Linked with Islamic Revivalism in Muslim World, and with The Fethullah Gülen Movement in Thought and Practice.
Upcoming: The Fifth International Conference on Islam in the Contemporary World: The Gülen Movement in Thought and Practice, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.A. – March 6-7, 2009.
Fethullah Gülen is a Turkish writer, former Islamic preacher and the leader of the Gülen’s movement, one of the largest Islamic movements in Turkey. As the author of more than 60 books, Fethullah Gülen advocates tolerance, acceptance of others, and dialogue for peace. He sees the solution to many of the world’s problems in a return to religious faith, and advocates that in true Islam, terrorism is murder and is strictly forbidden. Gülen’s followers have formed more than 500 educational institutions in over 90 countries around the world (on Better World Heroes).
He says: « Today, people are talking about many things: the danger of war and frequent clashes, water and air pollution, hunger, the increasing erosion of moral values, and so on. As a result, many other concerns have come to the fore: peace, contentment, ecology, justice, tolerance, and dialogue. Unfortunately, despite certain promising precautions, those who should be tackling these problems tend to do so by seeking further ways to conquer and control nature and produce more letal weapons … and: interfaith dialogue is a must today, and the first step in establishing it is forgetting the past, ignoring polemical arguments, and giving precedence to common points, which far outnumber polemical ones … and: tolerance, a term which we sometimes use in place of the words respect, mercy, generosity, or forbearance, is the most essential element of moral systems; it is a very important source of spiritual discipline and a celestial virtue of perfected people … and: it is impossible for people who have given their heart to seeking forgiveness not to think of forgiving others. Just as they desire to be forgiven, they also desire to forgive … and: altruism is an exalted human feeling, and its source is love. Whoever has the greatest share in this love is the greatest hero of humanity; these people have been able to uproot any feelings of hatred and rancor in themselves … (see all quotes).
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Fethullah Güllen – Turkey
Watch these videos on YouTube:
Gülen seems a controversial figure for some secularists in Turkey. While his followers and a significant part of Turkish society respects him as a humanistic figure at the service of Islam, a large fraction of society perceives him as a significant threat who aims to transform the country’s secular system. On the other hand, some radical groups severely criticize his actions, especially interfaith dialog efforts, as a diversion from Islam. Controversies over Gülen are even enhanced by his interfaith dialog activities including meeting with the Pope John Paul II … (full text on wikipedia /controversies).
Gülen Movement Becomes Best-linked Muslim Network.
Who is the number one public intellectual in the world? Umberto Eco? Garry Kasparov? Salman Rushdie, Vaclav Havel, Christopher Hitchens? EO Wilson (I thought he went to the big anthill in the sky)? If you chose Fethullah Güllen, you’re not alone. Prospect Magazine and Foreign Policy Magazine have published the results of their survey, and the Turkish Islamic religious leader topped the poll … (full text, 15 July 2008).
Find him on the spanish wikipedia.
The Turkish Islamist movement of Fethullah Gulen is one of the most interesting examples of liberal Islamist thinking in the Middle East. Gulen and his followers have tried to produce a religious-political movement favoring modernism, Turkish nationalism, tolerance, and democracy without sacrificing religious precepts. The structure and philosophy of this movement and its leader have been manifested in many groups and educational institutions. Part of the Turkish secularist elite views Gulen as a progressive development, though others see him as a threat in moderate garb … (full long text).
Find him and his publications on wordpress.com; on alibris; on wikipedia /works;
on Google Video-search (all in turkish language); on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search with one result; on Google Group-search; and on Google Blog-search.
NEW YORK: Two Indians now settled in the US — Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen and acclaimed journalist Fareed Zakaria — are among the top 20 intellectuals in the world today, according to a poll conducted by a US magazine … Fethullah Gullen, an Islamic scholar from Turkey with a global network of millions of followers, is at No.1 on the list and Nobel Prize-winning microfinancier Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh is at No 2 … (full text).