Gulen in The News: January 2013

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Gulen inspired Schools and Peace education

Gulen inspired Schools and Peace education

The world is gradually becoming a small village, and have been facing challenges like conflict, violence, terrorism, and war along with their terrible consequences of poverty, disease, despair, environmental destruction, and poor leadership. These challenges are present at all levels of human life—family, school, community, society, and globally. The solution to all of challenges is within the education that people have been receiving so far. Incorporating Peace education in the education systems would to eventually help people to gain the ability to prevent conflict, and to resolve conflict peacefully when it does arise, whether on the intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup, national or international level.

Peace education has been defined as an learning environment to addresses cognitive, affective and behavioral learning and can occur both within schools, through curriculum development and teacher education, and outside of schools, through camps, sports and recreation programs, youth groups and clubs, and training for community leaders, parents. And, the Gulen inspired school worldwide become an exceptional model to actually implement the peace education. Gulen teachings emphasizes the significance of educating younger generations with the idea of peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding. The educational perspective of Gulen is to illumination of the mind to science and knowledge, and the lighting of the heart in faith and virtue. And, according to Fethullah Gulen, it can be accomplished though teachers who are committed to devoting their lives, time and knowledge to teach the younger generations in these educational institutions. There are currently more than 1000 Gulen inspired schools in more than 110 countries around the world. In the European countries, there are at least a dozen Gulen inspired schools, and more than 150 smaller educational and cultural centers. Having an exceptional track of success in the different section of the world, Gulen schools have been perceived to be elite schools around the globe. Most of these outstanding schools are private schools where students have been selected on the basis of academic performance. The students in the schools tend to score high in different national and international competitions. In Gulen’s thinking there is no greater religious concept than love, there is no greater religious action than love: “Love is the most essential element of every being, and it is the most radiant light, and it is the greatest power; able to resist and overcome all else”. True religion is therefore how we move from being merely human to in fact becoming humane. In this way, Gulen teaches, spiritual people are open to the flow of the divine.

We are going to conclude with a testimony from Emre Celik who recently traveled South Africa, Tanzania (including Zanzibar), Kenya and Ethiopia to see Gulen inspired schools first hand. “The ripple effect these schools have is tremendous. They provide a safe haven, a kind of “peace island” for all those associated with the school” [1]

Friday, January 18, 2013

In what ways is Fethullah Gulen spiritual?

Fethullah Gulen

As a devout Muslim, Fethullah Gulen maintains the principles of orthodox Islamic spirituality taught by the Qur’an, and historically and ideally exemplified in the life of the Prophet Muhammad. This general sense of spiritual life includes observation of canonical daily prayers, consistent supplications to God, and frequent invocations of the divine names or “remembrance” (dhikr), as well as meditation. Gulen is well known to have observed all these basic spiritual practices in his deep sense of piety throughout his entire life. Since his early youth, he has adopted a spiritually-based daily life that starts an early wake up before the dawn to practice the traditional late night prayer called tahajjud and to recite various supplications. He dedicates a couple of hours to informal prayer called du‘a to ask God for goodness not only for himself, his relatives and friends, but also for all fellow believers and all humanity. Indeed, prayer and supplication comprise the very spirit of his daily discourse.

Gulen is also considered a follower of Sufism, the traditional mysticism of Islam. Sufism is not only a spiritual tradition, but also a humanistic and humanitarian one. Gulen wrote his masterpiece of four volumes on the key concepts of Sufism, which is entitled The Emerald Hills of the Heart. In this work, Gulen examines the traditional Sufi understanding of spirituality, morality, and metaphysics, with a constant emphasis on the human perfection to be realized by dedication to the eternal values of the Divine, especially mercy, compassion, love, and generosity, all expressed by the divine name of Rahman. This latter attribute of God has an outstanding significance in the spiritual system of Sufism, as it signifies the character of the ideal human being. Traditionally called al-insan al-kamil, this ideal individual is to be the greatest manifestation of the name of Rahman, namely the greatest representative of “The Most Merciful and Generous One” in the universe. Here is the necessary intersection of service to God and service to humankind and all creation. As Gulen reiterates in his article on al-insan al-kamil, the true spirituality requires the embracement of all creation, especially the human existence, as well as the dedication to the betterment of society, for the sake of the Creator, who is first of all the Lord of mercy and generosity.

Source: http://www.hizmetesorulanlar.org/in_what_ways_is_gulen_spiritual.html
Related articles:
http://www.gulenmovement.com/op-ed/171-little-known-facts-about-the-eu-a-new-responsibility-for-the-gulen-movement
http://www.gulenmovement.com/news/173-scholars-to-discuss-tolerance-at-hizmet-movement-conference
http://gulenmovement.com/news/169-hizmet-movement-wins-hearts-with-education-charity-scholar
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http://gulenmovement.com/news/164-conference-on-fethullah-gulens-thoughts-on-ideal-society-to-be-held-in-pakistan
http://gulenmovement.com/news/163-gulen-movement-challenges-culture-of-competition
http://gulenmovement.com/latest-news/156-book-on-fethullah-gulens-teachings-to-be-taught-at-belarus-universities
http://gulenmovement.com/fethullah-gulen
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Monday, January 14, 2013

Little Known Facts about the EU: A new responsibility for the Gulen Movement

Hon. Paul Lych

While researching on the Internet with regard to violent extremism, I came across with an outstanding conference seminar of Hon. Paul Lych, Consul General of the UK, in the Gulen Institute, which is a well – known institute in Houston, TX promoting the ideas of Gulen movement. As a part of Gulen Movement the institute is based on the idea to develop interfaith and intercultural dialogue among communities and cultures. Currently, there is no doubt that the movement has gone beyond the borders of Turkey and transformed from a local movement to a global social movement over the course of the last two decades.

In his speech, basically, Lych talked about violent extremism in the UK and also aptly emphasized that the UK has significant amount of experience on violent extremism of various religions or religious groups. He said that at that time there were almost 2 million Muslims and half of them was born in the homeland according to 2001 Census. Lych also added that Muslims had 1,000 years history in the Britain mainland where the first mosque was built in 1889.

The above mentioned facts reveals that Muslims have been inseparable components of the Western World. If we consider the fact that half of the Muslim population are native British citizens, they are not supposed to return their parent's hometowns in future. Sooner or later, Western countries have understood the necessity to understand minority communities living in their homelands. At this point, Lych addressed the importance of developing religious programs to help Muslim communities to better understand the faith of Islam. The worst thing that can happen for a person is to be the enemy of the community that he or she has grown up. Unfortunately, this was the case in London bombings in 2005 or in Norway shootings last year. All the attackers have grown in their respective countries and have somehow developed violent extremist ideas and relations before the attacks.

Therefore, nowadays, according to Lych the UK government is supporting programs and intitutes, and developing partnerships with leading Islamic organizations to deliver the faith of Islam in a proper way in the late 2000s. That is the point where Gulen movement's responsibility starts. Because this is a clear goodwill on the side of the Western world; however, it is a clear responsibility on the side of Gulen movement in the context of Islam. It is more than a mission, because the goals are defined by the movement in a mission; however, since it is a responsibility, as to Lych's speech, it is time for Gulen Movement to fulfill the gap, take the responsibility and create collaborations with the UK or other demanding countries to deliver the faith of Islam to Islamic communities of Western countries.

Source: http://www.gulenmovement.com/op-ed/171-little-known-facts-about-the-eu-a-new-responsibility-for-the-gulen-movement

“Combating Extremism in the UK-Government and Communities Working Together”
Hon. Paul Lynch - Consul General of the United Kingdom

Monday, January 7, 2013

Scholars to discuss tolerance at Hizmet Movement conference

Fethullah Gulen

The China Post news staff -- Scholars from Taiwan, Turkey, the United States and Japan meet in Taipei this weekend for a conference on the Hizmet Movement, a faith-inspired social movement that calls for tolerance. The Hizmet Movement, inspired by the teachings of Turkish native Fethullah Gulen, began in the late 1960s as an initiative to build dormitories for university students. Today, followers build schools, charities and platforms for interfaith and intercultural communication.

The movement differentiates itself from extremist Islamic beliefs with its emphasis on peaceful intercultural dialogue and respect, said Osman Cubuk, Vice Chairman of the Taipei-based Formosa Institute.

Formosa Institute organizes seminars, conferences, panels and luncheons and interfaith dialogue dinners to promote diversity and multiculturalism in Taiwan. The institute is co-organizing this weekend's conference with National Taiwan University's College of Social Sciences.

The "International Conference on the Hizmet Movement and the Thought and Teachings of Fethullah Gulen: Contributions to Multiculturalism and Global Peace" takes place Dec. 8-9 at National Taiwan University's College of Social Sciences.

Scholars from Taiwan, Turkey, the United States and Japan are to discuss issues such as Gulen's contributions to democracy, modern Islamic theology, science, education and charity as well as the structure, development and finance of the movement.

Source: The China Post

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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Turkish schools abroad: a global phenomenon

Dr. Seyfettin Gursel

Two weeks ago, I was in northern Iraq, the region controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), with my colleagues from Zaman. We had a very informative exchange of views with KRG personalities about the collaboration between Ankara and Arbil on the exploration of natural resources (see my article "Kurdish oil: a strategic shift," Dec. 14, 2012).

During our stay we had also the opportunity to visit Fethullah Gulen -inspired Turkish schools to meet some of the managers as well as teachers.

This was my third visit to these schools. Years ago I visited those of South Africa, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. A very similar story is found in each case. A handful of volunteers arrive in difficult times and succeed in tearing out required authorizations in an atmosphere of suspicion. They move on to build their first school with the support of donations coming from the faithful of some Anatolian city. After the first school proves its high performance in educating students and once the local authorities are reassured that there is no obscure political or ideological aim behind the institution, the way is opened wide for enlarging the school's presence.

In Iraq the saga began in 1994 with 74 students in Arbil at a time when an armed confrontation between Kurds and then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein raged on, isolating the country's north. The second school opened in Sulaimaniya, but beyond that the number remained limited to four till 2004. After the fall of Saddam, an explosion occurred. According to Talip Büyük, general director of the Fezalar Education Company, there are now 30 Turkish schools in Iraq, 18 of which were established in northern Iraq and 12 in the territories controlled by Baghdad. As many as 12,000 students are enrolled in these schools. Naturally, the question comes to mind: How many of these schools are there worldwide? I asked the question to Celal Uşak, a board member of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV). Uşak estimates that there are about 1,000 in approximately 150 countries, employing 10,000 teachers from Turkey. No doubt that we are facing an astonishing global phenomenon whose long-term implications are difficult to predict from where we stand.

This phenomenon has been puzzling me for a long time. How do these schools work? What are the keys items behind their success? What are the mission and limits of this global phenomenon? I cannot claim to be able to fully answer these questions, only to give some personal perspectives. The educational system is quite similar to foreign schools established in Turkey during Ottoman times. Mathematics and scientific courses are in English, taught by Turkish teachers, while social courses are in the countries' native languages, handled by local teachers. English and Turkish language education is very important. For example, in Iraqi schools there are 16 hours of English and 12 hours of Turkish per week. We met by coincidence in an Arbil mall a Kurdish student, Berhevan, who actually teaches English in the Mosul school. We were impressed by Berhevan's fluent Turkish.

The performance of the graduates in university entry exams is undisputable. Last year Selahaddin Eyyubi, one such school in Sulaimaniya, had seven of their students in the top 10 KRG baccalaureate students. I asked Ali Çavdar, a math teacher and the vice president of the committee responsible for educational matters, to account for this success. The key word is "a dynamic educational process" for staff, Çavdar said, some kind of learning-by-doing program for the educators themselves. Workshops are regularly organized for the teachers, aiming to improve their skills. Mr. Çavdar told me that a laboratory workshop was going on right now in which university professors of physics, chemistry and biology from Turkey were showing experiments to the young Turkish teachers. He told me also that the experienced teachers regularly show the beginners teaching methods.

The entry into schools requires high performance on entry exams for students even though there are school fees. Last year, in the Arbil school, 5,000 students applied for 400 places. I have to note that the fees are quite affordable for the middle class. Turkish teachers receive salaries similar to the salaries of local teachers, which makes the Turkish schools very attractive vis-à-vis their competitors when comparisons are made on price to quality. Once the startup cost is financed from Turkey, the schools are able to produce sufficient income to finance new ones.

Obviously, the fundamental factor behind the success of Turkish schools is the spirit of the mission of the people who belong to the faith-based social movement which supports the schools. What is this mission? I am not able to answer this question, but nothing I have seen indicates it is Islamization.

Source: Today's Zaman December 21, 2012

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