Today on World Refugee Day, I join the global community in showing support for millions of refugees around the world who were displaced due to conflict and persecution and who are going through an extremely difficult journey as a result.
It is distressing to see that the refugee crisis is getting worse each day and that millions of families are torn apart. In addition to the tragedy that these families have to leave their homes, they are sometimes faced with hate speech in their new homes. We should not forget that every human’s dignity should be respected and as part of the human family, we should open our hearts to everyone regardless of what part of the world they come from. We should all strive to ensure that refugees are welcomed in our communities.
I pray to God, the Most Merciful, to help us eliminate conflicts in this world so that no one should have to flee their homes to feel safe. May God give all those who have been displaced strength and perseverance to build a new life for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Fethullah Gulen: Turkish Scholar, Cleric — And Conspirator?
Al-Jazeera America reporter Jamie Tarabay interviewed Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen in his home last spring. It was published in The Atlantic last August. Gulen is a Turkish spiritual leader to millions of Turks, both in Turkey and around the world, and the head of the Gulen movement. His network of followers spans the globe, and it has opened academically-focused schools in 90 countries, including the U.S.
Father Alexei on Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement
Father Alexei Smith served as an elected member of the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for six years, and currently is a member of the Spirituality Commission of the Archdiocese. He served as president of the Interreligious Council of Southern California for five years. In 2007, he awarded the prestigious Religious Leadership Award of the Valley Interfaith Council.
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.
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.
Fethullah Gulen awarded in the Philippines for contribution to peace
The Philippine army chief has honored Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen with a special award for the charity activities and contributions to peace of the faith-based Hizmet movement. Philippine Chief of General Staff Gen. Leonardo B. Guerrero said during a beef-sharing ceremony that the army is grateful for the important activities of the Hizmet movement […]
The Pigeon, The Finger, and Hizmet’s ‘Inevitable Ambiguity’
Hizmet combines characteristics that we are not used to seeing combined in such a way: faith-inspired (in motivation) yet faith-neutral (in so many activities), informed by Qur’anic principles yet inclusive and non-missionary, predominantly Muslim but proactively engaging with wider society and responding constructively to modern and post-modern ideas and lifestyles.
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
Chronology of Dec. 17: The stones are settling into place…
Barton: Erdoğan intoxicated by power, imperiling democracy in Turkey
Strange alignment of PKK and government against Hizmet
Swoboda accuses Erdoğan of using Hizmet movement as a pretext
Daily Trust Editorial: In Turkey, fresh affront on democracy
Public ad budget unfairly allocated to pro-gov’t media
