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.
Despite the fact that Turkey has recently adopted legislation against hate crimes, Turkey’s divisive Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has not stopped his attacks with verbal expressions of intolerance and hatred directed at the judiciary, opposition parties, the media, business groups and members of the Hizmet movement, a faith-based civic movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
The Hizmet Movement: Reflections from Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, the Hizmet Movement started the Learnium School as well as the Intercultural Dialogue Foundation. Initially, the funding for the school came from the Movement until it managed to support itself on its own income. Kimse Yok Mu was among the first to respond to the devastating tsunami that hit Sri Lanka. Large amounts of food and other requirements that the tsunami victims needed were supplied without any fanfare.
Fethullah Gülen donates $10,000 for victims of Typhoon Haiyan disaster in Philippines
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen donated to the Kimse Yok Mu foundation $10,000 for the victims of the Typhoon Haiyan disaster in the Philippines. “According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [UNOCHA], 4.3 million people have been affected by the typhoon and 330,000 people are now homeless. Ninety percent of the houses in Tacloban city have been damaged,” AFAD stated recently.
Soul searching inside the Gülen movement
The U.S. is also treading very carefully on the Gülen issue. The movement has been Turkey’s top lobbyist on Capitol Hill for a decade.
Fethullah Gulen’s statement on World Press Freedom Day
World Press Freedom Day is an occasion that shines a light on the importance of free speech and a free press. One truly cannot be considered a human being without freedom. Protection of essential freedoms, including the freedom of thought and expression are as important as the protection of life, freedom of religion, bodily and mental health, family and property.
Pro-gov’t daily claims White House held special session on Gülen
Pro-government Turkish daily Takvim claimed in a Friday report that the White House held a special session on Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who is based in the US, in September 2014.
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