Poconos-Based Muslim Preacher Addresses Catholic-Muslim Dialogue Conference


Date posted: February 18, 2016

Fethullah Gülen Promotes Interfaith Understanding Among Religious Communities

Fethullah Gülen, the prominent Muslim scholar, preacher and peace advocate, today urged people of all faiths to come together to address global conflict at the first-ever US Muslim-Catholic Dialogue Conference, which seeks to promote interfaith dialogue and mutual respect worldwide.

“The Earth has never been free of those who propagate fear, hate, and enmity for different motives,” Mr. Gülen said in remarks delivered by Zeki Saritoprak, professor of Islamic studies at John Carroll University. “However, undeniably, humans are tired of wars, violent conflicts, bloodshed, atrocities, and they are thirsty for universal dialogue and peace. Our globalizing world presents a historically unprecedented ground for developing affinity, integration and mutual acceptance.”

Mr. Gülen is the inspiration behind the international Hizmet movement, a global social movement dedicated to promoting interfaith dialogue, making quality education more accessible, and bringing health care and humanitarian aid to those in need. In his remarks, Mr. Gülen applauded religious leaders across the globe for their efforts to foster peace and understanding, noting: “It would be unrealistic to expect all conflicts on the earth to cease anytime soon. However, it is also not wishful thinking to expect that relations among various communities around the world will become more humane, driven by access to information, the reliance on reason and the increased first-hand knowledge of each other facilitated by dialogue in our increasingly shrinking world.”

Mr. Gülen added: “Fourteen centuries ago, the Holy Quran called for dialogue among Muslims, Jews and Christians, the latter two it referred to as Ahl-Al Kitaab, or people of the book. However, conflicts far outnumbered periods of peace in the intervening centuries due to conditions of those times. Now, however, the following centuries should be defined by mutual respect, love and coalescence.”

The dialogue conference – led by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB), Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (SEIA), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California (ISCSC) and the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County (IECOC) – is the first of its kind to be established at the national level.


This press release is prepared and released by Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as a voice for dialogue organizations affiliated with Hizmet, a global social movement inspired by prominent preacher and peace activist Fethullah Gülen. Based in New York, the Alliance strives to promote peace and to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against any or all ethnic, cultural and religious communities. To learn more about the Alliance or Mr. Gülen, please visit www.afsv.org.

Source: The Alliance for Shared Values , February 18, 2016


Related News

Turkish evidence for Gulen extradition pre-dates coup attempt

Turkey’s request for U.S. extradition of self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen refers only to his alleged activities before last month’s failed coup attempt, for which the Turks have not yet provided any evidence of his involvement, a senior administration official said.

Turkey crackdown: deep unease in Fethullah Gulen’s home village

“They were a family of thinkers,” said a dairy farmer in the village who asked not to be named as he feared repercussions from the authorities. “They were good people. They came from nowhere, they had no water, nothing,” he says, pointing out the Gulen family’s former home, made from clay and rocks.

Amity School on The Wall Street Journal

Brooklyn teens from the Turkish and Jewish American community gathered for a twinning event at the Masbia Soup Kitchen. Though this is not the first time that these teens are getting together in a project; they formed an initiative called “Young Peace Builders”, which aims to foster better understanding between the two communities. They believe that working together in projects like this will benefit the New Yorkers now and in the future.

Saylorsburg cleric sends statement to Muslim-Catholic conference

A press release prepared by the Alliance for Shared Values says Saylorsburg resident Fethullah Gulen, the prominent Muslim cleric, has urged people of all faiths to come together to address global conflict at the first-ever US Muslim-Catholic Dialogue Conference, which seeks to promote interfaith dialogue and mutual respect worldwide.

Gulen Movement, civilian governments and the AK Party

The Gulen movement’s understanding of politics and the political process differentiate it from the military and bureaucratic elite. Its main political objective is to transform society by raising the moral consciousness of individuals. By raising moral consciousness, the movement hopes to cleanse the bureaucracy of widespread corruption, increase the efficiency and transparency of state institutions, reinvigorate public work ethic to serve the people in order to enhance the legitimacy of the state, and create opportunity spaces for marginalized sectors of the Anatolian population.

In Turkey, The Man To Blame For Most Everything(!) Is A U.S.-Based Cleric

It isn’t just last month’s attempted coup that the Gulen movement is being blamed for! Everything from suicide bomb attacks to past mine disasters are being laid at the cleric’s doorstep. Just to name a few: last November’s Turkish shootdown of a Russian fighter jet, an explosion at a coal mine in Soma led to an underground fire that killed 301 people in 2014, a horrific suicide bombing at a wedding in Gaziantep killed dozens in August and even killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007.

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

GYV President Mustafa Yeşil answers questions about the Gulen movement

You can’t achieve democracy through military coup – Islamic scholar

Municipality illegally demolishes building in İstanbul

The Muslim Martin Luther? Fethullah Gulen Attempts an Islamic Reformation

Foreword to “The Gulen Movement: Civic Service without Borders”

Anatolia in Los Angeles

Hizmet school in Bangladesh receives the International Arch of Europe Award

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News