Keyword: Hizmet (Gulen) movement
Islamic scholar Gülen calls for ‘reasonability’ in prep school row
Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has called on the government to act “reasonably” in its plan to close test prep schools, adding that they were the ones receiving a “slap,” in a veiled reference to a statement from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. You have to defend it without making concessions in the language you use,” Gülen said in an apparent message to members of the “Hizmet” [Service] movement.
The Shadow Politics of Shadow Education
It is no secret that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has grown wary of the so-called Gulen movement, a faith-based network centered on the charismatic preacher Fethullah Gulen that promotes a mild and modern understanding of Islam. Started in the 1960s, it now runs or influences, through its adherents, a large network of businesses, think tanks, newspapers and television stations — as well as a successful chain of tutorial colleges and private schools.
The recent fight between Kemalo-Islamism and Civil Islam
İHSAN YILMAZ As I have written here before, Islamists imagine Islam as a complete and ready-to-use divine system, with concrete political, cultural, legal and economic blueprints. Their ideology is exclusivist and they are not open to negotiation, compromise or pluralistic viewpoints. Islamists do not pay much attention to civil society and always pursue the seizure […]
Professor Ori Z. Soltes: ‘Fethullah Gülen wants to be an altruistic servant of others’
Professor Ori Z. Soltes, author of ‘Embracing the World: Fethullah Gülen’s Thought and Its Relationship to Jalaluddin Rumi and Others,’ explains how Gülen’s perception of Sufism is grounded particularly in the work of thinkers such as Jalaluddin Rumi, Ibn Arabi and Said Nursi, but is also grounded in the idea of selflessness.
Turkish government defiant as battle over prep schools rises
Both the government and the Gülen movement have raised the stakes in the debate over a plan to regulate private prep schools, or dershanes. The tension recently peaked, with Erdoğan describing the group’s objection to his government’s plans as a “smear campaign.” Ekrem Dumanlı, editor-in-chief of daily Zaman, which is known for its close ties with the Gülen movement, wrote an open letter to Erdoğan and urged him to review his decision.
AK Party deputy Hakan Şükür against closure of prep schools
Former national team captain and current Justice and Development Party (AK Party) İstanbul deputy Hakan Şükür, referring to the government’s plan to shut down prep schools, has said it was wrong to vote “yes” on their closure before a process is carried out which eliminates the need for the schools.
Fethullah Gülen urges followers to stick to path despite attacks
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen called on his followers on Monday to “just keep walking and not stop” in the face of controversial government plans to abolish privately-funded educational institutions known as dershanes, which assist medium and high school students to prepare for national college and university admission examinations.
Bittersweet joy for teachers amid prep schools conflict in Turkey
Zaman columnist Ali Ünal expresses how prep schools by the Hizmet movement were established under difficult circumstances under the leadership of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. Preps schools prevent students from falling into bad habits by giving them both life and schools lesson at the same time at reasonable prices, writes Ünal.
An open letter to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan
When it is necessary, making objections demonstrates honesty; approving everything is an indication of hypocrisy. So if all these people are saying that this is wrong, listening to them is not a weakness but a virtue. This is what the nation expects from you. Otherwise, it will take forever to heal the wounds that have been inflicted in their hearts. So is it worth it?
Erdoğan has to respect civil society
ŞAHİN ALPAY Colleagues and friends ask me, “What is the reason for the feud between the government and the Gülen movement and between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Fethullah Gülen?” This is, briefly, my response. In Turkey the demand for education is very high. Universities are unable to meet the demand and there are […]
Why Gülen movement teachings attractive to followers?
The Gülen Movement arose among pious men and women who wanted a modern interpretation of religion. In the dynamics of the transformation of the movement, the social milieu also played an important role. The movement became a spiritual refuge for those who searched for an interpretation where Islam was in harmony with modernity. The followers of the Gülen Movement do not describe themselves as a political movement.
Turkish PM Erdoğan launches another war [in Turkey]
Turkey’s Islamic camp is more diverse than one would think. In fact, the traditions that Erdoğan and Gülen come from have almost always been distinct and different from each. The former has been more explicitly Islamist, at times anti-Western and anti-Semitic. The latter, the line of Gülen, which goes back to scholar Said Nursi (1878-1960), has rather stayed closer to center-right parties and have been more friendly to the West and also other “Abrahamic” faiths.
Hizmet from the Heart
That’s hizmet: freedom from fear, secure in the ultimate mercy and grace of a compassionate God, yet freedom to serve: recognizing the needs and suffering of one’s neighbors, and the strength and joy found in solidarity and community. That’s hizmet. And yet it is also the path to a meaningful, rich life — rich in the things that matter, the things that endure, the things that aren’t things.
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.
