On March 4th, 2016, Dr. Pim Valkenberg spoke on his book called “Renewing Islam by Service: A Christian View of Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet Movement” that was published on July 1, 2015.
In his talk about his book, Dr. Valkenberg discussed how he met some of the members of the Hizmet movement, Fethullah Gulen and how he gathered the information for his book through meeting acquaintances of Fethullah Gulen as well as listening and discussing the teachings of Fethullah Gulen.
Dr. Valkenberg speaks about what the Hizmet Movement and Fethullah Gulen mean to him as a result of the members of the movement, those who have met, worked for and have bee taught by Fethullah Gulen as well as his personal experiences in speaking with Fethullah Gulen. In doing so, he attempts to educate the reader of his book and to begin to help the listener of the talk to understand the beliefs, works, and teachings of the Hizmet Movement and Fethullah Gulen. This is in tandem with trying to show that the teachings of the Hizmet Movement and Fethullah Gulen are not teachings that are only for Muslims. That, instead, like the movement, the teachings are meant to be for all religions.
While Fethullah Gulen is himself Muslim, Dr. Valkenberg argues that his teachings are of the type that can be embraced by all religions. This is the main point not only in his talk about his book and the topic of the Hizmet Movement and Fethullah Gulen but in his talk about his book as well. This is in tandem with is a goal in showing the similarities between both the Hizmet Movement’s and Fethullah Gulen’s beliefs and views on religion and service to others.