The social movement called Hizmet or Gülen Movement is based on philosophy and values preached by Fethullah Gülen, his thought and practice including his insights on Renaissance and a Globalizing Civilization of love, tolerance and Empathy presently in the making.
Gülen philosophy is most importantly rooted in the prophetic and civic Islam, it embraces educating youth, raising a golden generation, fostering interfaith and intercultural dialogue, assisting the needy in society and contributing to the global peace and harmony.
Hizmet movement was founded in the late 1960s by Fethullah Gülen, an insightful and profound man of thought, spirituality and faith with a life-long commitment to understanding the principles of faith, consistently commenting on them, and sharing his thought and philosophy with others. It is absolutely essential to keep this perspective in mind in order to comprehend what he exactly preaches and practices. Misguided ones seek out things in his thought and practice that are actually absent, from selfish political ambitions to material gains. The person who tries the hardest to correct these misconceptions and is most offended by them is indeed Fethullah Gülen himself.
When his philosophy, thought and practice are observed closely over a period of time, the obvious conclusion comes up that Gülen’s objective has been to reconcile tradition (faith) with modernity (science) as to him, a healthy modern civil society has the attributes of solidarity, hard work, and productive outcomes.
The solidifying force to these attributes is the (ever evolving) strength of community’s democratic values and principles (based on ethics and morality) that maintain societal internal cohesion, stability and harmony. Additionally, these attributes imply that those who trust each other and resist social decline enhance their individual capacities manifold for work and self-development, and also elevate the quality of life of the society as a whole locally and globally.
Furthermore, these concepts are realized through investment, entrepreneurship and making tremendous improvements in the conscious distributive market economy possible.
There are basic and unique characteristics of Fethullah Gülen as a leader that differentiate him from the beliefs and opinions of many others. What is the source of such a difference? First of all, Gülen from his very early life was influenced positively by Sufi (mystic) teachings and tradition (without belonging to or founding any sectarian sufi tariqa). This influence can be seen not only in his religious interpretation and practice, but also in his general lifestyle and manner while abiding by the God-Given task of helping build, in modern times, Medina-like civil society with the ideals of the Quran and Sunnah.
His general conduct has always been humble and modest. He does not consider himself above anyone else, and he holds love, tolerance and forgiveness in the highest regard. The ways that these values reveal in his personal conduct are that Gülen listens carefully to others before he begins to speak. He appears as a bashful person (an endearing quality for him) and that should not be misinterpreted as secrecy of any sort. In his eyes, there is so much to be learned from him and so much mystery around the world, while his posture reflects his respect for others as well as his astonishment.
Another attribute of Gülen (Sufi) thought is that the individual takes it upon himself a responsibility to be a virtuous and perfect human being (Insan-e-Kamil), as far as possible, in all aspects of life and to others. An ideal person feels accountable to an ideal society as much as to himself. He wants for others what he would want for himself. Gülen places this accountability at the center of his conception of faith and beliefs. According to him, a Muslim is a social being and to the extent that he has spiritual depth, he allows the wellbeing of others to factor into his decision-making. This sense of devotion to others is the foundation of his understanding of ethical conduct and moral integrity as an individual.
In the Islamic belief, human beings at birth innately possess the inclination (fitra) to virtue; all what is needed is a conducive and healthy social environment, conscious parenting, early education and good role models. Ibn-e-Tufail thought that, if he could make one leader into a virtuous/serving person, his mere example would serve to change all those around him for the better.1 Humans, most urgently need best of educating and character building to bring out the goodness and virtue in them.
Gülen philosophy presents values focused around inner personal transformation through prayer and spiritual discipline that lead to an ethic of individual freedom and social responsibility for the purpose of serving other human beings (Hizmet).
Gülen notes, ”every thing of beauty, and every value present in individuals is multiplied and reflected in society. In contrast, everything that is inappropriate every insufficiency, is a scandal, and as a scandal blocks society’s path and inflicts deep wounds upon it.”
Gülen most strongly believes in education to elevate individuals and all of humankind. He has complete confidence in science and research, while he urgently believes in religious creeds and in devotion to God. He importantly supports the unity of heart and mind and never abandons one in favor of the other. He always emphasizes learning, as It is pointless to look for an exceptional character in an individual who has not passed through the crucible of conscious parenting, early teaching and learning, human virtues and elevating elements that have not developed within him yet. In the same way that transformative individuation and self-actualizing occurs by education, so is social and collective transformation ensured by education.
Gülen’s teachings also have a constant national undercurrent that exhorts his followers to strengthen their notion of a local community (or nation), and to open up to other humans and to embrace the larger family of global humanity or communities. Gülen further proposes three spiritual devices in this matter including modesty, tolerance, and devotion of the self to humanity.
It was no accident that the Ottomans’ spanning across a huge geography from the 15th to the early 20th centuries, embraced the plurality from different religions and cultures, and were able to maintain their internal peace and coherence for centuries. The fact that there was no discrimination among the multiple cultures and their domain played a very positive role in this achievement.
It is most likely that the Gülen Movement with its numerous schools worldwide has derived inspiration and positive lessons from the experience of the Ottomans. The Hizmet movement volunteers refer to this as the “line of Rumi and Yasawi,” i.e. unconditional love, and view this perspective as an ongoing gift from them to the today’s world.
The Hizmet Movement ventures and values allow for relationships, dialogue and peace building to develop within the full spectrum of plurality and cultural diversity. This dynamics of dialogue between all cultures, faiths and civilizations is critically very important and one can cite Gulen here,” One cannot be a Muslim unless one believes in the pre-Islamic prophets.”
The Hizmet Movement takes extra care and precautions not to lose this perspective. This is essential to Gulen’s core beliefs, and his volunteers hold the same opinion.
According to Gülen, the essence of all divine religions based on revelation lies the hope of reaching the absolute truth. In the Gülen Movement, this offer is more than an abstract promise. In all the actions and initiatives of the movement, there is the intention of turning this ideal into an active and ongoing practice. For that reason, as much as there is sacrifice and altruism in Gülen’s faith and worldview, there is sacrifice and altruism in the movement.
Empathy is one of the most important principles of the Gülen philosophy and is expected from his volunteers. The ability to embrace others indiscriminately brings the individual closer to God, as well as bringing him closer to being ideal human. For this reason, this call is an accountability call for him. This is what Gülen refers to as “metaphysical tension,” or “spiritual alertness” (in Turkish, metafizik gerilim) and I call it as the conscious spirituality. As the individual performs his actions being spiritually awakened, he is approaching the human ideal. Achieving closeness to this ideal the individual transcends to being a perfect person or (Insan-e- Kamil) in the process as far as possible.
If empathy were not one of the fundamental principles of the Hizmet movement, its members would not be willing or able to carry their message to the farthest corners of the world. They would not be able to communicate with people whose ethnicities, religions, and nationalities are so diverse and different from their own. Such sacrifice is found only in a strong belief. Gülen knows this very well and uses his religious interpretations to foster a mentality that produces a synergy between social works and spiritual development.
The subject of socio-cultural and civilizational decline, its causes, and possible cures are a perennial topic of philosophical and sociopolitical theorizing in every human culture, society and in every historical period.2 The Hizmet movement initially having been mainly active in education in general, has been increasingly expanding contributions to individual/collective transformative education, rescue initiatives, investments in media, finance, health, interfaith/ inter-cultural dialogues and peace-building over the decades. Hizmet movement, combined with the creation of a “Golden Generation”, has thus become a holistic and preventative approach to socio-cultural regression.
Fethullah Gülen, a farm boy from rural Anatolia in Turkey, emerges to become an encyclopedic personality, a renowned opinion maker on child and human development, modernity and tradition and reformer of renaissance and globalizing civilization. The transformational ideas he has offered and put into practice in his native Turkey did not pertain to “change and secularism from above’ ‘The social transformational change through Hizmet movement in Turkey and beyond has been through a bottom-up grass roots approach. The change to begin with was not meant for the state and its politics but for the public sphere and the people themselves to transform.
The life in Islamic belief system is meant to be of goodness (as God wants), fairness and justice. Hoca-Efendi has had the conviction that religion and science are certainly not contradictory but are complementary to seeking the truth. Together they empower the individual and the civil society.
The ignorance is a form of evil, preventing understanding of the self and the society and inhibiting reconciliation of sociocultural differences. Ignorance is eliminated through education.
For Gülen education also builds bridges between inner life and social life, and helps us understand the variety of facts and possibilities. His views on religion in the contemporary world, also pertain to Inter-faith dialogue, politics; women, education as an instrument of individual and collective aggrandizement, ‘clash of civilizations’ thesis and possibility of universal reconciliation based on common religious and humane principles.
Hizmet…is a voluntary, civic and independent movement. A modern understanding of reality inspires its spirit. Reality is both the institutional and cultural set up that we find ourselves in and the belief system from which the movement has emerged out of. It has been simple, pure and civic original Islam…. stripped off of extremes and cleansed from legend, particular historical experiences of different, aberrant Islamic notions, epochs, geographies and cultures. Only then the true spirit of religion could be distilled and begin to travel over time and space and find actual meaning in modern and post-modern settings once again.
Hoca-Efendi (the Master Instructor), as he is commonly referred to, has carried the original message of civic and genuine Islam to the contemporary times and societies before they were thwarted by political or local cultural interpretations.
The Universal education has always been a fundamental aspect of the Hizmet Movement ….all its institutions were built and maintained by the financing of sponsors, businessmen who wanted to return some of their prosperity to the community.3
The guiding principles of the movement have been Hizmet (service),“camia” (gathering) and “hosgoru” (“tolerance”, but with a more positive meaning, including something like “respect”), values that are all rooted in civic Islam.
The religion offers not only a belief system but also a moral recipe for good behavior and understanding the ‘other’ as a fellow creature of (the same) God. Gülen advocates religion that had to be brought out of the historical dogma stuck on it throughout history and had to be realigned with the spirit of the time as its general humanitarian principles avail.
Religion is for people and it is directly related to their needs as they strive to be worthy creatures of God. They do not only deserve this but they owe it to each other and to their creator.
The ideal synthesis that gives meaning to life is faith. Through knowledge and truth, faith keeps the individual clean and accountable to his Creator. Knowledge empowers the human being to understand and to do things. The Truth keeps the individual at the right place and equidistance to different realities; between good and evil; between right and wrong; between justice and injustice.
In this suitable atmosphere faith and science will not reject each other but rather empower the individual and the society.
As this happens, Gülen expects that the Muslim contributions to global Renaissance that had been delayed for several centuries have slowly and surely begun once again and he finds Turkey’s lead to this change, as most prominent, in the Muslim world than any other Muslim nation at this point in time while apparent reawakening has been taking place in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Gülen provides convincing examples as to how Islamic countries for centuries had swayed away from reason and scientific thinking driving faith into dogmatism. Dogmatism for Gülen is not a quality of religion but of the bigoted mind.
A dogmatic mind can ossify religion and distance it from life and human exigencies as it happened in the Muslim world historically over the recent and many centuries. Now this trend has to be reversed and this is slowly being accomplished, as a Renaissance, once again in the realm of Islamic active contributions has become a real possibility and has indeed begun.
Gülen believes that science and faith are being brought back together –not to replace or to dominate one another- both the spiritual and the rational needs of the humankind are being slowly reconciled.
Hence the starting point remains demystifying religion by cleansing it from the dark stains of history and culture. When this is being done he advocates that what will remain is the Quran and the pure path of the prophet that is quite sufficient to rewrite a new epoch where faith and science are to rein together.
After all nature (biosphere and ecology) is God’s creation and we as God’s creatures must try to understand God’s work (nature) through scientific method. But we can only come to a certain point. From then on we will need the internal understanding to supplement our objective findings. If we can develop this capacity (understanding from within) we can reunite faith and science and rediscover the “lost world” once again on the path to renaissance and an inclusive global civilization of love, tolerance and empathy.
Views and Values guiding the Hizmet/Gulen Movement
Here are some of the universal principles, values and views from Fethullah Gülen who has advocated them throughout his life, in all platforms and particularly through the Hizmet movement and its golden generation.
Gülen’s teachings, put into practice by Hizmet, are based on the belief to bridge the gap between the Muslim nations themselves, the East and the West, the poor and wealthy, the educated and less educated, etc. We will eventually have a peaceful and prosperous world where everybody respects and accepts each other as they are.
From all this, we can see that Gülen emphasizes better communication, mutual respect, and tolerance. Gülen said that the primary universal values of “peace, love, forgiveness, and tolerance are fundamental to Islam.”4
There are many writings by Gülen on the core universal values of Love, People of the Heart, Tolerance, Humanity, and Personal Integrity. Below are a few views of and quotes by Hoca-Efendi himself that would be of tremendous use as a philosophical and practical framework to understand the Hizmet Movement and its contributions to democratizing democracy, promoting renaissance, and civilizing of civilizations and cultures locally, regionally and globally.
Love
“Love is the most direct and safest way to human perfection. It is difficult to attain the rank of human perfection through ways that do not contain love. Other than the way of acknowledging one’s innate impotence, poverty, and reliance on God’s Power and Riches, and one’s zeal in His way and thanksgiving, no other way to truth is equal to that of love.”5
“If we do not plant the seeds of love in the hearts of young people, whom we try to revive through science, knowledge, and modern culture, they will never attain perfection and free themselves completely from their carnal desires.”6
From these quotes, we can understand clearly that human being is reliant on God. Just as God cares for us and teaches us through love, we must care for and teach love to the children being brought up and the younger and future generations.
People of the Heart
“People of heart are monuments of humility and modesty who are devoted to a spiritual life, determined to stay away from all the material and spiritual dirt, always vigilant to corporeal desires of the body, and ready to struggle with such evils as hatred, resentment, greed, jealousy, selfishness, and lust. They always endeavor to give what is right the highest esteem, to convey to others what they feel about this world, as well as the next, and they are always patient and courteous.”7
“People of heart do not violate the rights of any other people, nor do they seek revenge. Even in the most critical circumstances, they tend to behave calmly, and do whatever a person of heart should do to the utmost. They always reply to evil acts with kindness, and, considering badness to be characteristic of evil, treating those who have harmed them as monuments of virtue.”8
These quotes regarding people of the heart embrace many common beliefs that cross ethical and religious boundaries, such as avoiding misbehavior and wrong thinking, as well as practicing the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” These concepts fit perfectly with the ideals of the Hizmet Movements’ dedication to unselfish service.
Tolerance
“Be so tolerant that your heart becomes wide like the ocean. Become inspired with faith and love for others. Offer a hand to those in trouble, and be concerned about everyone. Applaud the good for their goodness, appreciate those who have believing hearts, and be kind to believers. You approach unbelievers so gently that their envy and hatred melts away. Like a Messiah, revive people with your breath.”9
“Take note of and be attentive to any behavior that causes you to love others. Then remind yourself that behaving in the same way will cause them to love you. Always behave decently, and be conscious. In sum: in order to preserve your credit, honor and love, love for the sake of the Truth, hate for the sake of the Truth, and be open-hearted toward the Truth.”10
The unselfish service of the Hizmet Movement has been based on tolerance and love, for without these attributes; any service would become selfish and egocentric. To maintain the ideal of unselfish service, Gülen says that we must always act for the sake of Truth, which appears to mean for the sake of God.
Humanity
“When interacting with others always regard whatever pleases and displeases yourself as the measure. Desire for others what your own ego desires and do not forget that whatever conduct displeases you will displease others. If you do this you will be safe not only from misconduct and bad behavior but also from hurting others.”11
“There is no limit to doing good to others. Those who have dedicated themselves to the good of humanity can be so altruistic that they will even sacrifice their lives for others. However such altruism is a great virtue only if it originates in sincerity and purity of intention and if it does not define the “other” by racial preferences.”12
We can see here how Gülen integrates the concept of the Golden Rule for all of humanity. As indicated above, we are all in the same spaceship earth and are all children of God Almighty, so there are no differences among the races. Sincerity becomes the measure of altruism – we serve others out of the goodness of our hearts, and not for ulterior motives.
Personal Integrity
“Those who want to reform the world must first reform themselves. If they want to lead other to a better world they must purify their inner worlds of hatred, rancor and jealousy and adorn their outer worlds with Virtue. The words of those who cannot control and discipline themselves and who have not refined their feelings may seem attractive and insightful at first. However, even if they somehow manage to inspire others which they sometimes do, the sentiments they arouse will soon whither.”13
“If we cannot accept the criticism of those we love and who love us, we may lose our friends and remain unaware of our defects. Do not remember the promises that others have failed to keep; instead, remember your own promises that you did not fulfill. Do not blame others because they are not doing good to you; instead, remember the chances you missed of doing good to someone else.”14
Although raised in the spirit of Islam, we can see that Gülen embraces the teachings of Jesus Christ – doing good for others, forgiveness, and righteousness. As Jesus said: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Gülen advises us to avoid self-righteous and ego-centric thought and behavior as the way to personal integrity.
Bringing Up the Young
Educators who have not been apprenticed to a master and have not received a sound education are like blind people trying to lighten the way of others with lanterns.
A child’s mischief and impudence arises from the environment and atmosphere in which he or she has been raised in defiance of fitra. A dysfunctional family life increasingly is reflected upon the spirit of the child, and therefore upon the society.
In schools, good character and manner should be considered just as important as other subjects. If they are not, how can children grow up with sound characters? Education is different from teaching. Most people can be teachers, but the number of educators is severely limited…
Our humanity is directly proportional to the purity of our emotions. Although those who are full of bad feelings and whose souls are influenced by egoism look like human beings, whether they really are human is surely doubtful.
Almost everyone can train their bodies, but few people can educate their minds and feelings. The former training produces strong bodies, while the latter produces spiritual people.
Freedom
True freedom is civilized freedom. It wears the beautiful chain of enlightened faith, spirituality and morality, and the collar of rational thinking and sound wisdom.
True freedom is the freedom of the human mind from all shackles that hinder it from making material and spiritual progress, as long as we do not fall into cracks of indifference and heedlessness.
Freedom allows people to do whatever they wish, provided that they do not harm others and that they remain wholly devoted to the truth…
True freedom, the freedom of moral responsibility, shows that one is human, for it motivates and enlivens the conscience and removes impediments to the spirit.
Efforts to suppress ideas via pressure or brute force have never been truly successful. History shows that no idea was ever removed by suppressing it. Many great empires and states were destroyed, but an idea or thought whose essence is sound continues to sustain.
Environment and Nature
Nature (or universe) as a whole is a Divine miraculous creation and the work of a Creator. However, rather than calling it an exhibition we prefer to call it as one of God’s 3 ‘books’ (2 other books being Quran and humanity). This ‘book’ was once much more dazzling like a magnificent vessel sailing in the ocean of love and ecstasy or a chandelier with one thousand and one lights, it was beautiful and beyond imagination.
What a pity it is that this magnificent book, this charming work, which the infinitely Merciful Creator has created and presented to humans to observe and study and to be exhilarated by, is no longer given much attention than is given to a heap of wreckage and it is more and more becoming a wasteland. Like everything else entrusted to us, we have mistreated this ‘book’, this magnificent work, an embodiment of Divine grace and mercy.
How awkwardly we have treated these gorgeous plains and places, changing them into deserts and heaps of ruin. How gracelessly we have treated seas and rivers, which we have mercilessly polluted.
Unless we improve this world, whose order we have destroyed and polluted and restore it to its essential and original beauty and magnificence, it will inevitably collapse on us in heaps of wreckage.
Democracy
Historically, democracy has gone through so many different stages in the long past (beginning from Mesopotamia and spanning to the East and the West over 4500 years). Thus the democratic ideals, from ancient times have been in flux and have yet to be fully evolved and perfected in the West and in the rest of the world. John Keane tracks the historical developments of democracy more accurately, “considered both as a way of deciding things and as a whole way of life”.15
In modern times democracy as an ancient, still evolving and universally relevant system, has reached its general acceptance and recognition as a universal value globally. However, when it comes to democratization process, every nation must learn a unique instrument to play in the symphony of its own and unique culture. All nations must go through the evolutionary stages of values development as individuals, organizations and civil societies are to go through.
For every attempt by Asian government spokesmen to contrast alleged “Asian values” with alleged Western ones, there is, it seems an attempt by Western intellectuals to make a similar contrast from the other side. But even though every Asian pull (for /or against democracy as a universal value and an ideal) may be matched by a Western push, the East and the West together do not really manage to dent democracy’s claim to be a universal value.
Claims that any community is inherently hostile to democracy in this age represent an unwarranted surrender to the wrong argument. We must engage with a broader spectrum on behalf of all of humanity, and without compromising our commitment to freedoms and universal democracy.
If democracy means a system of freedom, justice, equality, human rights and taking power from the hands of ambitious kings and autocrats and giving it to the people, then Islamic teachings to begin with and inherently contained these values and system. In fact, these values are evolutional continuation and generally common to all monotheistic belief systems transmitted through prophetic teachings in human history.
Prophets Muhammad and Moses (peace be upon them) were amongst the long line of historic prophets who made ongoing contributions to human development, evolving ethical/moral values, law giving and governance. It is also said that the concepts of deliberation, consensus, justice, responsibility, and the delegation of powers were rooted in, and were formulated from, the revelation and prophetic teachings long before the modern times.
Interestingly democracy had continued to evolve in the East, fusing with Islam from the 7th century to produce strange and dynamic hybrids of Islamic principles, universal values, market economics and communal politics in early centuries of Islamic civilization.
As a prophet of Islam, Muhammad (Pbuh) founded a civil society beginning in Mecca, and continuing in the city-state of Medina (in 622 A.D.) — an Uma of democracy (of equal citizenship for Muslims and non- Muslims through a mutually agreed upon and signed constitution) that embodied and applied the Quranic and universal democratic values. Prophet Mohammed (Pbuh) himself taught the early Muslims the culture of democracy in Islam emphasizing a system of freedom, justice, equality and human rights.
Democracies have been lately failing to deliver what they were supposed to deliver and even Western Democracies are in deep trouble today. Recent events in the Middle East and their repercussions in other parts of the world have refocused global public attention on the current unfolding story of democracy. It is in this context that we must presently re-examine the question of democracy as a universal value.
Even in countries like Sweden, the level of entropy has been increasing. Sweden is moving backwards in terms of values development. At the same time, countries like the United Arab Emirates and Bhutan, which are not democracies, but have strong leadership with democratic credentials and values, have had a low level of entropy. Are we lacking enlightened leadership in our democracies? Yes we are and yet, non-democratic countries are dependent entirely on their leaders. Democracies do at least have the intention to apply these values through a continuous process, while leadership can be removed, if they don’t apply those values.
We need to reinvent democracy in the 21st century.
Democracies need to move beyond the existent “crony democracies” to more “conscious democracies,” in analogy to “crony” and “conscious distributive capitalism.” “Crony democracies” are used by their leaders for the fulfillment of their own greed, needs and desires, while “conscious democracies” engage in searching their true and common purpose. The true purpose of a nation is similar to transcending the emergence of the Unique Self of the individuals.
Democracy to this day is far from mature as a concept. It is poorly understood, open to misinterpretation, often abused, and almost exclusively birthed through public unrest, violence, or civil wars. It always has to be taken; it is never given. It always requires a confrontation between the masses and the powerful elites; and it is almost always bloody.
Once the confrontation is over and the masses have established their will over the elites, there are seven distinct stages in the maturation of democracy not unlike individual’s individuation and self-actualization in Sufi thought. Each stage is represented by a specific value. The value of a particular stage must be fully embodied in the workings of the democracy before the next stage can be attained.
The seven stages in the evolution towards a mature democracy are represented by and dependent on the following values that are rooted in Islam and prophetic teachings of all faiths and are universal values required in the evolution and maturation of democracy: freedom, equality, accountability, fairness, openness, transparency and trust.
Freedom is one of the foundational values on which democracy is based on—the freedom to express your opinion and the freedom to vote for a candidate of your preference to represent you in a local or national election. For freedom to be fully exercised, any member of a community must be able to put him or herself forward for election.
Equality is the second foundational value on which democracy is based on—recognizing that you have the right to freedom and everything with that right, including all others living in the same community have the same rights as you. No one is to be marginalized or treated differently from the community.
This naturally leads further to the value of accountability—the practice and value of responsible freedom. With freedom and equality being importantly agreeable to all, everyone takes full responsibility and accountability for making absolutely sure that all their actions are in support of these values. This includes those who are elected as representatives of the community, those in position of public authority and the entire population itself. Above all, those who serve at the wishes of the masses must be fully accountable to those who elected them as to how they serve and discharge their duties to the public in the utmost responsible manner.
This naturally leads to the value of fairness—the practice of being accountable for living the value of equality. Unfairness comes when people are not held accountable for ensuring that their actions support the value of equality. Fairness mandates that there is no discrimination in any community against persons of different races, religions, political affiliations, ages and genders.
This then naturally and subsequently leads to the value of openness—the process by which fairness can be certainly assured. Openness requires that all those in a position of authority fully disclose their motivations in making decisions. Motivations must be disclosed for openness to be practiced. No decisions are to be made behind the closed doors in an open society.
This naturally leads to the value of transparency—the demonstration of openness and the disclosure of all documents and materials that indicate how decisions have been made. The best way to ensure transparency is to make sure that every aspect of the process by which decisions are made is open for public view. Nothing must be hidden for transparency to be exercised.
Only when the values of freedom, equality, accountability, fairness, openness and transparency are collectively exercised in the system’s processes and policies of governance and individually practiced by the elected representatives and those in a position of authority can trust be established and democracy be regarded as mature.16
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, which claims to measure the state of democracy in 167 countries, only 26 countries are categorized as full democracies. The remainder is flawed democracies (53), hybrid democracies (32), or authoritarian regimes (56).17
Among the full democracies, the United States ranks 17 and the United Kingdom ranks 19. A cursory examination of the quality of democracy in these countries based on the stages of evolution described above shows that both countries are wrestling with issues of accountability and fairness. The widespread abuse of expenses by British MPs brought to light in 2010 throws into question the ethics and motivations of the British elected representatives. In the United States, lobbyists representing the business elites are highly influential in manipulating the process of governance. Not surprisingly there is little trust among the populations of these countries in their Governments.
Both these so-called “pillars” of democracy have much work to do on their values. It is clear to everyone that they are light years away from embodying openness and transparency, and still has much work to do on embodying accountability and fairness.
Based on the stages of democracies and their development, they still have a long way to maturation but the process must continue uninterrupted.
Peace-Building
The truth is that peace and justice are inseparable —— it is impossible to have one without the other. Certainly, this principle is well recognized and understood by the intelligent people worldwide beside those who are determined to create disorder in the world. However, no one can ever claim that in any society, country and even the world, that there could be disorder or a lack of peace where justice and fairness prevail. And yet in the 21st century, we find in so many places around the world, conflicts and a lack of peace remain prevalent unfortunately. Such disorders are visible both internally within nations, and externally in terms of the strained relationships and tensions between various countries. These tensions and disputes exist even though governments claim to make policies that are based on fairness, justice and the establishment of peace as their objectives. The conflicts go on increasing around the world on daily basis, and so with turmoil ever spreading. This clearly proves that somewhere along the line, the basic requirements of tolerance, fairness, and justice are not being fulfilled. Therefore, there is an urgent need to try and end inequality, wherever and whenever it exists.
In International Hizmet Movement Conferences over the past several decades, it has increasingly been pointed out that the vast majority of spiritually enlightened people and communities around the globe are indeed converging on the importance of democratic participation, social enterprise, education, and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation as foundations for durable, if not perpetual, peace, as opposed to Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations” model of perpetual war.18
These faith-based practices form what has been called “the peace-building pyramid,” which contrasts with “the violence iceberg” described by some. These practices of the peace-building pyramid indicate that nations, which are truly democratic, trade together, and are engaged in cooperative political structures, and do not go to war with each other.19
Together, the various global social movements and individuals committed to the practices of the peace-building pyramid point to what Professor Pahl called “a coming religious peace.” In recent decades, a leading contribution to this coming religious peace has become most evident in the works of the Hizmet Movement associated with individuals inspired by the teachings and writings of Fethullah Gülen. The concepts of justice, freedom of belief, privacy, dialogue and tolerance, as expressed by Gülen, are in direct contrast to radical or extremists’ movements (secular or religious). Individuals adhering to Hizmet have been working within the systems of government to foster peace and understanding among different religious and ethnic groups.20
Many from around the globe, not unlike, Professor Pahl hope that Hizmet is contributing to “a growing movement toward inter- religious understanding.” As a Christian, he said in a recent conference that he was impressed by the worldwide commitment of Hizmet volunteers. Professor Pahl further believes that religious peace building in the past has largely been overlooked and that the Hizmet movement is now a prime mover and integral part of the religious commitment to creating a just and peaceful society globally.21
Inter-religious Dialogue and dialogue of civilizations
Professor Douglas Pratt, University of Waikato, New Zealand, and UNESCO Chair in inter-cultural and Inter-religious Relations – Asia Pacific, expressed the view that Fethullah Gülen is absolutely correct in noting that a desire for mutual understanding, a dedication to justice, and a priority on mutual respect are requisite principles for engaging in inter- religious dialogue. Gülen is of the view that, in today’s world, the task of “representing faith with its true values has gained an even greater importance than before’’.22
He further stated that Lester Kurtz also noted that for Gülen, “spiritual practice and morality are more important than ritual and dogmatism.” Gülen believes in tolerance, which is far more active, with the intention of fostering peace and harmony. Gülen asserts that “Muslims will lose nothing by employing dialogue, love, and tolerance,” and that, indeed, there are many verses in Qur’an that extol these values and virtues.23
Fethullah Gülen arguably regards interfaith dialogue as an expression of a divinely- inspired love, for the primary theological verity that binds together all peoples of the Book – Jews, Christians and Muslims is the belief in God as the Creator.
The act of creation is not that of arbitrary whim but intentional love of the Creator for the creature. Love is expressed in terms of engagement; thus, “dialogue is the real remedy for conflicts, terror, chaos, and intolerance”. Gülen further stated: “Even though we may not have common grounds on some matters, we all live in this world and we are passengers on the same spaceship. In this respect, there are many common points that can be discussed and shared with people from every segment of society.” As Gülen states, “Love is the reason for existence and its essence, and it is the strongest tie that binds creatures together. Everything in the universe is the handiwork of God.”24
The above remark of Gülen is very similar to the thought of a great Chinese poet—Lee Bai, when he wrote thousand years ago in his famous article “Party in the Peach and Plum Blossom Garden in Spring Night” that we are all the passengers of the world.
We need to educate what reconciles us rather than what brings about clash of civilizations. Even Huntington stressed 3 rules to minimize and eliminate probabilities of conflicts among civilizations.
1- If clash occurs within a civilization, states outside of that civilization must refrain from interventions in the clash.
2- if clash occurs between states from different civilizations, influential states from these civilizations should negotiate with one another to contain the clash.
3- Peoples in all civilizations should search for and attempt to expand the common values, institutions and practices they have with people of other civilizations.
There are common civilizational aspects, common ethics, the international legal system, networks for commerce, UN agencies and the infrastructure brought by modern technology, inter-civilizational universities and so on. All nations have signed UN declaration of Human Rights (even if some deviate from its principles).
Instead of one global civilization, we can think of two layers of civilization. The foundational layer is everything that can be universal or global. The upper layer is what makes individual civilizations unique.
The Educational Vision of Fethullah Gülen
The global problems of today – be they political, environmental, economic or related to scarcity of resources for the poor and needy – the major underlying causes still remain ignorance, poverty and lack of unity among nations of the world.
The Hizmet Movement had its beginnings in the field of education with the Lighthouse programs and thus has always focused on education. Gülen said: “We are only truly human if we learn, teach, and inspire others. It is difficult to regard those who are ignorant and without desire to learn as truly human.”25
Hizmet global movement is certainly one of the best ways to minimize and eliminate ignorance through worldwide education, to narrowing the gap between the rich and poor also through education and charitable works. Disunity among nation-states and peoples will eventually end also through education, human communicative competence, optimism, dialogue based on tolerance, love, intellectual capacity and self-confidence to bring about mutual understanding and peace on earth.
Gülen also recognizes the importance of what is to be taught: “Right decisions depend on having a sound mind and being capable of sound thought. Science and knowledge Illuminate and develop the mind. For this reason, a mind deprived of science and knowledge cannot reach right decisions, is always exposed to deception, and is subject to being misled.”26
Gülen’s perspective not only applies to the problems of Turkey or Muslim world education, but also the education problems presently of the entire globe.
He also says that despite the necessity of modernization, there are nevertheless risks involved in any radical break with the past. Cut off from traditional values, young people are in danger of being educated with no values at all beyond those for material success. Non-material values such as profundity of ideas, clarity of thought, depth of feeling, cultural appreciation, or interest in spirituality tend to be ignored in modern educational ventures which are largely aimed at mass-producing functionaries of a globalized system.27
Students may be adequately prepared to find jobs, but they will not have the necessary interior formation to achieve true human freedom. Leaders in both economic and political fields often favor and promote job-oriented, “value-free” education because it enables those with power to control the “trained but not educated” working cadres more easily. The road to social justice is paved with adequate, universal education, for only this will give people sufficient understanding and tolerance to respect the rights of others.28
Thus, in Gülen’s view, it is not only the establishment of justice which is hindered by the lack of well-rounded education, but also the recognition of human rights and attitudes of acceptance and tolerance toward others. If people are properly educated to think for themselves and to espouse the positive values of social justice, human rights and tolerance, they will be able to be agents of change to implement these beneficial goals for all of humanity.29
Gülen notes the “bitter struggle that should never have taken place: science versus religion.” He feels that through an educational process in which religious scholars have a sound formation in the sciences and scientists are exposed to religious and spiritual values, that the “long religion-science conflict will come to an end, or at least its absurdity will be acknowledged.”30
It is to be remembered that the Turkish republican elite, like the French revolutionary counterparts about a century earlier, waged a virtual war of suppression against religion. It would be difficult to expect that religion or perhaps even moral teaching in the schools would be exempted.
The divided, conflict-ridden world poses a serious challenge for the followers of all religions. According to M. Fethullah Gülen, education oriented towards the reconciliation of science and religion paves the way for a true understanding of reality and helps overcome moral evil that lies at the root of all conflicts. Gülen indicates the holy book of Islam, the Koran, constitutes incontrovertible evidence of the harmony between religion and science. The Koran provides solutions to the most daunting disputes, dilemmas and challenges, including the relationship between religion and science. In its authentic meaning, religion neither contradicts nor imposes any restrictions on science and scientific work.
M. Fethullah Gülen’s pedagogical proposal is comparable with the proposals of Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Common themes have been identified in the teachings propounded by these three authorities to foster intercultural and interreligious dialogue as well as peace and reconciliation. The mission of these three charismatic leaders serving the good of all humanity, the entire world, and people representing various religions interested in peace making are increasingly becoming noteworthy.
Gülen believes that a new style of holistic education is necessary, one that will include religious and scientific knowledge together with morality and spirituality, to produce genuinely enlightened people with hearts illumined by religious sciences and spirituality, minds illuminated with positive sciences.”31
Intellectual rebirth and Renaissance
It is unfortunate that the Islamic nations have lagged behind in enlightened intellectual thought for quite some time now. Here, we can briefly review some issues pertaining to this. Such a standstill in intellectual development and thought is not necessarily something unique to the Islamic culture. There have been many nations throughout human history whose yesterday was very bright, and whose today is dull. This is like the destiny of all nations; as history repeats itself with rise and fall of cultures and civilizations. Various civilizations and nations have had such a destiny.
Very similar to and before the modern day West, Europe was still in the dark ages, over a millennium ago when the Islamic world was a great civilization characterized by a thirst for sciences and knowledge. The Muslim world had experienced a great period of renaissance, enlightenment and golden age. There were positives of the period, but when vital dynamics were neglected, there were, no doubt, negatives as well. The world’s great trading cities were once Muslim cities. In some cases, plentiful material possessions caused the laziness of people, industrial systems skewed people’s sense of reality, victories and successes drove the people’s passions for life, and extreme frivolity led to a decadent lifestyle. In a context where such an oppressive atmosphere becomes dominant, the intellectual thought cannot emerge.
There are concerted efforts to reawaken our intellectual resources in the Muslim nations, however this is very costly and a slow process that has begun once again.
There are three fundamentals of the Islamic spirit. The abandonment of any one of these fundamentals to a certain extent paralyzes the other dynamics. These fundamentals can be summarized as follows:
1- Interpreting the religious sciences that draw from the Qur’an and the Sunnah in accordance to the understanding of the present century, as was the case in the early periods of Islam or the era of Tadwin (recording tradition).
2- We must read the holy Qur’an, as derived from God’s attribute of Kalam (speech), we should also read the book of the Universe and the divine laws found in nature, which come from God’s attributes of Qudrah (power) and Iradah (will).
3- We ought to keep a balance between science and the sacred, body and spirit, this world and the hereafter, and physical and metaphysical. In a world where reason is abandoned, the heart has been ignored, and the love for truth and longing for knowledge has been extinguished, it is not possible to speak of intellectually enlightened humans.
Today’s positive sciences essentially and methodologically are not based merely on the search, experience, and analysis of Muslim scholars. In our modern days sciences are based on positivism, naturalism, and rationalism in the Western sense. In the world of sciences, all research and analysis are under the control of a certain understanding. This will continue until new geniuses emerge to reinterpret the world or the creation and to analyze and re-establish it within the filter of their own thoughts.
The Renaissance is known as a New Birth, Revival, and reawakening. Some people say that it was a movement reviving the formal and spiritual values of ancient times or it represents a current of returning to the sources and rereading and evaluating them. Some also say that the focus of this movement was on the political, judicial, and moral values of ancient times through focusing on classical writings in the field of thought and focusing on legendary mystics.
If the Renaissance is all of this, though parts may be praise worthy, one could not accept all aspects of it. If the Renaissance was a revolt against the dominance of religious authorities under the leadership of philosophers such as Jules Michelet, and if it is understood as pro-freedom, it is critically and totally anti-religion under the format of individualism. Although some trace the development of this movement to Italy and connect it to the philosophers such as Dante and Giotto di Bondone, one hardly can see this as beneficial to humanity and thus we can hardly accept the movement in this format. Another interpretation that one cannot accept is that some thinkers who were quite confused as a result of chaotic thought in the West have accepted Humanism in extreme form as a religion and caused another imbalance in thought.
Islam had achieved a Renaissance in its third and fourth centuries and, to a certain extent, it became a paradigm for the European Renaissance. With all sincerity, we support a Renaissance that would consist of the rediscovery of lost human values and the rapprochement of humanity with universal human morals. Again, we support a Renaissance that allows the questioning of dictatorship and the end of dictators, and working towards an ongoing evolutionary democratization of local and global societies. A Renaissance that fosters great achievements in the fine arts and promotes a careful reading of the book of the universe, which has been lost for a long time, is greatly applauded. We support a Renaissance which promotes a longing for research, a passion for knowledge including sciences, and the articulation of religion in accordance with the understanding of our century in a new style and new manner.
We are in search of a reawakening of reason, as well as heart, spirit, and mind. Yet, it is not possible to assume a harvest of fruits of efforts and works resulting from this. There is an appropriate time for everything. We will wait and see God willing. “Before the sun rises, who knows what will come out from the darkest night?”
A new Muslim Golden age and Renaissance is in the making most importantly through Hizmet educational and other multiple projects with creativity and capital development economically, socio-culturally, intellectually, spiritually and technologically. Most importantly, there is a Hizmet created Golden generation and its seed is spreading with ongoing Muslim renaissance bringing multicultural tolerance, peace building, dialogue, and new and holistic ideas on education across the Muslim world and the entire globe. Education for global integration is generally missing on most of our planet. We need cultural diversity as much as biodiversity, but we must go on striving for commonality where it is in the common interest.
Bridging the East and the West
In light of the values and views from Fethullah Gülen in the preceding sections, it is not surprising that Gülen has an upbeat, hope-filled view of the future. Most certainly, Gülen does not subscribe to the clash of civilizations thesis advanced by Samuel Huntington. By focusing on such qualities as dialogue, peace, and love Gülen has high hope that Islam and the West can resolve and reconcile their differences amicably through dialogue. By focusing on dialogue, tolerance, peace, and love, the future of the relationship between Islam and the West looks very bright.
Gülen’s belief in the resurrection and last judgment helps him look at life in a qualitatively different way than the secular humanist and others who believe that life ends with the grave. For Gülen life on earth prepares us for an eternal life with God in the heavens. Gülen views this present life as a test for the human race. We are to brace ourselves, so to speak, for the future by caring for others and by putting on such qualities as love, gentleness, and inner peace. Those who live their lives on the plane of eternity can forgive others their trespasses and overlook their shortcomings. In short, Gülen remains convinced that human life on earth is meaningless without a strong belief in the resurrection of the dead (Gülen, 2000b, p. iii).
Gülen argues that if we look at life through the windows of God, then it follows that hope is the dynamic of action that does not falter. Hope may be regarded as the life-giving nourishment of those souls who live for others, rather than looking out for self only. Gülen calls hope as a source of energy, which never diminishes for souls that are other-centered. Finally, Gülen’s reflections on hope are epitomized in these poetic words, “I am keeping my hope alive for the world and humanity, fresh as evergreen leaves and I keep on looking upon tomorrow with a smile.” (Gülen, 2004b, p. 234)
A Global Civilization of love, tolerance and empathy
Such a civilization has been evolving around the globe. A younger generation is now fast extending its empathic embrace beyond any exclusive religious affiliation and national identification to include the whole of humanity and the broader project of life that envelops the Earth. But our rush to universal empathic connectivity is running up against a rapidly accelerating entropic juggernaut in the form of climate change, wars, environmental challenges and socio-cultural decay. Can we reach biospheric consciousness and global empathy in time to avert our planetary collapse and societal decay? The transition from geopolitical consciousness to biosphere politics and social consciousness that has already begun. All over the world, a younger generation is beginning to realize that one’s daily consumption of energy and all other resources ultimately affect the lives of every other human being and every other creature that inhabits our planet.
The new upcoming era of distributive energy, and distributive governing institutions will more resemble with the workings of the ecosystems they manage? Just as habitats function within ecosystems, and ecosystems within the biosphere. In a web of interrelationships and governing institutions, they will similarly function in a collaborative network of interrelationships within localities, nations, and regions, all embedded within the continents as a whole. This new complex political/social organism must operate like the biosphere it attends, synergistically and reciprocally. This is biosphere politics and global society of the future.
The new biosphere politics transcends traditional right/left distinctions so characteristic of the geopolitics of the modern failing capitalistic market economy (limits of laissez-faire being now called free market extremism or fundamentalism) and nation-state era.
The new divide is generational and contrasts the traditional top-down model of structuring family life, education, commerce, and governance with a younger generation whose thinking is more rational and distributive, whose nature is more collaborative and cosmopolitan, and whose work and social spaces favor open-source commons –bottom-up model. For the Internet generation, “quality of life” becomes as important as individual/collective opportunity in fashioning a new dream for the 21st century.
An inner, spiritual, empathic individual and collective approach in post- modern consciousness and context requires neither unrelenting materialistic industrial destruction of the planet nor a retreat into imagined primitive utopias. Post-modernity calls us to move up the ladder transforming ourselves and our world to gain a quality of life higher than any we have ever known in the past…The task before us now is to deepen our interconnectedness and free ourselves thoroughly from alienation. Then our unified consciousness can only improve each individual’s sense of inextricable interconnectedness with all others, and we will never be caught in the destructive rampage inevitably unleashed by past and present extremes.
The global renaissance is work in progress once again since its initiation in the Muslim civilization’s golden age in the 11th and 12th centuries and subsequently in Europe in the 16th century. For it to be successful in the 21st century, and for the human race to avoid descending into new dark ages of possibly catastrophic consequences, it is necessary that we get past the idea that any one particular culture is intrinsically superior to any other, and recognize that we are all deeply and profoundly interconnected, such that the apparent wealth of any one group is deeply related to the poverty of another. This new era will need an ethic of global responsibility/accountability, which will not be possible without the development of the inner sciences, based not on any one cultural tradition, but on the collective wisdom of all of humanity. If human nature is Homo empathicus as it turns out, and as neuro-scientists are suggesting, as that’s indeed our true nature, then we can begin to recreate new institutions — better parenting styles, better education, better business, better political and financial distributive models — that reflect our core nature as humans and social beings. Then and only then we can see how this global democratic renaissance and the Third Industrial Revolution will happen successfully and a successful global civilization will come about.
References
1Locke described this idea in his An Essay Concerning Human Understanding as the tabula rasa (Fitra), a Latin phrase meaning blank slate. This idea was not original to him, however. In fact, Locke directly took the idea from a Muslim philosopher from the 1100s, Ibn Tufail. In Ibn Tufail’s book, Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, he describes an identical idea about how humans act by birth as a blank slate, absorbing experiences and information from their surroundings. John Locke borrowed many of his Enlightenment ideas from the Muslim philosopher, Ibn Tufail.
2Lee Yeau-Tarn, “The Contribution of Gülen’s Thought to Turkey’s Democratization,” Conference Proceedings: International Conference on the Hizmet Movement, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, December 8-9, 2013.
3Liu, Yu-cheng, “The Gülen Movement and Its Contributions: New Social Movement Perspective,” Conference Proceedings: International Conference on the Hizmet Movement, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, December 8-9, 2013.
4Understanding Fethullah Gülen, Journalists and Writers Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey, 2012, p. 24.
5Understanding Fethullah Gülen, Journalists and Writers Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey, 2012. p. 34. 6 Ibid., p. 35.
7Ibid., p.35.
8Ibid.
9Ibid., p.36.
10Ibid.
11Ibid., p.37.
12Ibid.
13Ibid., pp.37 – 38.
14Ibid., p.38.
15The quote on the first page from John Keane’s book, The Life and Death of Democracy. Simon and Schuster, London, 2009.
16Richard Barrett, ”Stages in the Evolution of Democracy” March 2011
17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index#2010_rankings
18Pahl, Jon, “Clashing Minorities, Converging Majorities: Toward a Coming Religious Peace,” Conference Proceedings: International Conference on the Hizmet Movement, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, December 8-9, 2013, p. 35.
19Ibid., p. 39.
20Ibid., pp. 47 – 49.
21“Hizmet efforts to build schools will not stop: scholar” (Sait Yavuz, a lecturer and president of the Gülen Institute at University of Houston), Taiwan News, December 12, 2012.
22Pratt, Professor Douglas (University of Waikato, New Zealand, and UNESCO Chair in inter-cultural and Inter-religious Relations – Asia Pacific), “Fethullah Gülen on Inter-religious Dialogue and Islamic Inter-faith Relations, Understanding Fethullah Gülen, Journalists and Writers Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey, 2012. p. 23.
23Ibid., pp. 23 – 26.
24Ibid., p. 26 – 27.
25Ibid., p. 38.
26Ibid.
27Michel, Thomas, “Fethullah Gülen and the Gülen Schools,” (February 18, 2003) in Understanding Fethullah Gülen, Journalists and Writers Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey, 2012, p. 48.
28Ibid.
29Ibid., p.49.
30Ibid., p.50.
31Ibid., p. 51.
