision and executing it is minimal.

The Gülen Movement has been labeled “right wing” and has been criticized by the “radical right-wing.” When asked about the reason for this criticism on both sides, the members of the movement emphasize that they are impartial: They are on neither side of the social and political polarization; they are not a party to any fight. They express themselves in the cultural field. What they desire is a society where differences are reconciled, ethical values are observed and good quality people lead. With their modest means and through solidarity with each other, they are trying to contribute to the production of people of ethical and sympathetic excellence. Many religious circles do not understand this social aspiration, and often criticize them as not being religious enough, as if being religious consists only of worship. All the principles, values, and advices are for the happiness of human beings, in this world and the next. Without the believer there can be no belief and the faith of the ignorant would not be in accordance with the will of God. For this reason they have no relations with any religious or political movement or organization.

Source: http://www.bluedomepress.com/books/detail/the-gulen-movement-in-hundred-questions#simpleContained1

Experiences with Hizmet and the Followers of Fethullah Gulen

Experiences with Hizmet and the Followers of Fethullah Gülen

Leo D. Lefebure

Georgetown University

Since the 1990s, I have been involved in a variety of dialogues with Muslims in the United States and around the world.  When I moved to Georgetown University in the summer of 2005, I became acquainted with the members of the Rumi Forum in Washington, DC, which is affiliated with the international Islamic movement known as Hizmet, a Turkish word that means “Service.”  Since the movement is inspired by the example and writings of Turkish Muslim leader Fethullah Gülen, outside observers often refer to this as “the Gülen movement.”  At the time I moved to Washington, DC, the director of the Rumi Forum was Ali Yurtsever, a dynamic, friendly leader with a seemingly insatiable interest in interreligious dialogue and friendship.

       When I arrived in Washington, I found that Georgetown University hosted a Muslim-Christian dialogue in which the majority of the Muslim participants were affiliated with the Rumi Forum.  We discussed a variety of topics of spiritual experience and interreligious relations, including the religious poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273), the policies of the Ottoman Empire regarding Jews and Christians, the theology of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (ca. 1877-1960), the writings of Gülen, and the biography of Ignatius of Loyola.  The conclusion of each dialogue consisted of the enjoyment of delicious Turkish food, courtesy of the Rumi Forum.  Eventually, the dialogue expanded to include Jewish participants as well.  Among the participants affiliated with the Rumi Forum were Ali Aslan, a journalist who covers Washington, DC, for Zaman Newspaper, and Jena Luedtke, who is the interreligious representative of the Rumi Forum.


         After a dialogue one evening, Ali Aslan asked me if I had ever been to Turkey, and I said that I had not.  He proceeded to notify Ali Yurtsever that I should be invited to join one of their intercultural tours of Turkey.  And so it happened that the following May I found myself in Turkey with Ali Yurtsever, Jena Luedtke, and a very interesting group of participants.  One of the greatest contributions of the Rumi Forum is to bring together people with common interests who otherwise would likely not know each other.  In our traveling group were a retired U.S. diplomat and his wife with long experience in the Middle East, the former dean of a law school, a Reform rabbi and his wife, the minister of Unity Church in Fairfax, Virginia, and a Franciscan sister who works in Muslim-Christian relations and who had written a short book about the visit of St. Francis of Assisi to Sultan Malik al-Kamil in 1219, during the fifth Crusade.  Francis, who saw himself as a man of peace, traveled through the Crusader army and sought an audience with the sultan, who apparently viewed him as similar to the Sufi holy men.  Their encounter stands as a hopeful sign of the possibilities for respectful, cordial dialogue even during periods of suspicion and conflict.       On our tour of Turkey, we visited the major sites of Istanbul, including the magnificent edifices of Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Suleimanniyya Mosque, as well as the traditional Topkapi Palace of the sultans and the nineteenth-century Dolmabace Palace along the Bosphorus.  We took a beautiful evening dinner cruise on the Bosphorus and later visited the headquarters of Zaman Newspaper and the Authors and Writers Forum in Istanbul.  In a number of cities we visited schools sponsored by Hizmet.  We visited sites of early Christians in Cappadocia, including a monastery carved into the side of a hill and a village carved underground, where Christians could hide from Roman persecutors and escape through underground tunnels.  In Ephesus we visited the place that is venerated as the place where Mary the mother of Jesus lived the last years of her life.  We witnessed the profound devotion that both Muslims and Christians have to her in praying at this site.  Mary is honored in the Qur’an as the virgin mother of the prophet Jesus; she is the only woman named by her own name in the Qur’an, and she is also the only woman to have a sura (chapter) of the Qur’an named after her.  Thus she has been held up as a bridge to the future for shaping Muslim-Christian relations.

       As we were riding on the bus toward Ephesus, Rabbi Larry Forman came up to me and said, “Leo, there was a creed of Ephesus, wasn’t there?”  I answered, “Yes, there was a council that issued a declaration there.”  He continued, “I think we should write our own statement from Ephesus, and you are the one to draft it.”  As I bounced up and down on the bus, I pulled out a piece of paper and drafted a preliminary statement based upon our experiences in Turkey.  We circulated it and invited suggestions to improve it.  Later, on our last full day, we had lunch in a gorgeous room along the Bosphorus at the Dolmabace Palace.  As we finished eating, the rabbi led the group in discussing what we wanted in the statement.  I took notes as one person after another reflected on our experience together.  Later I composed another draft, incorporating many additions from our companions.  We later circulated this through e-mails and finally delivered it to the Rumi Forum as an expression of our delight with the trip and our sharing of their concerns.       We also visited Fatih University in the western suburbs of Istanbul, an English-language university supported by Hizmet.  Six months later, when I returned to Istanbul for a conference on Said Nursi sponsored by the Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture, the dean of Fatih University invited me to come there and to deliver a lecture on “How Universities Can Contribute to Inter-Civilizational Dialogue.”  After offering some general comments, I shared many of our experiences at Georgetown University.

In Washington, DC, the Rumi Forum is active in a wide variety of initiatives.  For example, the Forum co-sponsored a conference at the Catholic University of America on Islam in America, at which I delivered a paper on “Muslim-Christian Relations in the United States.”  The Rumi Forum hosts an annual interreligious awards banquet.  Some of these celebrations have been held in an office building of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill, and at the end of one evening, the Rumi Forum presented whirling dervishes from Turkey dancing as an expression of prayerful meditation.  Later that week, the dervishes also danced in Hebrew Union Congregation, one of the most prominent synagogues in Washington, DC.  My Turkish friends believed that this was the first time in history that dervishes had danced in a synagogue.  The Rumi Forum also hosts a variety of iftar dinners during the holy month of Ramadan, inviting Christians and Jews to eat with them as they end their fast after sundown.  The Rumi Forum, together with others in the Muslim community in Washington, DC, in cooperation with local Jewish leaders, hosted an interreligious iftar dinner in an historic Synagogue, inviting Christian leaders to join with Muslims and Jews in a synagogue breaking the fast during Ramadan.  Muslim colleagues told me that they believed that this was the first time in history that an iftar dinner had been celebrated in a synagogue.  The Rumi Forum also organizes a wide range of more informal iftars, inviting many Christians to the homes of their members for small, family celebrations.
        
Georgetown University has a campus of the School of Foreign Service in Doha, Qatar, where I taught during the 2007-08 academic year.  I had many turbulent experiences in the classroom, especially with animated Muslim students vehemently disagreeing with one another.  In one class Sunni students stridently attacked a Shia student; on another day more conservative Muslim students forcefully, even angrily criticized a more progressive Muslim student.  During this year, two members of Hizmet were teaching at Qatar University, one in the field of political science and the other in chemical engineering.  As I got to know them, we shared our experiences in the classroom, and I was greatly relieved to learn that the political scientist, himself a Muslim professor, had similar troubles with his students there.  One evening over dinner I commented that one of the best things that ever happened to the Papacy was that it lost the Papal States, freeing Popes to become respected international spiritual leaders on a global stage.  The political scientist perked up and commented that his Muslim students needed to hear that, and he then invited me to address his class of female students.  He stressed that I should speak only about the Catholic experience of the benefits of distinguishing religion and government without commenting directly on Islam.  He preferred that the students draw their own conclusions regarding the proper relation of government and Islamic authority.
       
During the spring break of 2008, I traveled from Doha to India, where I met members of Hizmet in both Kolkata and Delhi.  In Kolkata, Cetin Akkaye joined me and a Hindu colleague in traveling together to meet Swami Prabhananda at the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission along the Ganges, the site where Vivekananda lived and died and was cremated.  Swami Prabhananada was most gracious and spent almost an hour with us (I was later told this was far more time than is usual).  Cetin was interested in inviting Swami Prabhananda to participate in an interreligious conference in Hyderabad.  Cetin and his colleague, Sinan, attended a lecture that I delivered at the Ramakrishna Mission in downtown Kolkata as part of a UNESCO-approved course on “The Unity of Humanity,” an interdisciplinary study of intercultural and interreligious relations.  After I had concluded, the Hindu host, Dr. Chakrabarti, invited Sinan to speak about the Hizmet movement as well.  From Kolkata, I flew to Delhi, where I met other members of Hizmet, Bulent Cantimur and Ali Akiz, who were very gracious in welcoming me and showing historic sites from the Islamic heritage of India, including the Taj Mahal, the Jami Mosque, the Red Fort, the Lodi Gardens, and Qutb Minar.  My hosts from Hizmet in Kolkata and Delhi were most gracious and welcoming, helping me immediately to feel at home among them.
        
In December 2009, I traveled to Melbourne, Australia, for the fifth Parliament of the World’s Religions.  Together with two Turkish-German Muslims and an Egyptian-American Muslim, I was graciously hosted by the Australian Intercultural Society, which is the affiliate of Hizmet in Australia.  My impression of the Turkish Australian Muslim community was that they were very dynamic and well integrated into Australian society.  On one night of the Parliament, the Australia Intercultural Society hosted the Islamic Communities Dinner, which the Governor of that state of Australia attended.
        
In my experiences, the members of Hizmet have been unfailingly gracious and cordial, respectful of Christianity and mindful of the many values shared by Muslims and Christians.  Their concern to build constructive relationships and to collaborate in building interreligious understanding is inspiring.
In Washington, DC, the Rumi Forum is active in a wide variety of initiatives.  For example, the Forum co-sponsored a conference at the Catholic University of America on Islam in America, at which I delivered a paper on “Muslim-Christian Relations in the United States.”  The Rumi Forum hosts an annual interreligious awards banquet.  Some of these celebrations have been held in an office building of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill, and at the end of one evening, the Rumi Forum presented whirling dervishes from Turkey dancing as an expression of prayerful meditation.  Later that week, the dervishes also danced in Hebrew Union Congregation, one of the most prominent synagogues in Washington, DC.  My Turkish friends believed that this was the first time in history that dervishes had danced in a synagogue.  The Rumi Forum also hosts a variety of iftar dinners during the holy month of Ramadan, inviting Christians and Jews to eat with them as they end their fast after sundown.  The Rumi Forum, together with others in the Muslim community in Washington, DC, in cooperation with local Jewish leaders, hosted an interreligious iftar dinner in an historic Synagogue, inviting Christian leaders to join with Muslims and Jews in a synagogue breaking the fast during Ramadan.  Muslim colleagues told me that they believed that this was the first time in history that an iftar dinner had been celebrated in a synagogue.  The Rumi Forum also organizes a wide range of more informal iftars, inviting many Christians to the homes of their members for small, family celebrations.   
   Georgetown University has a campus of the School of Foreign Service in Doha, Qatar, where I taught during the 2007-08 academic year.  I had many turbulent experiences in the classroom, especially with animated Muslim students vehemently disagreeing with one another.  In one class Sunni students stridently attacked a Shia student; on another day more conservative Muslim students forcefully, even angrily criticized a more progressive Muslim student.  During this year, two members of Hizmet were teaching at Qatar University, one in the field of political science and the other in chemical engineering.  As I got to know them, we shared our experiences in the classroom, and I was greatly relieved to learn that the political scientist, himself a Muslim professor, had similar troubles with his students there.  One evening over dinner I commented that one of the best things that ever happened to the Papacy was that it lost the Papal States, freeing Popes to become respected international spiritual leaders on a global stage.  The political scientist perked up and commented that his Muslim students needed to hear that, and he then invited me to address his class of female students.  He stressed that I should speak only about the Catholic experience of the benefits of distinguishing religion and government without commenting directly on Islam.  He preferred that the students draw their own conclusions regarding the proper relation of government and Islamic authority.      During the spring break of 2008, I traveled from Doha to India, where I met members of Hizmet in both Kolkata and Delhi.  In Kolkata, Cetin Akkaye joined me and a Hindu colleague in traveling together to meet Swami Prabhananda at the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission along the Ganges, the site where Vivekananda lived and died and was cremated.  Swami Prabhananada was most gracious and spent almost an hour with us (I was later told this was far more time than is usual).  Cetin was interested in inviting Swami Prabhananda to participate in an interreligious conference in Hyderabad.  Cetin and his colleague, Sinan, attended a lecture that I delivered at the Ramakrishna Mission in downtown Kolkata as part of a UNESCO-approved course on “The Unity of Humanity,” an interdisciplinary study of intercultural and interreligious relations.  After I had concluded, the Hindu host, Dr. Chakrabarti, invited Sinan to speak about the Hizmet movement as well.  From Kolkata, I flew to Delhi, where I met other members of Hizmet, Bulent Cantimur and Ali Akiz, who were very gracious in welcoming me and showing historic sites from the Islamic heritage of India, including the Taj Mahal, the Jami Mosque, the Red Fort, the Lodi Gardens, and Qutb Minar.  My hosts from Hizmet in Kolkata and Delhi were most gracious and welcoming, helping me immediately to feel at home among them.       In December 2009, I traveled to Melbourne, Australia, for the fifth Parliament of the World’s Religions.  Together with two Turkish-German Muslims and an Egyptian-American Muslim, I was graciously hosted by the Australian Intercultural Society, which is the affiliate of Hizmet in Australia.  My impression of the Turkish Australian Muslim community was that they were very dynamic and well integrated into Australian society.  On one night of the Parliament, the Australia Intercultural Society hosted the Islamic Communities Dinner, which the Governor of that state of Australia attended.

       In my experiences, the members of Hizmet have been unfailingly gracious and cordial, respectful of Christianity and mindful of the many values shared by Muslims and Christians.  Their concern to build constructive relationships and to collaborate in building interreligious understanding is inspiring.


SOURCE: http://islamicstudiesassociation.blogspot.com/2012/07/experienceswith-hizmet-and-followers-of.html

FETHULLAH GULEN: A modern Ottoman - Prospect Magazine

Fethullah Gulen is the Honorary President of the Rumi Forum. Below is an article that dates back to 2008. It is an important article that explains and introduces the reader to both Gulen and the reasons so many have been inspired and motivated by his ideas. Currently, it is said that the Gulen (Hizmet) Movement is active in more than 120 countries