New Book – No Return from Democracy: A Survey of Interviews with Fethullah Gulen
Date posted: August 8, 2017
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. Many of his avant-garde ideas did not only earn him one of the largest and most influential faith-inspired social movements of recent history, but also many foes, especially from the Turkish ruling elite, placing him in the center of many social and political developments in Turkey. Despite the enormous defamation from some political groups in Turkey, Gülen is recognized in the world as a devout Muslim cleric, whose thoughts and life style are deeply rooted in the Islamic faith, but who also believes Islam is not in conflict with the progressive values of the modern world. 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.
To extradite Gulen would not only imply a high chance of an unfair trial, but would also sound the death knell of a blueprint for global peace. Gulen’s ideas have all the potential for a global approach to peace-building. John L. Esposito, a professor at Georgetown University and a highly respected expert on Islam, called Gulen’s initiatives “extraordinarily unique”, and suggested it would be “wise” for other Muslim movements to emulate them.
Gülen condemns ISIL atrocities in ads in leading US newspapers
In the ads, which appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, Gülen said the actions of ISIL — referred to in the ad as ISIS, another name it goes by — are a “disgrace to the faith they proclaim and crimes against humanity.”
‘Who do you like most, Erdoğan or Gülen?’ Turkish teacher asks primary school students
A religious culture and moral knowledge teacher at a Turkish primary school has asked students about their preference between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, parents complain. Evrensel daily quoted parents as saying that students aging between 9 to 10, become cold of religious culture courses and prefer not to attend in classes amid similar incidents.
Gülen’s latest book launch celebrated at İstanbul forum
Journalists, politicians and writers gathered together for a forum in İstanbul on Tuesday to mark the launch of renowned Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s latest book, “Yaşatma İdeali,” (The Ideal to Let Others Live). The event, organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), was held at the Ceylan Intercontinental Hotel. Among the participants of the […]
A Comparative Approach to Islam and Democracy
Religion, particularly Islam, has become one of the most difficult subject areas to tackle in recent years. Contemporary culture, whether approached from the perspective of anthropology or theology, psychology or psychoanalysis, evaluates religion with empirical methods. On the one hand, religion is an inwardly experienced and felt phenomenon, one mostly related to life’s permanent aspects.
Gülen has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Leeds Metropolitan University
Turkish Muslim scholar, educator and peace activist, M. Fethullah Gülen, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Leeds Metropolitan at the University’s Summer Graduation celebrations for his contribution to education, peace making and intercultural dialogue. Through his teachings and work, Fethullah Gülen has initiated and inspired a transnational civil society movement to invest in education […]
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