NEW BOOK: Renewing Islam by Service, Pim Valkenberg, Catholic University of America

Renewing Islam by Service offers a theological account of the contemporary Turkish faith-based service movement started by Fethullah Gülen, and placed against the backdrop of changes in modern Turkish society. The life and works of Gülen are analyzed against the background of developments in Turkish society, and of spiritual Islamic tendencies in the transition from the Ottoman empire to the secular republic. Pim Valkenberg includes stories of his personal experiences with supporters of this movement, in a number of different countries, and analyzes the spiritual practices and the faith-based service of this movement that is also compared to some important Christian religious movements.

Available for purchase here.

Fethullah Gülen (born 1941 in Erzurum) is sometimes mentioned as one of the most influential Islamic scholars of the twenty-first century. During his work as a scholar-preacher in Izmir in the 1970s he started to provide learning opportunities for his students. He attracted many supporters and inspired them to form communities that put their Islamic faith into practice by serving others. When the political and economic situation of the Turkish republic improved, Gülen and the Hizmet (service) Movement began to take initiatives in order to overcome ignorance, disunity and poverty.

At the beginning of the 21­st century the Hizmet Movement ormed one of the most influential networks of Muslims, not only in Turkey but in Europe and the United States as well. Gulen now lives in the United States where he still inspires many groups to engage in dialogue initiatives, excellent schools, public media and service organizatons. However, these initiatives are often met with suspicion by a number of different groups - secularists as well as radical Muslims. While the Hizmet Movement has thus far mainly been studied from a social scientific perspective, this book claims that Gulen and the Hizmet can best be understood by researching the religious drive that empowers them. Since this book has been written by a Christian theologian, this is done in a comparative theological approach that not only shows how Gulen and the Hizmet Movement renew Islam by service, but also how Christians can be inspired by such a religious renewal movement.

Fethullah Gulen's Maxim: Live So That Others May Live by Emre Celik, President, Rumi Forum

The above may in fact actually summarize the life meaning for those who participate in the Hizmet (aka Gulen Movement).

This is one of the most fundamental values Fethullah Gulen, preacher emeritus based in Pennsylvania and the figurehead of the Hizmet movement, who has played a role and helped mould the life direction of millions of Hizmet participants serve others across more than 150 countries.

It is also the main theme of a recent book exploring Gulen's discourse over four decades that has been the inspiration for a global network of philanthropy and positive activism. Its title: So that others may live.

Gulen places a great importance on the interdependence of individuals, communities, nations and systems on one another. Each fundamental unit within any system plays a role and has an inexplicable effect - small or great - on every other unit within such a system (similar to chaos theory in Mathematics).

This leads to a sort of responsibility within those systems. In particular systems that contain conscious beings with intellect have a greater responsibility - vis-a-vis humanity, the most 'intelligent' of beings holds the most honored and responsible position. The human being is obliged, if you will, to act in a moral and ethical way in regards to others. It is this ethos that has driven Gulen to personally partake and to also encourage others to take up their social and spiritual responsibility, that is, to assist their fellow human being. He also notes that each and every one of us plays a role in the lives of others and has a moral responsibility, to the degree that we are able and capable, of helping those in need and those in less fortunate social conditions.

In particular Gulen frames this social interdependence within the concept of 'love' , taken from the chapter 'Love of Humanity' in So that others may live by Fethullah Gulen:

Love is like an elixir that gives us life. We are happy with love, and with love we make those around us happy. For humanity, love is our life, and it is through love that we encounter each other. Love is the strongest bond that God has created among us; it is a chain that links all humanity together...

In order to care for our community, love humankind, and embrace all of creation with compassion, we must first know ourselves... And the more we know of our own inwardness and essence, the more we will appreciate the same inwardness in others... Our appreciation and respect for each other is tied to our recognition of these inner relationships.

A soul that can sense these depths can speak in the language of the heart, saying like Rumi: 
Come, come and join us. We are the people of love devoted to God! Come in through the door of love and sit with us in our home. Through our hearts, let us speak one to another....

Elsewhere in 'The Society of Peace' Gulen states:

We should direct our efforts toward helping people build a society of peace, on both a national and global scale. This society will be purified of all contemptible feelings and directed toward lofty ideals. Its individuals will rest in the serenity of their conscience... Peace begins in the individual, resonates in the family, and from there pervades all parts of society.

The book, So that others may live contains great insight into Gulen's thought and spiritual motivation that took him from the remote eastern province of Erzurum and onto the world stage.

To truly understand Gulen, his intellect, spirituality, motivation and passion, his works and writings need to be analysed and understood - particularly in these current times when those full of rancor and bigotry seem to be trying to persuade us to believe otherwise. I encourage you - those with subtle knowledge of Gulen or the movement or others who are more familiar - to delve into Gulen's thinking and further understand why Gulen preached and wrote so profusely to role model his maxim 'live so that others may live'

Fethullah Gulen concludes with a couplet from a Ottoman poem from his article "The Love of Humanity", I too also think it is apt:

Woman and man, youth and age, the bow and arrow:
each needs the other
Indeed, all parts of the world are in need of each other.

Follow Emre Celik on Twitter: www.twitter.com/emrecelikrumi


SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emre-celik/fethullah-gulens-maxim-li_b_5737378.html

Fethullah Gulen Statement on ISIS

I deplore the brutal atrocities being committed by the ISIS terrorist group hiding behind a false religious rhetoric and join the people of conscience from around the world in calling for these perpetrators to immediately cease their cruel and inhuman acts. Any form of attack, suppression or persecution of minorities or innocent civilians is an act that contradicts the principles of the Qur’an and the tradition of our Prophet upon whom be peace and blessings.

ISIS members are either completely ignorant of the spirit of Islam and its blessed messenger, or their actions are designed to serve their individual interests or those of their political masters. Regardless, their actions represent those of a terrorist group and they should be labeled as such and be brought to justice.

The goal of religion is to establish peace based on universal human rights, rule of law and high human values in the world. Any interpretations to the contrary, including the abuse of religion to help fuel conflicts, are either false or deceitful. In true Islamic thought based on its core principles, every mean to a legitimate end should also be legitimate itself. To think or act otherwise is nothing but Machiavellism.

I send my heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the deceased in Iraq and Syria, and to the family and friends of the slain journalist James Foley. May God give them patience and perseverance, and alleviate their suffering. I pray for the immediate release of other hostages and ask God, the Merciful to lead us all into a world of mutual respect and peace. I invite everybody to join together in this prayer.

Source: Alliance for Shared Values

Huffington Post Op-Ed from Rumi Forum President, Emre Celik: “To Good To Be True”

When was the last time you heard that?

I've heard it a few times -- here's the story.

I am now in my fifth year in Washington, D.C., having immigrated from Australia. Here I have had the pleasure and responsibility of presiding over the Rumi Forum, an organization dedicated to interfaith and intercultural understanding. As part of my position I have the good fortune to travel and talk about issues relating to pluralism, social cohesion, and peaceful coexistence.

On one occasion returning from a speaking engagement in Jacksonville, Florida, I stopped over at the Philadelphia airport for a short commute to a similar engagement at Georgetown, Delaware. I was seated amongst numerous dignitaries including State Legislators and various community leaders. After initial pleasantries we started speaking about the role of the Rumi Forum, and in particular the inspiration that Fethullah Gulen plays (Gulen is our Honorary President), and the motivation behind a global movement, Hizmet). This person had been on one of our study trips to Turkey as part of our intercultural mission to better educate leaders about this important Muslim majority country and strategic U.S. (and Western) ally. He knew quite well the important role Hizmet had played through numerous NGOs both globally and in the U.S. in regards to the values of civilizational dialogue, democracy, human rights, and respect for the 'other'.

Yet at the end of the conversation he leant over to me and said, "I like what the forum and the wider movement does, but it's too good to be true."

Three days later, I was in Norfolk, Virginia, to speak at our local chapter's awards night. I sat next to one of the recipients. An important civil servant, he had worked hard and passionately on various initiatives. He hadn't known much about our forum but had inclined to accept the award after some personal research. After we had developed a rapport, he turned to me and said, "Emre, I respect all that you do and am honored to be receiving this award but it's too good to be true."

In my five years in this position, I had only heard those words twice, and they were three days apart. I wasn't at all surprised. People for various reasons can have doubt or be skeptical about individuals or groups. But at the same time, I was somewhat saddened that after close to 15 years of service to the wider American community, particularly in the wider D.C. metropolitan area, the forum had people that had known us and our mission well or had come into contact with us through various programs still fostered doubt.

I wasn't sure if it was our Muslimness, or Turkishness or the fact that the forum is part of a global movement (only becoming recently known to the wider American population through various articles) that somehow led to such skepticism. Is it purely a post 9/11 syndrome by a small minority or simply an attitude toward all forms of 'other' -- and we happen to be the new or current 'other'?

Does such skepticism further ostracize the 'other' or does it give rise to greater motivation and encouragement for such communities, groups and organizations to be more proactive? I believe it is the latter. Our passion for community service can (and never should) be dampened by a handful. We need to ask ourselves, "What can we do further to bridge the gap between communities and eradicate doubt, prejudice and misunderstanding -- personally, socially and intellectually?"

We should all be proactive in dialogue, and this is not too good to be true!

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emre-celik/too-good-to-be-true_1_b_4350879.html

BBC - What is Islam's Gülen Movement?

What is Islam's Gülen Movement?

Founder Fethullah Gülen: His motives have been questioned in the past.

Turkey's Gulen movement, which promotes service to the common good, may have grown into the world's biggest Muslim network. Is it the modern face of Islam, or are there more sinister undercurrents?

From Kenya to Kazakhstan, a new Islamic network is attracting millions of followers - and billions of dollars.