Pakistan University awards PhD degree to Fethullah Gulen

PU awards PhD degree to Turkish scholar

By: Our Staff Reporter | May 18, 2012 | 

LAHORE - Punjab University has awarded an honourary PhD degree to mainstream Turkish scholar, thinker, writer, and poet Muhammad Fethullah Gulen in a ceremony organised at Undergraduate Study Centre on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, PU VC Dr Mujahid Kamran said it was pleasurable to award an honorary degree to Muhammad Fethullah Gulen who was world’s renowned scholar. He said PU was breaking with the tradition of awarding honorary degrees to political leadership. He said last honorary degree was awarded to the-then Turkish president in 1986 and now 26 years later we were awarding it to a Turkish scholar.

He said it indicated that our hearts throb with Turkish nation and Turkish people were general leaders of the Muslim world, intellectually and politically. He said in scientific research publications in Islamic world, Turkish stood number one. He said the contribution of Mr Gulen towards the cause of education was deep, significant and worldwide.

The VC said Mr Gulen had a message for the Muslims also particularly relevant to today’s Pakistan. He said message was that we were human being first and anything afterwards. He said that according to his message, we must deal with each other as human being with respect and passion and we must learn to resolve our differences peacefully and with tolerance. He urged the rulers to allocate at least four percent of GDP towards education and 1 per cent to research and development.

Provincial Minister Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor congratulated the PU for conferment of PhD degree on Turkish scholar. He said we had the required potential to progress and Turkey was supporting us in various projects. He said Mr Gulen had inspired young generation towards positive activities.

Zaeem Qadri said without balanced educational system, we could not eliminate social problems.

President Journalists and Writers Foundation Mustafa Yesili thanked Punjab government and Punjab University for precious gift of honorary PhD degree. The message from Mr Gulen was read as he could not come to Pakistan because of illness.

Later on his behalf, President Journalists and Writers Foundation Mustafa Yesili received Phd Degree. A presentation on the services of Mr Gulen was also screened on the occasion. On behalf of chief minister, Minister for Planning and Development Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, Advisor to CM on Higher Education Zaeem Qadri, PU VC Dr Mujahid Kamran, President Journalists and Writers Foundation Mustafa Yesili, Registrar Prof Dr Khan Raas Masood, Maria I Maldonado, a large number of faculty members, columnists, analysts and people from various walks of life participated on the occasion.

SOURCE:  http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/lahore/18-May-2012/pu-awards-phd-degree-to-turkish-scholar


SEE ALSO UIVERSITY WEB SITE : http://pu.edu.pk/home/section/press/1553 


SEE ALSO BELGIAN UNIVERSITY:
BELGIUM - Uni versity of Leuven establishes Fethullah Gülen Chair

Read more: http://rumiforum.blogspot.com/search?q=Leuven#ixzz1vTPgDZJY

BELGIUM - University of Leuven establishes Fethullah Gülen Chair

The University of Leuven honors Rumi Forum's honorary president by establishing the Fethullah Gülen Chair for Intercultural Studies inaugurated on 7 December 2010.

Officials from the Catholic University of Leuven have established a chair named after Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen.

A chair named after the well-respected Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen has been established at one of Belgium’s most prestigious Catholic universities, the Catholic University of Leuven, with university officials saying it is a source of pleasure for them to have a chair named after Gülen.

The Fethullah Gülen Chair for Intercultural Studies was established with the efforts of the Brussels-based mus (IDP), whose honorary chairman is Gülen. An inauguration ceremony was held on Monday at the university. As part of an agreement signed between the IDP and the university, the chair will carry out academic research and organize conferences for five years.

Social and Cultural Anthropology Professor Johan Leman, who will be the chair holder, and university Rector Mark Waer expressed pleasure to host the chair. In a statement he released on the occasion of the establishment of the chair, Leman said that as an intellectual and spiritual leader, Gülen has encouraged his Muslim fellows to take initiatives to build bridges, particularly between Islam and modernity, science and spirituality, and reason and faith.

Noting that he has motivated millions to engage and invest in sustaining peace and improving community relations through nondenominational education and intercultural dialogue, Leman said Gülen’s recognition of democracy as the only viable political system of governance and his emphasis on diversity, equal access to human rights, freedom of belief for all, loyalty to the law of the land and the non-instrumentalization of religion in politics make his message one of the most promising calls for the future of relations between the West and the Muslim community.

“His message now has a growing influence, particularly among the second-generation migrant-origin citizens of Europe. It is our hope that this chair, inspired by this message, will contribute to the bridge-building process through promoting intercultural understanding and stimulating research on relations between Muslim communities and the wider society in Belgium and Europe,” he said. Gülen is a Turkish Islamic scholar well known for his teachings promoting mutual understanding and tolerance between cultures. One of the world’s most influential Islamic scholars, Gülen came out at the top of the list of “The World’s Top 20 Public Intellectuals” by the magazines Foreign Policy and Prospect in 2008. Now residing in the US, Gülen has pioneered educational activities in a number of countries along with efforts to promote intercultural and interfaith activities around the world. He has written nearly 50 books in Turkish, some of which have been translated into several languages....

FULL STORY

• http://www.todayszaman.com/news-229163-catholic-university-of-leuven-establishes-fethullah-gulen-chair.html

see also
SUGGESTED MEDIA LINKS on FETHULLAH GULEN
http://rumiforum.blogspot.com/2010/09/rumi-forum-suggested-links-has-been.html

OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY WEB SITE and ANNOUNCEMENT

• http://www.kuleuven.be/newsletter/newsflash/intercultural_chair
• http://soc.kuleuven.be/web/staticpage/3/7/eng/560