Fethullah Gülen: biography, personal life, achievements, photos

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Fethullah Gülen is a famous Islamic public figure. Previously, he was an imam and a preacher in Turkey, founded an influential public movement called Hizmet, and is the honorary president of the Writers and Journalists Foundation. He is currently in self-imposed exile in the United States. When he arrives in Europe, as a rule, he stops in Monte Carlo or Monaco. In 2008, he was named the most influential intellectual on planet Earth, according to a poll by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines. Since 2009, he has been regularly included in the lists of the most influential Muslims in the world. In his sermons, he focuses on the ethical education of the younger generation, became one of those who launched the process of dialogue in Turkey, which he then managed to continue on an international scale, and is an ardent supporter of the multi-party political system in the country. Often referred to as one of the most important Muslims in the world today.

Origin

Fethullah Gulen was born near the Turkish city of Erzurum in 1941. He was born in the small village of Korudzhuk. His father was an imam, his name was Ramiz. Interestingly, there is a lot of controversy about the nationality and biography of Fethullah Gülen. It has always been believed that he is of Turkish origin, but recently there have been serious doubts about this.

A few years ago, data was published, according to which Fethullah Gülen is an Armenian. After that, Turkish law enforcement agencies noted that they had long doubted the Turkish origin of the preacher. One of the proofs that he is an Armenian is the birthplace of the grandfathers of the hero of our article. They arrived in Erzurum from Khlat, where Armenians traditionally lived. This is a settlement, not far from Lake Van. According to some reports, Gulen's grandfather left Khlat, settling in Erzurum due to some events that were connected with the honor of his family.

However, Fethullah Gülen's ethnicity remains unknown in reality.

Early career

He received his primary education in his native village. When the family moved to Erzurum, he decided to focus on receiving a classical Islamic education.

Fethullah Gülen started working as a preacher and imam. He remained in this status until 1981, when he officially retired. At the turn of the 80-90s, the hero of our article delivers sermons in the most popular mosques in Turkey with a large crowd of people. In 1994, he participated in the formation of democratic institutions in the country, inin particular, the Writers and Journalists Foundation, in which he is elected honorary president.

Voluntary expulsion

In 1999, Fethullah Gülen leaves for the United States for treatment, since then he has not returned to Turkey, remaining in voluntary exile. Shortly thereafter, a criminal case was opened against him in his homeland, which was closed only in 2008 due to the lack of corpus delicti.

In America, he underwent heart surgery, and was repeatedly hospitalized due to diabetes and other diseases.

Fethullah Gülen himself, whose photo you will find in this article, has repeatedly stressed that he would like to return to Turkey, but fears the unstable situation in the country, as well as persecution and provocations because of his political views. The preacher is now 77 years old.

Theological views

In his numerous books, Fethullah Gulen does not offer any fundamentally new theology, making reference to the classical authorities, using their conclusions and system of evidence, developing them if necessary. He has a generally accepted and conservative perception of Islam. Gulen respects the Sufi tradition, even despite the fact that he himself has never been a member of any tariqa.

Gülen teaches Muslims that it is not at all necessary to be a member of any Sufi order, but it is important to maintain an inner religious feeling that should not contradict the actions that a person performs in hislife.

The main difference between Gülen's teachings is that he derives from the interpretation of certain verses of the Qur'an. It teaches that Muslims should serve the common good of the nation and their community, as well as all Muslims and non-Muslims in the world. The Hizmet social movement founded by him is an international organization that promotes his ideas. The doctrine of serving people over the years has attracted an increasing number of supporters not only in Turkey, but also in Central Asia and in other countries of the world.

Gülen's second postulate is interfaith dialogue.

Schools

In his sermons, Fethullah Gulen, whose biography is given in this article, often emphasizes that the study of the exact sciences (mathematics, physics, chemistry) is the actual worship of God. Gulen schools operate in Turkey, which are considered one of the best in terms of the quality of education provided. They have expensive equipment, equal treatment of boys and girls, they teach English from the first grade.

Critical reviews of these schools point out that women teachers are not delegated the administrative powers that men have. Starting from the sixth grade, the female students go to the cafeteria separately from the males and stay during the break.

Intercultural dialogue

Gülen often emphasizes that goodwill towards other nations and commitment to dialogue are at the heart of Turkish culture. This sameThe tradition originates in Islam. In his opinion, Muslims have always adopted the best achievements of civilizations and cultures that they have encountered throughout their history.

Gülen himself often meets with representatives of other faiths. In particular, with the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew, Pope John Paul II, Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron.

Since the late 2000s, Gülen's public organization Hizmet began a dialogue with non-religious leaders around the world.

In his teaching, the hero of our article stands for cooperation between various Islamic movements.

Ban in Russia

At the same time, in many countries the attitude towards Gülen is ambiguous. For example, some of his books are banned in Russia.

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Attitude towards the problems of the modern world

Gülen often speaks out on issues facing the modern world today. Thus, he criticizes laicism for drifting into the philosophy of reductive materialism. At the same time, he emphasizes that he considers democracy and forces compatible.

Gülen speaks positively about Turkey's plans to join the European Union, believing that both sides will ultimately benefit from this.

He treats terrorists extremely negatively, stating that they will still be held accountable, even in the world where they will answer for the killing and suffering of innocent people.

Relations with Erdogan

Currently Gulen is not considering returning to Turkey, as his relationship with the current head of state can be described as tense.

Fethullah Gülen and Erdogan are opponents. The situation escalated at the end of 2013, when the Turkish president accused the preacher of organizing an attempted coup in the country. This was preceded by a major corruption scandal in the country, which hit hard on the authority of the authorities.

In December 2014, an Istanbul court ruled to issue an arrest warrant for Gülen. The prosecutor's office sent a petition to the Ministry of Justice to begin preparing documents for the inclusion of the preacher in the so-called Red Bulletin of Interpol. This is the name of the list of criminals put on the international wanted list, whose arrest is agreed with Interpol. However, the international law enforcement organization denied the Turkish authorities permission to arrest Gülen.

America, where he is now, is also not going to extradite Gülen to Turkey.

Coup d'état

In 2016, there was another attempted military coup, in which the authorities also blamed Gülen. It all happened on the night of July 16, when a group of Turkish military officers captured a number of strategically important facilities in Istanbul, Ankara, Malatya,Konya, Kars and Marmaris. The attempt to seize power as a result completely failed. Erdogan and the government loyal to him managed to stay at the head of Turkey.

At the time of the military coup attempt, Erdogan himself was on vacation with his family in a hotel in Marmaris. The president was warned about the uprising, he managed to leave the hotel shortly before the putschists began to storm him. Erdogan quickly reached the nearest airport, which was located in Dalaman, and arrived in Istanbul in less than an hour. By this time, the riots on the streets of the city had already been neutralized.

The same night and early in the morning, fighter jets launched airstrikes on the parliament building and the presidential palace. In the morning, tanks advanced to storm the buildings. At the same time, the rebels managed to seize control of international airports, bridges across the Bosphorus, offices of major television companies, and various government agencies.

The rebels in a televised address said that the Turkish leadership was removed from power, they announced a curfew and martial law. Erdogan was able to break into the air on one of the TV companies that they did not have time to seize, declaring that the coup was not legitimized, and called on his supporters to take to the streets.

Part of the army and the police remained loyal to the government. Massive support for Erdogan turned out to be the clergy and the people. As a result, the putschists were unable to hold the captured objects, some rebels were destroyed on the spot, a total of 104 putschists were killed.