Gülen movement, Peacebuilding
More specifically, the following are some channels through which Hizmet instills, disseminates and popularises its core teachings among the wider Muslim public. Where the work is religious in nature, then Hizmet’s views and core teachings are popularised directly by way of its content. Where the content of the work is not religious, the core teachings are indirectly communicated through the example of the values that underpin that work. …
Democracy, Islam
It is on this basis that the Hizmet movement has competed directly with the revolutionary and authoritarian ideas of Islamists. The religious attitude of Civil Islam rejects the politicized doctrine and the “us vs. them” approach of Islamists, and instead stresses the importance of living Islam through sincerity, honesty, personal piety, and through selfless service to others through modern civil society.…
Dialogue, Education
Fethullah Gülen envisages self-perfection as a means to revitalize compassionate acceptance of others, which is central to true humanism. It empowers spirituality against the carnal self (nafs) instead of shunning the material world. The compassionate acceptance of others, dialogue and a mutually supportive existence are central to discovering ‘true identity’. The two essential components, action and thought, are integrally linked to serving and guiding others…
Fethullah Gülen, Gülen movement
As the movement has expanded it has inevitably become more decentralized. Today it embraces large numbers of independent private groups, committees, foundations, centers, and individuals; it receives major financial contributions from large numbers of businessmen who are part of the movement. Hizmet is self-sustaining; it operates loosely and spontaneously as individuals contribute to its advancement in various ways along the broad lines of action that Gülen has set out.…
Education, Gülen movement
When asked why they give $1 million or more dollars each year to movement projects, the group of businessmen in Istanbul gave the following reasons: to make better human beings as Mr. Gülen encourages; to educate our youth; to please God; to earn a reward in the next life; to be part of a bigger movement to better the world; to provide hope to our people in Turkey and around the world. …
Gülen movement
Gülen Movement (Hizmet) has no trouble in embracing secularism as long as the state remains neutral towards legal religious activity and is not hostile to its activities as before. Hizmet members furthermore believe that a moral movement like their own should not depend upon or need the state and, indeed, might even be corrupted by the state through direct association with its power.”…
Education, Gülen movement
To accomplish the educational projects that Mr. Fethullah Gülen envisioned required human and financial resources. Teachers and principals were needed who were dedicated and committed to quality education and who were willing to make sacrifices to enhance the education of their students. Parents had to be willing to work with teachers and school administrators for common educational goals. And to achieve these goals philanthropic giving through the establishment of charitable trusts was necessary. …
Fethullah Gülen
Recent studies, Turkish ones especially, have concluded that Islamic movements are successful without any state agenda. Accordingly, new Islamic movements base their ‘mobilization strategy on transforming everyday practices’ rather than following the former Islamist way of developing political agendas. The focus on daily life reminds the strategic role of informal networks. New Islamic movements, as the agents of daily life, operate mainly through informal networks.…
Gülen movement
The significance of the Gulen Movement that has attracted the most scholarly attention is its development of certain networks that transcend national boundaries. The Movement is not chary of expanding its societal basis. Rather, it sees enlargement as a major networking strategy. ‘Recruitment’ is not the adequate term for characterising the link between a social movement and people, for participation in such a movement takes place in various ways.…
Dialogue, Gülen movement
Taking the Gülen movement as a case study, this paper demonstrates how an Islamic movement engages with the West strategically and rationally, adopting a non-violent action repertoire, embracing modernity and operating predominantly within the cultural arena. Rather than adopting violence as a means to an end, the Gülen movement has turned its rejection of violence in all forms into a core feature of Gülen’s “Turkish Islam”, which is depicted as modern, peaceful, undogmatic and moderate.…
