Gulen in The News: Conference on Gulen Movement

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Hizmet movement could be powerful argument for education: scholar

Conference on Hizmet [Gulen] Movement in Taiwan

Taipei, Dec. 11 (CNA) The Hizmet movement, a social movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, could be a powerful argument for the theory that people need only good education to bring out the goodness in them, a U.S. scholar said Saturday.

Mark Owen Webb, chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Texas Tech University, said schoolchildren in southeastern Turkey told him during a visit he made in 2008 that they would have become extremist had it not been for the schools built by supporters of the movement and their teachers.

The Hizmet (Turkish world for "service") movement began as a faith-inspired initiative in the 1970s to improve education in Turkey and grew into a civic movement around the world that encourages interfaith and intercultural dialogue.

The movement has inspired the building of schools and other educational institutes in some 140 countries, and the establishment of charities and hospitals, as well as media such as Zaman newspaper, Turkey's largest circulating daily.

Scholars from Taiwan and abroad gathered at a two-day international conference in Taiwan that kicked off Saturday to discuss the teachings and practices of Gulen, a scholar, educator and author who has millions of followers worldwide.

Parents of the children believe the spirit of Hizmet "makes schools that produce well-trained citizens of strong moral character," Webb said.

He said schools affiliated with the Hizmet movement emphasize science, math and language education. Religious subjects are not taught, but teachers are expected to model good moral character, he added.

The schools are financed by sponsors and businessmen and offer the same curricula as public schools, he said.

If the changes in southeast Turkey can be attributed, even in part, to the Hizmet movement, it is a powerful argument for the educational theory that people have the resources to live together in peace and need only the support of good education to realize their basic goodness, Webb said.

It also provides an example of one way to reform damaged societies, he said.

Gulen, 71, is known for making the remark "a terrorist cannot be a Muslim, nor can a true Muslim be a terrorist," after the Sept. 11 Muslim terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001.

Meanwhile, Lin Mei-rong, a professor at Taiwan's Tzu Chi University, said people often think that the religious field is conservative.

She said, however, that both the Hizmet movement and the Buddhist Tzu Chi movement initiated by Buddhist nun Cheng Yen, which stresses charity, medicine, education and culture, are innovative religious movements that correspond to calls for change.

Ahmet Gurhanli, chairman of the Taipei-based Formosa Institute, which organized the conference, said his institute has been organizing lectures and academic conferences to promote mutual understanding and social harmony.

He said the Hizmet movement is "often misunderstood" and expressed belief that the movement "could be a good cure for Islamic phobia."

Published on Focus Taiwan, December 11, 2012

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Taiwanese delegations visit Gulen Movement inspired institutions in Turkey

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Friday, December 7, 2012

Hizmet movement wins hearts with education, charity: scholar

Conference on Hizmet Movement in Taiwan

Taipei, Dec. 6 (CNA) A social movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen differentiates itself from extremist Islamic views by winning hearts with education and charity, a Taiwanese scholar said Monday.

Some think that Muslims are belligerent toward those with different religious views, but Gulen believes in influencing people with one's heart instead of force, Lin Chin-ming, assistant professor in Asian Studies at Tamkang University, told CNA.

Fethullah Gulen, a scholar, educator and author, has millions of followers worldwide. He is known for making the remark: "A terrorist cannot be a Muslim, nor can a true Muslim be a terrorist," after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists in the U.S. in 2001.

The Hizmet (the Turkish word for "service") movement, inspired by Gulen, began in the late 1960s as an initiative to build dormitories for university students and later expanded into the fields of education, charity and cultural interactions.

Its supporters build schools, charity organizations and encourage interfaith and intercultural dialogue around the world, according to the Taipei-based Formosa Institute, which follows the teachings of Gulen.

Wang Ding-shu, a Russian studies professor at National Chengchi University who has been studying Turkey, said the Hizmet movement is more progressive and more in line with the world trend compared with more conservative Islamic thought.

He touted the movement's advocacy of tolerance, love and dialogue as a "correct direction" and said he believes the movement will be well-accepted in Taiwan.

Osman Cubuk, vice chairman of the institute, said the Hizmet movement aims to facilitate mutual understanding and respect between different cultures and stresses the importance of education.

"Our purpose is not to promote Islamic culture but to resolve our common problems, including clashes between civilizations, war, poverty and environmental pollution," Cubuk said, adding that cultural interaction is needed to address those problems.

He said his institute hopes to cooperate with more groups in Taiwan to address these common problems.

Scholars from Taiwan and abroad are expected to attend an international conference on the movement in Taipei Dec. 8-9.

Published on Focus Taiwan, December 6, 2012