Sufism requires the strict observance of all religious obligations, an austere lifestyle, and the renunciation of carnal desires. Through this method of spiritual self-discipline, the individual’s heart is purified and his or her senses and faculties are employed in the way of God, which means that the traveler can now begin to live on a spiritual level.…
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.…
According to Fethullah Gülen, those who commit transgressions against the nation or religion to which they belong are the ones who do the most damage, because they attack it from the inside. On the contrary, one is always ready to face any challenge from a known enemy.…
I am in favor of solving all issues according to the collective conscience. I am one of those who hold that three minds are better than one and thus prefer the majority sentiments of my friends to my own sentiments. Therefore, let’s make the mechanism of consultation operational. Let’s join our efforts together to meet and resolve the grave problems of the future and never act individually.…
Gulen echoes Rumi also in telling us not to ignore the laws of the universe, not to sit around aimlessly, but rather to exert all our energies to change this world into a world of peaceful coexistence and justice. Gulen’s ideal man, man of action, does his best until this world is turned into paradise; and also struggle for a better world, to be stopped by nothing except death itself.…
Although Rumi lived about 800 years before Gülen, they both lived in cosmopolitan environments and thus both made intercultural dialogue their main tool of social innovation and conflict resolution for social inclusion, coherence and peaceful coexistence. They inspired the lives and practices of their students, sympathizers, followers, scholars, and the larger community to contribute to solutions that better the world. …
It is imperative that alliances do not harm other countries and extra precautions must be taken to avoid causing tensions. In this regard, Gülen states: For alliances and peace, it is not absolutely necessary to have various organizations; extreme caution should be applied not to give way to the establishment of opposition camps; all humanity needs it.…
Doğu Ergil Are there any countries, which do not allow the [Hizmet] schools to be opened? If so, which ones? Have schools been established in countries experiencing social or political problems, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Philippines, and Bosnia Herzegovina? If…
Thomas Michel The writings of Jalal al-Din Rumi, the thirteenth-century mystical poet and founder of the Mevlevi Sufi confraternity, have influenced the thinking and behavior of many Muslims down to our own times. One of the modern Muslims who have…
Doğu Ergil Can the Gülen Movement be characterized as a Sufi order? Is it possible to call it a Sufi order considering the teachings regarding the spiritual realm and practices of daily life? Although the basic dynamics of the Gülen…
