Gülen Community and Gülen’s Reminder

Hadi Uluengin
Hadi Uluengin


Date posted: November 3, 2012

Hadi Uluengin, April 13, 2011

Last week in this column I wrote that large masses whose common denominator is to adopt Fethullah Gülen’s spiritual leadership cannot be referred to as a ‘cemaat’ or religious community or brotherhood. I made this claim because the Gülen Movement’s (aka Hizmet movement) pluralism in quantity and diversity in quality means that it must now be defined as a ‘camia’ or a social community.

What is more important and fatal is the movement’s inability to provide a satisfactory answer for claims and accusations with respect to a ‘lack of transparency.’ This inability provides a fertile ground for the ‘monster’ fantasy of the above-mentioned circles. To put in a rather modern fashion, the Fethullah Gülen Movement is suffering from an ‘image problem.’

Generating differences is natural, and such is the case in every intensifying body. To cut a long story short, with the exception of loyalty to the charismatic figure who has been compelled to live in the US against his will, participants in this movement do not act in a monolithic manner. Nor are they part of any centrally organized hierarchy.

Despite the reality that this phenomenon of transition from a religious brotherhood to a community has most definitely occurred—a process of expansion and diversification—the ‘other’s’ perception of the Gülen Movement has not changed. By ‘other’ I refer to those large masses who are essentially from secular, urban, and Alevite circles, and who are allergic to the word ‘tariqat,’ or spiritual order, because of earlier conditioning.

It is a fact that these circles consider the community in question to be a ‘monster’—a monster who is all-powerful and able to do anything it wants. Imagine a ‘monster’ (which is a combination of) associations from other cultures: a monster organized in a Bolshevik central discipline, raised in a Catholic Jesuit elitism, equipped with a Protestant Calvinist mission, and kneaded in the secrecy of the Catholic Opus Dei or a secular Freemasonry. And whoever looks cross-eyed at this ‘monster’ or places an obstacle in its path is doomed to be immediately sent to Silivri Prison!

NO! The Fethullah Gülen community does not fit in that paranoia! Neither my observations over the last two decades, nor the messages released by the spiritual leader in Pennsylvania contain evidence to verify claims and accusations that this movement is a ‘stealthy monster’ or a ‘genie out of its bottle.’

As a matter of fact, the pioneers who have been generating these claims and accusations from time immemorial are well-known. The flames of this paranoia are being fanned by rigid and classic ‘secularists’ who have not taken the trouble to analyze the nature of religion-civil relationship in Muslim societies. Nor have they sought to understand the movement by analyzing Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who is positioned in the movement’s origins.

On the contrary, the Gülen Movement is far from being a ‘monster.’ It has no counterpart in the Islamic world, it is unique to Turkey, and it shines brightly in the Islamic world. Its bright light shines from both its humanistic rhetoric that it has conveyed from the very beginning and its values that mesh well with a secular way of living despite its religious outlook.

Having said that, this does not mean that this community collectively, its varying formations, or its individual members are immune from criticism, and it can never mean as such! From my perspective, for instance, I am very much discomforted by its male-dominance and lack of women—for which one is hard-pressed to find any reasonable explanation—and its general and standard monotony revealed in their suits and the way they all wear mustaches, or even the low aesthetic taste or kitsch one can observe from the TV studios to the design of school buildings.

The Gülen Movement is far from being a ‘monster.’ It has no counterpart in the Islamic world, it is unique to Turkey, and it shines brightly in the Islamic world. Its bright light shines from both its humanistic rhetoric that it has conveyed from the very beginning and its values that mesh well with a secular way of living despite its religious outlook.

What is more important and fatal is the movement’s inability to provide a satisfactory answer for claims and accusations with respect to a ‘lack of transparency.’ This inability provides a fertile ground for the ‘monster’ fantasy of the above-mentioned circles. To put in a rather modern fashion, the Fethullah Gülen Movement is suffering from an ‘image problem.’

Gülen himself said recently as reported by Huseyin Gulerce (1) that ‘we should take a look at ourselves,’ as to why there is such a perception, thus imparting a lesson of wisdom and responsibility and implying a need for self-questioning and criticism within the camia. In other words, he reminded his followers once again of the principles and rules of the ‘path’ for the participants in the Movement who gather around the spiritual common denominator of his name, but who potentially carry the risk of diverting into different routes because of their ‘community’ (camia) qualities.

I am faithful that this reminder will be wholeheartedly welcomed by the Gülen camia.

Source: Hurriyet. Original article is in Turkish. English translation is retrieved from fgulen.com.

Click here to read Hadi Uluengin’s previous article.

(1) Click to read Huseyin Gulerce’s related article: We’ll kiss the hands of those who tell us our shortcomings


Related News

Gülen movement has no political agenda

Professor Ahmed al-Tayyib, the rector of al-Azhar University in Egypt, who believes the Gülen movement and al-Azhar University are of the same mind regarding the balance between secularism and religion, said the Gülen movement is a true representative of Islam because it adopts a moderate approach. “Today, there are many movements having a religious basis; however, most of them serve the interests of a sect, a community or a political purpose,” he told.

President emphasizes importance of domestic peace for development

President Abdullah Gül has underlined the importance of domestic peace for Turkey to keep up its development, noting that the country should not waste its energy by focusing on “unnecessary rumors,” an almost open reference to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s defamation campaign targeting the Hizmet movement, a volunteer-based grassroots movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

A coup was launched from here? Intrigue in rural Pennsylvania

It is high summer in this rural corner of northeastern Pennsylvania – a time of blue skies, boating on the Delaware River, and, if Turkey’s president is to be believed, plots to overthrow his government.

‘If you are against us, you are the other’

Turkey has been witnessing a rigorous debate for the last couple of weeks over the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) vow to finish off the test prep schools, which are a source of both money and influence for its old ally, the Hizmet Movement led by the self-exiled leader, Fethullah Gülen. Like many controversies in Turkey, the issue of closing the courses and integrating them into Turkey’s poorly-established and -organized education system was not only about the prep schools, which was only the tip of the iceberg.

Fethullah Gülen grieving for Islamic world amid Eid al Fitr holiday

Fethullah Gulen celebrated eid al fitr with the Turkish American community members. He listened to the sermon after the Eid Prayer with tears in his eyes. After the sermon, he exchanged eid greetings with his guests. Osman Şimşek said in the sermon, “Although we are full of joy for our holiday and are thankful to God-All Merciful, we also feel grief and sorrow because of the horrid situation, which parts of the Islamic world are currently in.”

Commentary: Abuses rampant in wake of Turkish coup

We don’t know a lot. But what we do know should cause us to ask our elected officials to look carefully at any request for extradition for Fethullah Gulen. We don’t know everything, but we know that the post-coup crackdown has included public appeals “to be protected from the evil things of educated people.” Nearly 60,000 have been detained. Some 1,600 university academic deans have been relieved of their positions.

Latest News

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

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Warriors of enlightenment: pen versus bullet

Renewing Islam by Service: A Christian View of Fethullah Gulen with Pim Valkenberg

Global education turns Turkish teachers into world citizens

Fethullah Gülen’s message to PM Tayyip Erdoğan regarding consultants [in 2005]

Caretaker AK Party gov’t criticized for police operation against youth association

Turkey, The great purge – Four lives upturned by Erdogan’s ‘cleansing.’ Episode 2 – Mehmet

Philippine House speaker receives Turkish school delegation

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News