A Modern Ottoman

By Ehsan Masood

Is it possible to be a true religious believer and at the same time enjoy good relations with people of other faiths or none? Moreover, can you remain open to new ideas and new ways of thinking? 

Fethullah Gülen, a 67-year-old Turkish Sufi cleric, author and theoretician, has dedicated much of his life to resolving these questions. From his sick bed in exile just outside Philadelphia, he leads a global movement inspired by Sufi ideas. He promotes an open brand of Islamic thought and, like the Iran-born Islamic philosophers Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Abdolkarim Soroush, he is preoccupied with modern science (he publishes an English-language science magazine called the Fountain). But Gülen, unlike these western-trained Iranians, has spent most of his life within the religious and political institutions of Turkey, a Muslim country, albeit a secular one since the foundation of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s republic after the first world war.

Unusually for a pious intellectual, he and his movement are at home with technology, markets and multinational business, and especially with modern communications and public relations—which, like a modern televangelist, he uses to attract converts. Like a western celebrity, he carefully manages his public exposure—mostly by restricting interviews to those he can trust.

Turkish Schools Offer Pakistan a Gentler Vision of Islam

By Sabrina Tavernise

Praying in Pakistan has not been easy for Mesut Kacmaz, a Muslim teacher from Turkey.

He tried the mosque near his house, but it had Israeli and Danish flags painted on the floor for people to step on. The mosque near where he works warned him never to return wearing a tie. Pakistanis everywhere assume he is not Muslim because he has no beard.

“Kill, fight, shoot,” Mr. Kacmaz said. “This is a misinterpretation of Islam.”

But that view is common in Pakistan, a frontier land for the future of Islam, where schools, nourished by Saudi and American money dating back to the 1980s, have spread Islamic radicalism through the poorest parts of society. With a literacy rate of just 50 percent and a public school system near collapse, the country is particularly vulnerable.

Der Spiegel’s Recent Strange Attack on the Hizmet Movement

Nice piece by Ihsan Yilmaz.

Der Spiegel has published a piece about the Hizmet (Gülen) movement. Unfortunately, the piece does not look like a work of journalism.

The wording, selection of so-called experts, and most importantly distortions, misleading points and false information make the piece very problematic. The piece starts with a claim that “Gülen likes to present himself as the Gandhi of Islam”. However, Gülen has never made such a comparison. Without giving any background information about the Turkish politics and law, the piece accuses the movement being secretive. Its readers have a right to know that still in 2012, it is a crime to establish Islamic groups, movements and brotherhoods. These of course exist but they can only exist unofficially and depending on the socio-political situation, the authorities will turn a blind eye to these groupings that would operate normally in any proper democracy. Whenever conditions change, the authorities heavily punish these groups. Thus, as the piece puts the movement does not have an address or bank account but this is not its fault. This does not mean that the movement is secretive. It consists of volunteers, schools, businesses and so on. They operate as loose informal networks that the authorities know about and all these institutions are transparent institutions that regularly inspected by the relevant authorities.

A Mafia Opposing Alcohol, Violence and Firearms

"The recent yellow journalism example of Der Spiegel stirred some controversy. As an expert on Gulen Movement, I humbly think that the Gulen (Hizmet) Movement is the victim of biased journalists. Mahmut Cebi has recently written a nice behind-the-scenes article on that bad journalism."

I once listened to Mehmet Firinci, a student of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, recount the following story: “Bediuzzaman was about 75 years old when a group came to visit him. They were speaking of retaliating with violence against all the oppression they were facing. Bediuzzaman was listening to them while he was sitting on the ground. He became very outraged by what he heard, and all of a sudden he jumped as high as one meter off the ground despite his old age. He then stood up and pushed them away, saying “No to violence, no to violence.” In a similar vein, Mr. Fethullah Gülen made his position very clear against all kinds of violence and terror, be it from the al-Qaeda or PKK. His famous motto “A Muslim cannot be a terrorist, a terrorist cannot be a Muslim” has been ingrained firmly in the minds of many.

Fethullah Gulen Forum

Dr. Koc's recent book about Fethullah Gulen has opened my eyes about Dr. Dogan Koc. While doing some research about Dr. Koc's other possible articles, I came up with "Fethullah Gulen Forum", a website where you can find a number of articles about the Gulen Movement, including the ones from Dr. Koc. Here is what the website tells about itself:

FG Forum is an online discussion board of issues related to Fethullah Gülen. By creating active discussions, FG Forum aims to offer in depth analysis on Fethullah Gülen and the Gülen Movement.

Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gülen: English vs. Turkish

Dr. Dogan Koc published a book about Fethullah Gulen entitled "Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gülen: English vs. Turkish".

Here is what the book description reads:

Fethullah Gülen is a moderate Turkish Muslim scholar who is known mostly for his education and dialogue activities. The Hizmet Movement, inspired by Gülen, has established hundreds of education and dialogue institutions throughout the world. Several books and hundreds of articles and news reports have been written about Gülen himself and the movement. In recent years, a defamation campaign has been launched against Gülen and the Hizmet Movement. Although these defamation articles may seem random, this book will show that the articles are written strategically in a campaign manner. In Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gülen, close to 500 defamation articles, books, and other forms of writings are analyzed according to their languages. Koç concludes that these defamations are not random and that they appear according to their respective audiences.

"Fortunately We Have not Closed Gulen Schools"

I was scanning the press the other day and came up a very interesting article by Mehmet Ali Birand, a secular journalist from Turkey, on Hurriyet Daily News. Entitled "Fortunately, We Have not Closed Gulen Schools", the article mentions a significant confession about the ultra-secular groups, some of whom are connected to Ergenekon underground organization, in Turkey: 

I have always been a supporter of Fethullah Gülen schools and the competitions they organized. Because I oppose those who said “these schools should be closed, they are a source of reaction,” I have suffered many troubles.

Look at the stage we have reached now. Yesterday, we wanted to close them, today we carry them on top of our heads. Fortunately, we have not closed them. Fortunately, we have not acted with a narrow-mind.

In his article, Birand talks about the current Turkish Olympiads in Turkey in which there are students from more than 130 countries. They put on a display in several cities including Izmir, where the organization took place in a packed stadium with more than 80,000 people. 

60 Minutes, Fethullah Gulen and the End of Gulen Charter Schools Myth

Fethullah Gulen in his bedroom

As a scholar studying the Hizmet Movement for more than a decade, I have opened this blog to clear some confusion/suspicion about Fethullah Gulen. My concern is not about the so-called Gulen Charter Schools, but rather for Mr. Gulen, who has no relationship or connection with any of the so-called Gulen (inspired) schools around the world (let alone the high achieving charter schools in America). Even if Fethullah Gulen was associated with Harvard or Oxford University, I would still object to that, because he himself would be the first person to do this. that is why, he never visits any of the schools he is claimed to inspire, nor does he have ownership or any other affiliation with any of them.

That is actually what makes the story of 60 Minutes very intriguing, because we see someone who constantly avoids associating himself with any of the educational institutions throughout the world. That is something rare in our American society. If we accomplish something, we fully take the credit for that accomplishment. But here we have someone who prefers self-exile and seclusion instead of publicity. Fethullah Gulen rarely talks to the media due to his health problems and "60 Minutes" was no exception. But even if he talks, he does not take the credit for the schools, charity works, and other activities of the Hizmet Movement.