RECENT OPINION
Can Gulen Solve World's Problems?
I could easily make it that Prof Leo himself agrees with Gulen's philosophy of interfaith dialogue and is doing everything he can to build bridges between the followers of various faiths.
Mr. Ali Akkiz, the president of Indialogue Foundation was very kind to invite me to a program at his office. I accepted the invitation without any hesitation even though I was not knowing what it was about. But it turned out to be a wonderful surprise. Indialogue had invited Prof Leo D Lefebure, who teaches theology as Matteo Ricci, S.J. Professor of Theology at Georgetown University, Washington to share his experiences he had with followers of Gulen Movement. The audience was a small group of around 35-40 intellectuals and activists of various religious backgrounds.
It was a wonderful Sunday afternoon of Delhi spring and after a cup of black Turkish tea everyone was indeed very attentive during professor's talk. But it was indeed the professor's talk that made the afternoon special. He was very honest and kept his talk short and simple. He simply shared his experiences as he experienced them. He made no tall claims or showered any unnecessary praises on his hosts (Indialogue is an effort of followers of Gulen's philosophy). But I could easily make it that Prof himself agrees with Gulen's philosophy of interfaith dialogue and is doing everything he can to build bridges between the followers of various faiths. He himself being a catholic does not hesitate to talk to anyone in an effort to build trust.
After the professor's talk there was an opportunity for audience to ask questions and even share their own experiences. To my disappointment, the questions put forth by the members of audience, illustrated their lack of knowledge about Gulen and the movement he influences. The reason of my disappointment is not really the audience's lack of knowledge, they were all brilliant people. My disappointment is about not enough work being done to spread Gulen message so that everyone knows him and his message. I was expecting intellectual audience assembled there knew something about him already. There was only one gentleman who made a thoughtful question by asking as he had read both Gandhi and Gulen and found similarities in their philosophies, he wondered was there any chance Gulen was influenced by Gandhi in anyway. It was indeed a good question and professor answered it brilliantly. But in my view it is not enough to read just Gulen to understand Gulen. To understand Gulen really well and the sources of his influence one must also read Bediuzzaman Said Nursi and Jalaluddin Rumi. Those in my view are the real sources of his inspiration. Gulen's message is a blend of Rumi's message of love and Nursi's message of upliftment of humanity through service. I really doubt if enough material on Gandhi existed in Turkish language when Gulen was forming his ideas. Turkey did not really mattered much on Global stage after the fall of Ottomans and till half a decade back. And almost of all Turkey owes its spiritual heritage to Rumi and is very proud of it.
Although I did ask two questions, I did not really have any experiences of my own to share. My knowledge on Gulen is very new even though I had read both Rumi and Nursi. But after I had found about him during an internet search while researching for my book, I tried to read everything I could about him. I even was able to buy some of his books and read them. His books are not so commonly available in New Delhi but I hope this should change soon. Before this I just knew his name from the list of 500 most influential Muslims of 2010, but never bothered to check out who he really was.
A gentleman was offended by one of the questions I asked. He was probably follower of the ideology against which my question supposedly went and so was of the view; I should not have raised this topic in a gathering where even non-Muslims were present. I told him there was nothing wrong with the question I asked as we have nothing to hide, but yet he was insistent I was wrong to have raised this topic. Now since he had already decided the judgement, there were only two options left for me. Either get away from him or quarrel with him to prove myself right. I humbly repeated my view with apology and got away from him. Though I am always ready to discuss, I am never ready to quarrel. And from my experience I know such passionate pre-discussion judgements always lead to quarrels. The mother of all problems in this world is we do not talk to each other. Since we do not talk, we lack trust. Lack of mutual trust makes us afraid to ask questions and rely on baseless assumptions in our opinion of others and we judge before we even discuss. This is preventing us from coming together under the common goal of human excellence. And till we do not bridge our differences, not even a small problem of humanity can be solved.
This is exactly the problem that Gulen's philosophy of mutual dialogue is trying to solve. His followers are bringing people together in a very conducive environment to talk and build bridges of mutual trust. They themselves keep humbly silent just like their Hodja Effendi, but their work is doing its magic. I don’t know if Gulen or his philosophy can solve this world's problems. And if you ask Gulen himself, probably he is too humble to even acknowledge his thoughts have had any real impact. Even his followers never claim their Hodja Effendi can solve all the problems of this world. But even getting people together to talk, share ideas and build trust is in itself is a big achievement. It is only on the foundation of mutual trust that we humans can come together to find answers to our most pressing questions.
Mohammad Azim
President - Foundation for World Peace & Prosperity, Member - National Advisory Council, Muslim Students Organization (M.S.O), Member - National Co-Ordinating Committe, Indian Muslim Jamaat (I.M.J)
