Daniel Skubik on Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement
Date posted: October 28, 2014
Dr. Daniel Skubik is Professor of law, ethics & humanities at California Baptist University. He teaches public and private international law, constitutional law, and philosophy of law. He earned his master degree in political science and his doctoral degree in philosophy.
“What most strikes my wife and me—it may even sound a bit strange or even a bit silly—but what strikes us most is the holiness, the purity that we see represented in the lives of those who are associated with Hizmet.
They are not ashamed—by any means—in what they believe, to the One to whom they have committed their lives.”
“As an educator I may be a bit biased, but I think the focus on education that we see in Hizmet, that we see in Gulen and his teachings and his being, that focus on education which is critical to the work of Hizmet is itself the most critical work that can be done in this age.”
“Education is the opportunity to form young people, to form personalities, to form spirits as well as minds…”
“Forming young people in that way, providing that opportunity for them to become what God will have them be, and so, for them to be useable vessels for God as vicegerents in this age… what a wonderful task, what a difficult task, what a beautiful task..”
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Such movements, especially if they’re Muslim, attract suspicion in the West. In 2008, the Dutch government began investigating Hizmet. Its conclusions were that the movement isn’t involved in terrorism or a breeding ground for radicalism, nor does it oppose integration of Muslims into secular states. In 2015, MLK’s alma mater, Morehouse College, awarded its Gandhi King Ikeda Peace Award to Gülen for his lifelong commitment to peace among nations. But Erdogan insists that Gülen is a terrorist.
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Accusing the Hizmet movement, which insistently demands the fulfillment of the steps towards democratization which I referred to above and contributes to the process of change as evidenced by its stance in the referendum, of serving as a parallel structure indirectly means: “I will not change myself and introduce universal reforms. You have to live with this painful fact for the normalization of the country and take your steps accordingly.”
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