In countries where the majority of the population is are Muslim, how are religious and ethical courses that are not taught in these schools provided? How is religious education provided in non-Muslim countries?
The answer of Fethullah Gülen to this question is short and categorical: “In the schools, no religious education is provided.”
This answer is provided with the expression of a person who is tired of repeating that the schools, attributed to his name, do not constitute an alternative model to the existing educational system in Turkey:
In all of these institutions, entirely the same curriculum and programs which are carried out in similar official educational institutions are being implemented. For it to be otherwise is not possible, anyway. The schools that we are talking about are constantly under the official supervision. Those abroad, since their inception up until today, in terms of some for 9 or 10 years, it is for sure, they are constantly both under the gaze of respective intelligence services and also under the control and supervision of the educational ministries.
Furthermore, all of these nations, on the issue of irtica [literally, the “old coming back,” but in Turkish political parlance, it meant the “display of any Islamic sentiment.” The term was invented by power elite in Turkey; the closest approximation is its rendering as “obscurantism”], are as sensitive as Turkey is. Besides, many people from all walks of life from Turkey went to see these schools; and many journalists wrote their impressions of them for days. As of today, was there any concrete evidence of the “education of irtica” found in any of these schools?
Apart from the inspections, in these schools there are students from every segment of the society. Now, if there was no complaint from any of these on this issue, if no complaints came from the parents, within what kind of excuse, an irtica is attributed to these schools?
As for the claim that through conducts, a kind of religion is inspired in these students: There are universal ethical criteria, there are forms of behavior required of the teachers by the educational institutions. Why should it be considered to be a religious education to behave within the framework of moral standards? Isn’t it true that there are many ethical criteria, some of which are: treating the pupil well, to have a smiling face, respect for the elders, love for the minors, to be helpful to people in every matter, generosity, and forgiveness. Should they behave otherwise, should an unethical conduct be encouraged? We have never had a cause or mission implying political Islam. On the contrary, the expression I always use, “the Muslim identity from Turkey” was identified by the specialists of the related fields as “cultural Islam.”[1]
This assessment implies that the state should not enter into the field of faith. This was not intentionally done by Fethullah Gülen, but the widespread discussion in the world about it is along this line. As a consequence of the state’s interference in the religious affairs, the following could result:
1. The religion, being an important component of the cultural field, is losing its organic tie with the society and is going into a mechanical relationship with a political institution, where it can be manipulated. This is aptly called the “politicization of religion.”
2. The state, being the main institution of the politics, is entering into a relationship of tension with politicized religion.
3. If the religion (in broader sense, culture) is able to retain its autonomy, in the process of the society’s adaptation to the age, it can establish more healthy relationships with and through new interpretations; it can respond more positively to the realities of the day. Whereas, when it comes under the influence of the politics (in other words the state), religion itself is frozen, becoming static. Its relationship with the change in the society and the world is broken. It is squeezed between its own precepts and the state’s norms and rules. It cannot develop and it cannot be developed. It must assume a role that defends the existing political order, which is against its nature, or religion is made into an ideological vehicle for rebelling against the established political order by the state or forces outside the state.
[1] The interview given to Aksiyon, nr. 183, 6 June 1998.
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