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..”

Source: Spectra Media , April 9, 2014


Related News

A Muslim Cleric That America Should Support

Usually, when Americans hear the term “Muslim cleric,” they cringe. Yet there’s an Islamic religious leader who calls for peace and inter-faith dialogue, whose supporters are being rounded up by an increasingly authoritarian leader. Backing the right leader could be the key in the war against ISIS.

New Book – No Return from Democracy: A Survey of Interviews with Fethullah Gulen

It was rare, if not impossible, to find in ’80s and ’90s a Muslim cleric who spoke in favor of democracy, integration with the Western world, and universal human values. Fethullah Gülen was one of those. This book collates Gülen’s ahead-of-his-time comments on some of the debated issues as he phrased in interviews in the past few decades.

Tamsil: The inadvertent overspill of internalization

Gülen says, “Where you are [your ego], He is not; where you are not [your ego], He is.” In the Naqshibandi Sufi order there are four steps to reaching spiritual enlightenment “forget [forsake] the world, forget the [rewards of] the afterlife, forget your ego, forget [all these acts of] forgetting,” lest being conscious of them risks making one proud. So forgetting, or in the case of tamsil, not being aware of or intending to show or guide from the outset is key.

Whistleblower Fuat Avni: Gov’t to plant weapons in Hizmet buildings to declare it terrorist group

A government whistleblower who tweets under the pseudonym Fuat Avni has alleged that the government is planning to plant weapons and ammunition in houses and buildings used by followers of the Hizmet movement in order to declare the movement a terrorist organization ahead of the upcoming general election.

New book looks closer into Hizmet Movement with questions, answers

ŞULE KULU, İSTANBUL A newly published book by Professor Muhammed Çetin, a sociologist who has done extensive academic work on social movements and who now serves as a lawmaker in the Turkish Parliament, offers comprehensive information on the faith-based Gülen movement, answering hundreds of questions on the movement. The book, titled “Hizmet: Questions and Answers […]

Almost 1,000 officers removed from post in İzmir, Ankara

Around 700 police officers, including four deputy chiefs and 70 high-ranking officials, were removed from their posts at the İzmir Police Department and reassigned to different positions on Thursday morning and removals continued later in the afternoon with 207 more officers

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Peace and prosperity for Turkey lies in philosophy of Nursi says Altan Tan

Hizmet Movement is not interested in attaining political power in Turkey or elsewhere in the world

Iftar Dinner at Manhattan’s Riverside Church

Global peace as a dream to follow

Gülen to file lawsuit against PM Erdoğan over defamation campaign

Turkish schools important for northern Iraq’s future

KYM donates blankets and clothing to children in Gaza

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News