Scholars: Hizmet efforts to build schools will not stop

Participants of the Formosa Institute’s international conference on the Hizmet movement are shown at National Taiwan University in Taipei. Photo credit: The China Post)
Participants of the Formosa Institute’s international conference on the Hizmet movement are shown at National Taiwan University in Taipei. Photo credit: The China Post)


Date posted: December 12, 2012

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) Supporters of a civic movement inspired by Fethullah Gulen, one of the most important Muslim figures in Turkey, will not cease their efforts to build schools as long as there is a demand for such service around the world, according to a Turkish scholar dedicated to the movement.

The Hizmet movement places great emphasis on education, said Sait Yavuz, a lecturer and president of the Gulen Institute at University of Houston, in a recent interview with the CNA.

It was only in recent decades that Turkey began allowing the establishment of private schools, Yavuz said. He said the ban restricted the development of students with special talents.

“There are students who are promising students, who could become great scientists, but giving them the same curriculum is putting them into a narrow box,” Yavuz said.

After the government lifted the ban on private schools, Gulen and others, many of them business people, began working on the idea of setting up private schools and they opened the first one in 1982, according to Yavuz.

Although the schools had to follow a government-set curriculum, they were able to employ dedicated teachers and thus offered a better education than public schools, he said.

Students from the Gulen-inspired schools won Turkey’s first gold medal in the International Science Olympiads, Yavuz said.

Asked about the movement’s next goal, Yavuz said “there is no next step, because this step is not going to end. … It will end when we don’t need any more educational facilities, which will not happen. So we’ll continue.”

Supporters of Gulen, an Islamic scholar, educator and author with millions of followers worldwide, are believed to have established schools and educational institutions in some 140 countries around the world.

The movement has also inspired the establishment of charities, hospitals and media enterprises, including one of Turkey’s largest newspapers Zaman.

Gulen, 71, preaches a moderate brand of Islam and the need for interfaith and intercultural dialogue.

Mark Owen Webb, chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Texas Tech University, said he thinks the biggest appeal of the movement is its educational efforts to raise a golden generation of children.

Webb, who has visited schools established by Gulen’s supporters and who has been involved in the movement for a decade now, said parents frustrated with public schools may find Gulen-inspired schools attractive.

He said that during a visit to one such a school in Ukraine, he noticed that the students spoke multiple languages.

“I met one of the kids and he was practicing English, and he could have passed for an American boy,” Webb said, adding that dedicated teachers are the biggest advantage of the Gulen-inspired schools.

Asked about the Hizmet movement (aka Gulen movement) in a country like

that does not have a large Muslim population, Webb said many of Hizmet’s values are similar to Buddhist philosophies, such as the idea of reducing suffering.

Anyone can also respect and understand the notion that justice and compassion are important, said Webb, who described himself as an agnostic.

Meanwhile, Jon Pahl, a Christianity history professor and director of MA programs at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, said he hopes Hizmet will contribute to “a growing movement toward interreligious understanding.”

As a Christian, he said, he was impressed by the commitment of Hizmet volunteers.

Pahl said he thinks religious peace-building in the 20th century has largely been overlooked and that the Hizmet movement is part of the religious commitment to creating a more just and peaceful society.

The scholars were in Taiwan for an international conference that was held Dec. 8-9 to discuss the Hizmet movement and Gulen’s philosophy.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel December 12, 2012


Related News

Pak-Turk students shine at Kenya climate olympiad

Two Pak-Turk students, Mukarram Fatah and Yasir Jan, hailing from the most backward areas of the province – Jaffarabad and Chagai, respectively – have won silver and gold medals in Kenya for their projects.

Aydan Meydan from Bosna Sema School won the “Inspiring Educator Award”!

The final competition of the Google Science Fair 2015 was held on the 21st of September in Mountain View (California), in the main headquarters of Google Corporation. 20 projects of young scientists from all around the world were presented at this prestigious competition. The finalists represented 10 countries. According to the number of projects, they […]

Nigerians to showcase culture at Abuja festival

Abuja will on May 21 host the Hizmet Movement and commence preparations for the 14th International Festival of Language and Culture aimed at promoting the rich cultural heritage of the Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Ibo, Efik and other Nigerian tribes.

Prep school debate [in Turkey] continues

According to Bugün columnist Adem Yavuz Arslan, some newspapers, such as Akit, use very harsh language against the Hizmet movement in the prep school debate. Arslan wrote that newspapers are free to criticize things, but the criticism cannot be made as a form of revenge. The right to open a prep school is a democratic right, Arslan said.

“InnovAction for Poverty” International Research Paper Competition

The competition purposes to produce applicable and innovative ideas for struggling poverty and support to human and social development, create social awareness and make social impact by implementing these ideas.

Turkey is gateway to Europe: exporters urged to collaborate with Turkish companies

Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON) is organising a new track of its world famous series of international business summits, more than 2000 visitors from more than 124 countries are expected to participate in the event, expecting business agreements to the tune of $3 billion.

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

Turkish Deputy PM says he will not visit Gülen amid ‘prep school tension’

Gov’t steps up campaign against Hizmet via terrorism accusations

A day of joy for five hundred Albanian orphans

Gülen extends condolences over death of Saudi King

German intel expert says, based on CIA, BND reports, Erdoğan was behind failed coup

Biden in Turkey: Holding the Line on Human Rights

Celebrating Ramadan with Turkish asylum seekers

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News