‘Hizmet Movement is teaching “habits of the heart”, without any request for payback’


Date posted: February 28, 2015

Retired Judge Robert Spitzer was a public prosecutor in the Office of the District Attorney, Riverside County, California, 1977-1990. He served as a judge of the Superior Court of the State of California, 1990-2008, where he presided over criminal and civil jury trials. He retired in 2008.

“Perhaps one of the greatest contributions that the Hizmet Movement can make in the world, or is making in the world, is teaching these “habits of the heart”, associated with generosity of spirit, of giving; and they do this without any request for payback. It’s an unrequited gift, one that is not expecting anything in return; an example of true love.”

“The individuals in the Hizmet Movement present to Americans a life of Islam which is not frightening, which, where the values and concerns relate primarily to those of family and faith.”

“In my experience, the Hizmet Movement has been very involved with interfaith dialog as a dynamic in bringing people together. When I was in Turkey, the Movement guides took me to churches, mosques, as well as synagogues, and were open to discuss the various differences and similarities between the faiths.”

“In southern California, we have an Anatolian Festival every year or two, where communities from Turkey come, including the Armenian community—which has a church—and the Jewish community, and there are opportunities to discuss religion with people of other faiths.”


*Produced by Spectra Media exclusively for Irmak TV, Atlas of Thoughts (Fikir Atlasi) connects the scholars, politicians, jurists, religious figures, journalists, and academics reflecting on Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet Movement with the audience. Each episode features a person from a different segment of the society with diverse experiences regarding the Hizmet activities and its volunteers. If you are interested to hear about the Hizmet and Mr. Gulen from these people’s perspectives, do not miss this show!

Source: Spectra Media , April 23, 2014


Related News

The Gülen Effect: Filipino Muslims, Christians connect for peace

Fountain Magazine held a conference recently, titled “Peacebuilding Through Education”, in New York in cooperation with the Peace Islands Institute. Some institutions were honored with the best practice award, as they have served the peacebuilding under difficult conditions. Among the honorees was The Filipino–Turkish Tolerance School (FTTS), Zamboanga, The Philippines. Below is an article about this school […]

Reflections on my first trip to TÜRKIYE

Last week I had the pleasure of accompanying a group of Jewish community leaders on a Niagara Foundation sponsored trip to Türkiye (Turkey). Our mission: to provide the group with windows into the Jewish experience in Turkey. One of the trip participants would describe this as, “not a Jewish trip to Turkey but a group of Jewish people traveling to Turkey.”

Bank Asya says it weathers ‘stress test’, still strong

Turkish media say state-owned companies and institutional depositors loyal to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have withdrawn TL 4 billion ($1.79 billion), some 20 percent of the bank’s total deposits, over the last month to try to sink the lender. The government has declined to comment. Bank Asya’s chief executive Ahmet Beyaz said the bank’s founders included sympathizers of cleric Fethullah Gülen, who officials say is behind the corruption investigation posing one of the biggest challenges to Erdoğan’s 11-year rule. But he said the bank was not at risk.

Separation politics and Islam makes Gülen AKP’s enemy

“The Gülen Movement is faith inspired in its motivation, but faith neutral in its manifestation.” That is how key speaker Ozcan Keles, chairperson of Dialogue Society in London, characterized the Gülen Movement in a panel discussion on the Hizmet Movement Tuesday in the European Parliament.

Moderate Islamic Gulen Movement Builds Bridges of Understanding With Christians, Jews

Jim Buie Gulen Movement is trying to identify youths at risk to join terrorist groups and give them free tuition to private schools and a place in the Gulen communities, in hopes of turning their lives around. I was reading in Today’s Zaman (English language daily newspaper in Turkey) about a conference at the University […]

Efforts to accuse Hizmet movement of conspiracy failed, says lawyer

With the courts continuing to release police officers arrested in government-backed investigations, the lawyer of one of these officers says the court decisions have shown that the government is failing to demonstrate that the faith-based Hizmet movement was behind efforts to overthrow the government.

Latest News

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

After Reunion: A Quiet Transformation Within the Hizmet Movement

Erdogan’s Failed Crusade: The World Rejects His War on Hizmet

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

In Case You Missed It

Gülen’s ideas address the entire world

Down Syndrome child accompanies mother in prison as parents jailed over Gülen links

“Freedom To Kacmaz Family” becomes trend on social media in Pakistan

Kurdish singer Perwer says freedoms should be gained via peaceful means

A Voice from Africa: Is This Erdogan’s Play For Autocratic Power In Turkey?

Police chief request promotion for taking part in ‘parallel’ witch-hunt

Filipina, infant freed from Turkish jail, but…

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News