M. Fethullah Gülen is a Turkish opinion leader and preacher emeritus who has been living in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania since 1999.

Gülen embraces an inclusive and peaceful understanding of Islam. His commitment to dialogue and altruism has inspired the Hizmet Movement, a transnational social initiative active in education, interfaith dialogue and humanitarian aid activities.

Mr. Gülen and Hizmet participants are known for their commitment to peace, democracy and non-violence, and oppose turning religion into a political ideology.

In 1994, Mr. Gülen had said “from now on, both in Turkey and in the rest of the world, there will be no return from democracy.”

Gülen is well-known with his statement “a true Muslim cannot be a terrorist and a terrorist cannot be a true Muslim,” published in The Washington Post after 9/11 attacks.

He was named as ‘The World’s Top Public Intellectual’ by Foreign Policy magazine in May 2008, and made it onto TIME100 list of the most influential people in the world in 2013. He is the recipient of Manhae Peace Prize in 2013 and Gandhi-King-Ikeda Award for Peace in 2015. He is also the recipient of New York-based EastWest Institute’s 2011 Peace Award.

Gülen’s Rethinking of Islamic Pattern and Its Socio-Political Effects

Fabio Vicini Over recent decades Islamic traditions have emerged in new forms in different parts of the Muslim world, interacting differently with secular and neo-liberal patterns of thought…

Fethullah Gülen and the Concept of Responsibility

In all this Gülen remains rooted in tradition but offers a view of responsibility that goes beyond simple adherence to codes or ethical principles. The significant principles are…

Fethullah Gülen’s Use of Scriptural Resources for Tolerance

... And while some have thought differently, most interpreters of the Gospels do not take it to be a universal rule that we should sell all we have…