Understanding Hodjaefendi

This was not a regular sermon. It resembled a scientific conference. I have difficulty describing it; it was more than that... I listened with great pleasure and reflected. It is as if he were saying: "Perhaps it will be heavy, but you should get accustomed to knowledge and thought on this level."

Assuming that the twentieth century has developed and completed its own character, I say: "Hodjaefendi is a twenty-first century dervish and a meditating sufferer." I am using these specific expressions to describe his state of being, which is an answer to some explanations that were not given, and to his leading others to say: "This is how one should be."

Ahmet Selim, Zaman, 06/01/1997