Gülen on dialogue

Abstract

This booklet is about the thought and practice espoused and practised by Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement. Fethullah Gülen is one of the most important Muslim scholars of our time for whom dialogue is not just about overcoming problems of our globalising world but is necessitated by our very humanity and his Islamic faith. Therefore, dialogue is an ever present and underlying theme for Gülen in addition to being a particular area of thought and practice that he seeks to promote and develop. What is significant about Gülen, however, is that he is not just a scholar and thinker but also a doer who has inspired millions to think and act alongside him in what has now emerged as a civil society movement known as the Hizmet movement. As pointed out by editor Paul Weller, "Gülen does not teach a “liberal” or “modernist” version of Islam. Rather, his teaching offers a robust renewal of Islam that is engaged with the contemporary world. It is rooted in a deep knowledge of authentically Islamic sources." The fact that Gülen bases his ideas and thought (and by extension, the movement its practice) on authentically Islamic sources is significant at a number of levels – not least because it demonstrates how Muslims can engage and respond to modern ideas, culture and society while remaining true to their identity. This booklet provides a short biography of Gülen’s life in relation to his dialogue efforts and then goes on to study the main features and characteristics of his dialogue thought such as: love, tolerance, empathetic acceptance, positive action, and humility. It then explores how Gülen’s notion of dialogue, dialogically developed and practised by the Hizmet movement, is now being put into practice in different parts of the world. The section on practice concludes with a list of the twelve ‘dialogue principles’ developed by UK registered charity the Dialogue Society from Gülen’s teachings and the Hizmet movement’s practice.