Fethullah Gulen: Turkish Scholar, Cleric — And Conspirator?
A Rare Interview: Jamie Tarabay Meets Turkish Scholar Fethullah Gulen
Date posted: January 8, 2014
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.
Robert Siegel speaks with Tarabay about the interview.
The probe, which many predicted to be the end of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), has become a war of perception. If you google “graft,” “bribery” or “corruption” in Turkish, you will see the focus has already shifted to a concept so far unheard of in Turkish politics (the “parallel state”), reassigning public prosecutors and police officers to different posts, condemning all sorts of “disinformation” and changing laws governing the structure of the judiciary.
Tension at home hits Turkey’s brand overseas
ESİDEF President Mustafa Özkara said: “Top government officials, who during the Turkish Olympiads only six months ago called the Hizmet movement the ‘peace movement of the century,’ now define the same movement as a ‘parallel structure,’ a ‘gang,’ a ‘criminal organization’ and even Hashashins.
Take protests seriously, work to solve problems, Fethullah Gülen urges
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has urged that the protests that have gripped Turkey for nearly 10 days not be underestimated or ignored, adding that “we share the blame” for the unrest. Gülen also urged restraint and patience from his followers and said “our duty is to work to rehabilitate hearts.” Gülen frequently used “we” in a […]
Gülen calls on followers to adapt to PM’s teaching center closures
“If they close your homes, you should open dorms. If they close your dorms, you will open new homes. If they close your schools, you will respond by opening a university. And when they close your university, you should open ten schools. You should never stop marching,” Gülen said in a video that was posted at Herkül.org, a website close to the movement.
Politics and communities
The state can no longer control the estate in its entirety. As a matter of fact, society and politics cannot be perceived as an “estate.” Thus, civil forces and communities want to be influential over decision-making mechanisms related to political processes and public polices, not over the state.
‘The Gulen movement is one of the very few that has managed to live what it preaches.’
Hizmet Movement is, in my view, an Islamically-inspired, Islamically-grounded movement, or Islamically-rooted movement, founded on the universal and fundamental principle of peace and—the essential values of Islam—peace, mercy and compassion, as normative, moral objectives and which seeks to translate these principles into—through the dynamic of ta’aruf, the dynamic of coming to know one another, especially coming to know the other—into a reality, into a living sociological and anthropological reality.
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‘Hizmet is really something that demonstrates what’s universal about Islam.’