Gülen's Teachings Discussed at American Think Tank CSIS
The ideas, worldview and teachings of Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Islamic scholar known for his promotion of mutual understanding and tolerance between cultures, were discussed at a meeting on Wednesday hosted by a leading American think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The meeting, titled "The Gülen movement," was organized by Bülent Aliriza, director of the CSIS's Turkey Project. Participants of the meeting highlighted Gülen's contributions to world peace.
Alp Aslandoğan, a board member of the Gülen Institute in the US, presented a brief summary of the development of the Gülen movement since its emergence in the late 1960s with the primary aim of offering educational opportunities to disadvantaged youth. He dwelled on the factors that enabled the movement to grow rapidly and transcend the borders of Turkey before summarizing the basic principle of the movement as "to offer service to humanity to serve God."
Aslandoğan defined the movement as a movement that backs interreligious dialogue and abhors violence. Aslandoğan also stressed that the Gülen movement was open to all cultural, ethnic and religious circles.
Among the issues that roused great interest among participants at the meeting was the relation between the movement and politics. "The movement is at an equal distance from all political parties. Its political preference is not based on parties, but rather on values and stances. Among these values are 'fighting against corruption,' 'a democratic society' and 'a strong stance against the abuse of political power'," stated Aslandoğan.
He also recalled Gülen's call for everyone who is aware of his responsibilities to cast votes in elections, but underlined that the movement would never turn into a political party or group.
"If a movement of volunteers is associated with a political party or view, then it will deviate from its objective to reach everybody," Aslandoğan remarked.
Asked about the ultimate purpose of the movement, Aslandoğan said it was to gain the approval of God through social activities at an individual level, to reach specific professional targets at an institutional level and to achieve aims for an open and democratic society at a social level.
Participants also asked about the financing of the Gülen movement. Aslandoğan said the movement urges its volunteers to share their means with the needy in the society. "Mechanisms for donations work on local levels based on needs. For example, followers of the movement pledge to donate a certain amount during Ramadan, and these amounts are collected gradually," he noted.
Upon a question about the future of the movement if Gülen, who inspired the movement, passes away, Aslandoğan said: "This is not a movement based on individuals. What happened to the movement of [13th century Sufi saint] Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi when he passed away? His teachings and mission still reached their objectives."
A Turkish journalist who attended the meeting asked why the Turkish military is at odds with the movement. Aslandoğan responded that it would be wrong to make generalizations on the issue, adding that some military generals praised the movement after they retired. "The fact that they cannot do this while active results from certain special circumstances in Turkey," he added. Aslandoğan also reminded the gathering of a call by Gülen not to castigate the military over a recently publicized suspected military plot, allegedly put together by a colonel on active duty, to defame the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Gülen movement.
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