The Rumi Forum held a conference titled “ISLAM IN THE AGE OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES: Alternative Perspectives of the Gülen Movement” at Georgetown University with the cooperation of Georgetown University President’s Office and Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
Reflecting upon the Gulen Movement
On 14-15 Nov. 2008, scholars, participants of the Gulen movement, university students and interested Turks and Americans from all walks of life met at Georgetown University to discuss “Islam in the Age of Global Challenges: Alternative Perspectives of the Gulen Movement.” Of the 170 papers submitted, 40 were presented. Sponsored by the Georgetown University President’s Office, the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding, and the Rumi Forum, this event studied various aspects of Gulen’s worldview and various aspects of the community projects inspired by his works.
In his welcoming remarks, Dr. John Esposito noted that the first conference on the movement was also held at Georgetown University in 2001, and expressed his pleasure in observing the increasing interest in studying the movement among social scientists.
Jon Pahl (Lutheran Seminary) remarked that the movement offers an alternative to youth being recruited by militant groups: “sacred places” where they can undergo “vernacular rights of passage,” schools that promote self-criticism abilities, and a struggle of love against violence. Zeynep Sahin (University of Southern California) discussed how religion has become part of the peace-building arena and how its approach of promoting nonviolence, transnational justice, interfaith dialogue, and education differs from the traditional paradigm of conflict management, conflict resolution, and structural reforms.
Patrick Hallzon (Stockholm University), Gulsum Gurbuz Kucuksari (Hartford Seminary), Margaret J. Rausch (University of Kansas), and M. Sait Yavuz (University of Maryland College Park) analyzed the attitudes within the movement toward women’s roles. The scholars noted Gulen’s view that gender inequality entered Islam via pre-Islamic cultural traditions, that the Prophet did not define women’s roles, that husbands need to appreciate their wives’ work, and that reinterpretation of religious sources from within the tradition is required when times and conditions change.
Greg Barton (Monash University), Gary D. Bouma (Monash University), and Aaron Tyler (St. Mary’s University) focused on “Dialogue: The Art of Living Together.” The first two presenters traced the movement’s beginnings in Australia during the early 1980s, how it spread, and how it deals with youth and mainstream Australian society. Tyler stated that Gulen’s “principled approach to peaceful engagement” is an “outgrowth of Islamic faith, not despite it” and that the overall goal is to replace the “existing ‘us and them’ with a possibility of ‘we.’”
A most fascinating subject was the “Kimse Yok Mu” (Does Anyone Care?) organization, which began in the early 2000s. According to Thomas Michel, S.J. (Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University), what began as a domestic anti-poverty organization has now gone global: It has sent relief supplies to thirty-seven Turkish cities and forty-two countries, from Myanmar to Peru, from Lebanon to China, and throughout Africa.
In his closing remarks, Michel quoted Matthew 7:16: “You shall know them by their fruits” and stated that this is a “faith-based,” rather than a “religion-based,” movement in which non-Muslims are fully involved and accepted.
Click here for the conference papers.