Book review and interview:

“A Dialogue of Civilizations: Gülen’s Islamic Ideals and Humanistic Discourse”

Jill Carroll: Fethullah Gulen is a humanistic thinker

Dr. B. Jill Carroll is the Executive Director of the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance at Rice University. She is also Adjunct Associate Professor in Religious Studies at Rice University.  Her research interests are issues in comparative religion, religion and world politics, and natural theology. She co-hosts with Kym King a regular radio program called "Peaceful Coexistence" on Pacifica 90.1FM KPFT in Houston. Podcasts of the show are available at the Boniuk Center website. She was president and founder of Religiosites, Inc., a company that provided religious diversity training to corporations, groups and individuals. In the late 90's she wrote a regular column for The Chronicle of Higher Education called "The Adjunct Track". She founded Adjunct Solutions, a consulting service for part-time faculty in North America.

Theologian, B. Jill Carroll, well-respected for her work promoting religious tolerance and for her thorough understanding of Fethullah Gulen's ideals. Carroll wrote "A Dialogue of Civilizations" following her numerous trips to Turkey where she had the opportunity to visit schools and institutions founded by the people in the Gulen movement. Dr. Carroll wants to set up a hypothetical dialog between civilizations. On one of her hands is the Muslim world; on her other the rest of humanity. Because of her respect for a very prolific Islamic cleric named Fethullah Gülen, Dr. Carroll would like to promote Gülen as the mouthpiece for Islamic civilization, and place him into topical “dialogues” with philosophers representing the rest of the world, specifically, Confucius, Plato, Kant, Mill, and Sartre. Another goal in her  114 pages book called ” A Dialogue of Civilizations: Gülen’s Islamic Ideals and Humanistic Discourse”  is to place Fethullah Gülen “into a context of the larger humanities.” Her book has been bestseller book list in amazon.com since April 2007. Carroll was our guest for Mewlana conference which held in Toronto on November 3, 2007.

By Faruk Arslan

How did you meet with Turkish people?

Jill Carroll: In December 2004, I traveled to Turkey for ten days as the guest of the Institute for Interfaith Dialog (IID) based in Houston, Texas. With me were about twenty other professors, clergy, and community leaders from Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. None of us had been to Turkey before, and none of us really knew what to expect. Each of us, in one way or another, had been approached by one or more Turkish young men at school, church, or somewhere else in the community. Our sense told us that these young men and the organization were trustworthy.  We shared meals with Turkish families in their homes, and visited many of private schools, a hospital, and an interfaith organization founded by people in the Gulen movement. All of them were good people. I did not know as I began the trip, but soon came to learn, all members of a social action community of people inspired by the ideas of a Turkish Islamic scholar named Fethullah Gulen. I asked our host how they had come to hear of Gulen’s ideas and get involved in the movement. They were impressed and convinced by his message of education and altruism. Gulen movement is opening and supporting the schools across the world, and other interfaith work in various ways. I have decided to investigate this educational origin social movement.

How do you develop book idea?

Jill Carroll: I returned to Houston, the home base of IID, and deepened my relationship with the organization. The Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance at Rice University, for which I work, hosted a conference in November 2005 on Gulen’s ideas which was attended by scholars from United States, Europe, and Central Asia. We have collaborated with IID on a number of other projects, lectures, and panel events. I returned to Turkey again in May 2005 and July 2006 and met more people from Gulen movement, increasing my understanding of Gulen ideas and the impact they have on individuals in Turkey and on Turkey itself.  Since my first trip to Turkey I have read much of Gulen translated work and had a great conversation with my Turkish friends about his work. I am far from an expert on Gulen’s ideas, on modern Turkish history, or on Sufism. I am, however, as specialist in religious studies, a comparativist in world religions, as well as generalist, or “survey”, courses in humanities in both undergraduate and graduate curricula for fifteen years. These courses include world comparative literature, ethics, ancient and classical philosophy, modern political philosophy, as well as “great books” courses in both western and eastern historical, philosophical, religious, and literary traditions. Consequently, when I first began reading Gulen’s sermons and articles in translation, bells began ringing in my mind because of the deep connection I see between his work and that of some of the great thinkers and philosophers of world intellectual history. Book published in April 2007, so I spent plenty of time for research and study of his ideas. 

Have you meet with Gulen?

Jill Carroll: Yes. Even he has no time and struggilling to many sicknesses, and taking medication. I answered many questions and got answer for them.

Why did you choose particular five philosophers to compare with Gulen’s ideas?

Jill Carroll: My task in this book is to place the ideas of Fethullah Gulen into the context of the larger humanities. Specifically, I seek to create a textual dialogue between printed versions of selected articles, sermons, or speeches by Gulen, on the other hand, and the texts of slected thinkers, writers, philosophers, or theorists from general humanities discourse, on the other hand. These individuals from the humanities include Confucius, Plato, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and Jean Paul Sartre. The location of their respective ideas within the larger discipline of humanities, as opposed to the sciences, prompt me to identify these figures, including Gulen, as humanistic thinkers, even though such as designation may be seen as problematic, depending on the definition of “ humanism”. In this work, I choose the broadest definition of humanism, a definition that does not view it as the necessary antithesis to a relitual historians have identified as ‘ humanism” or” humanistic” ideas and systems of though that extend to antiquity, to as far back as Protagoras, who famously said “man is the measure of all things.” Humanism hasn’t started among atheist. Protagoras was not an atheist, nor was any of the other classical Greek philosophers have concerned of the meaning of life, human values, the nature of the good life, and the components of a just human society.  These concerns are those commonly and broadly identified with humanism or humanistic thinking, and many philosophies and worldviews, both religious, and non-religious, qualify as humanistic in this regard.

Why Renaissance humanism, retrieving ideas from the classical world, moves its focus away from God toward humanity?

Jill Carroll: In general, however, humanist of this period were not atheists, nor did they promote atheism as a tenet of their “humanistic” perspective. The focus on human ability and achievement, accompanied by a less interventionist view of God, simply opened the way for a scientific viewpoint to arise in the West which empowered humans to discover the laws of the universe, which were themselves created by God. European thinkers of this period, of course came to this perspective within larger theological rubric of Christianity and were indebted to Muslim scholars of immediately pervious generations who had already defined the cutting edge of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, botany, and many other scientific disciplines inside their own theological rubric of Islam. In both instances, the humanism does not occur as trumpeting of human power over God or against God power. On the contrary, human beings provide witness and praise to God power when they use their God-given capacities to uncover the mysteries of the universe that God created and use that knowledge for the progress and betterment of all human society.

Are you claiming similarity here between Gulen and other five philosophers?

Jill Carroll: I am not asserting “sameness” These thinkers come from a vast diversity of background, time periods, cultural, and national contexts, religious and spiritual traditions and more. They differ from each other in significant way. Gulen critiques outright Sartre, other atheist many times throughout his work. Mill argues for a kind of a freedom that Plato would find abhorrent in his ideal republic. Confucius, coming from a sixth-century Chinese perspective, has little in common with ideas from western Enlightenment or post-Enlightenment thinkers like Kant or Mill.

What major themes did you capture between those thinkers?

 Jill Carroll: I have organized the dialogues between Gulen and other thinkers around five major themes that capture central issues and concerns about human life in the world. The themes are: inherent human value and moral dignity; freedom; ideal humanity; education; and responsibility. I could have chosen other thinkers and fared just as well, resonance with Gulen on these ideas. I have chosen the primary thinkers based on the resonance their particular expression of that’s same theme from within his Islamic perspective. Frankly, I have my deep admiration and respect for their work, having taught their ideas for fifteen years.

Why do you think dialogue important in today’s world?

Jill Carroll:  Dialogue between people with vastly different worldviews, however, is what interests me. Moreover, I believe that such dialogue is vital in today’s world, where globalization, mass communications, and technology have pushed individuals and groups together in ways never before seen in human history. People living in the twenty-first century interact with and are impacted more than ever before by other people and groups very different from them. We are increasingly confronted by people and groups whose worldviews are utterly different from ours and these people are our neighbours, co-workers, schoolmate of our children, our in-laws, our clients, our employers, and more. Often e may try to minimize our contact with those who are different from us, so that we do not have to extend ourselves outside comfortable boundaries. In today’s world of global connectedness, we must develop the capacity to dialogue and create relatedness with vastly different from us.

Blurbs for A Dialogue of Civilizations

I particularly enjoyed Dr. Carroll's inclusion of Gülen's thoughts on human beings "possessing value higher even than angels"-thoughts also developed in the writings of the Apostle Paul and Saint Gregory Palamas. This book will be of great benefit in acknowledging the common dignity of all human beings.

Rt. Rev. Alexei Smith
Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer
Archdiocese of Los Angeles

* * *
In this brilliant and timely book Dr. Jill Carroll describes effectively not only the
need for dialogue, she also shows us the critical way forward. In the spirit of Rumi Dr. Jill Carroll invites all to come to the table to discuss the truth about ourselves and our world.

Dr. Jill Carroll's subject is Fetullah Gulen, the Sufi leader who has supplied the spiritual architecture for a civil movement rapidly changing the landscape of many countries. She situates Gulen within the broader humanistic discourse on key questions of liberty, tolerance, education and "the good." Dr. Carroll has a unique way of taking complicated questions and putting them on the bottom shelf so anyone can reach them. I know of no one more competent, more compassionate to guide us through these crucial questions.

Dr. David B. Capes
College of Arts and Humanities
Houston Baptist University

* * *
By discussing ideas of the contemporary Muslim thinker Fethullah Gülen in comparison to ancient and modern philosophers, Dr. Carroll goes beyond the false dichotomy of "Islam versus the West," which has been overemphasized since the end of the Cold War, especially in the aftermath of 9/11.

Ahmet Kuru
San Diego State University

* * *
This study is sure to challenge the reader and illuminate the opportunities for improved human understanding that cross-cultural religious dialogue offers to the peoples of the twenty-first century.

Bradley K. Hawkins, Ph.D.
California State University Long Beach

* * *
B. Jill Carroll's A Dialogue of Civilizations is a deeply suggestive work seeking to juxtapose key seminal ideas from across the centuries and around the world. When we can identify both core points of agreement and disagreement, dialogue is desirable, indeed needful, and at its most interesting and potentially productive stage.

Daniel Skubik
California Baptist University

* * *
Jill Carroll's “A Dialogue of Civilizations” offers a timely riposte to theories that civilizations can only clash. Bringing together intellectual and spiritual giants from the East and the West, this "textual dialogue" shows how the commitment to the dignity of all humans can guide us towards shared moral and social values. These values resonate centrally in the writings of Turkish Islamic teacher, preacher, and scholar Fethullah Gülen, whom Carroll convincingly - and sometimes provocatively - draws into conversation with Confucius, Plato, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and Jean Paul Sartre. This dialogue on the urgent questions of human value, moral dignity, leadership, freedom, education and responsibility not only offers a platform, but also articulates a method, for seeking common ground in our global era.

--Dr. Bernadette Andrea, Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English, Classics, and Philosophy, University of Texas at San Antonio

Holly month of December

Everyday, more Canadians respect and celebrate the others multicultural or faith based holidays or events. December is belonging to different religious and cultural background nations as a holly month. December 2007 holiday season, Vaughan Mills has recognized some of the diverse cultures, traditions and religions observed throughout Ontario and around the world. A visual and vibrant exhibit titled ‘Holiday Lights: a Celebration of Multicultural Traditions,’ bring these traditions to life. The exhibit is on display will stay from Dec 6, 2007 to Feb 7, 2008 in Small Towns Neighbourhood #4. The ‘Holiday Lights’ exhibit illustrates, in vivid photographs and text, the traditions rooted in the following holidays: Diwali, Hanukkah, St. Lucy’s Day, Las Posadas, Eid ul-Adha, Christmas, First Nations celebrations, Kwanzaa, Hogmanay, Sadeh, Têt Festival and the Chinese New Year. All of the holidays featured in the exhibit share common themes of family, faith, goodwill, and new beginnings.

Diwali

Diwali, or Deepawali, (also called Tihar and Swanti in Nepal) (Markiscarali) is a major Indian and Nepalese festive holiday, and a significant festival in Hinduism and some of the other faiths which originated in India - Jainism and Sikhism. Many legends are associated with Diwali. Today it is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs across the globe as the "Festival of Light," where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being. The festival is also celebrated by Buddhists of Nepal, particularly the Newar Buddhists.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah is the annual Jewish festival celebrated on eight successive days beginning on the 25th day of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calendar, corresponding, approximately, to December in the Gregorian calendar. It is also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, and Feast of the Maccabees, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 BC after the Temple had been profaned by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of Syria and overlord of Palestine.

Saint Lucy's Day  

Sankta Lucia, also known as Saint Lucia's Day  is the Church feast day holiday dedicated to St. Lucy and is observed on December 13. It marks, together with Advent, the beginning of the Christmas season. Traditionally an important feast day in all of Western Christendom, it now retains traditional forms of celebration mainly in Scandinavia, parts of the United States and southern Europe. It is celebrated in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, Bosnia, Iceland, and Croatia. In the United States, people in areas of Minnesota and other states with scandinavian roots continue to celebrate the holiday, often centered around church events. Before the reform of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century, St. Lucy's Day fell on the winter solstice on the Northern Hemisphere. In traditional celebrations, Saint Lucy typically comes as a young woman with lights and sweets. It is one of the few saint days observed in Scandinavia.

Las Posadas

In Mexico, Christmas is an important holiday season with strong traditions. One of the most colorful traditions is the posada party, celebrated every evening from December 16 to 24. These celebrations commemorate Mary and Joseph's cold and difficult journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of shelter. "Posada" in Spanish, simply means lodging or shelter. Nowadays, the posada has evolved into a religious and social celebration, paying a festive homage to the journey. Each one of these nights before Christmas, a party is held in a home in the neighborhood. There is plenty of food and drink, with candies and fruit for the children. At dusk, all the guests gather outside the house. A small child dressed as an angel leads, followed by children carrying figures of Mary and Joseph.

Eid al-Adha

Qurbani is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims worldwide as a commemoration of Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael for Allah. It is one of two Eid festivals that Muslims celebrate. Like Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha begins with a short prayer followed by a sermon  hutba. It is also called the bigger Eid because it lasts a day longer than Eid ul-Fitr. Eid al-Adha is four days long and starts on the 10th day of the month of Dhul Hijja of the lunar Islamic calendar. This is the day after the pilgrims in Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide, descend from Mount Arafat. It happens to be approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan.

Christmas

Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christ's birth, but most Christians observe Christmas on December 25. On this day, many go to church, where they take part in special religious services. During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts and decorate their homes with holly, mistletoe, and Christmas trees. The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, an early English phrase that means Mass of Christ.
The story of Christmas comes chiefly from the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew in the New Testament. According to Luke, an angel appeared to shepherds outside the town of Bethlehem and told them of Jesus's birth. Matthew tells how the wise men, called Magi, followed a bright star that led them to Jesus. The first mention of December 25 as the birth date of Jesus occurred in A.D. 336 in an early Roman calendar. The celebration of this day as Jesus's birth date was probably influenced by pagan (unchristian) festivals held at that time. The ancient Romans held year-end celebrations to honor Saturn, their harvest god; and Mithras, the god of light. Various peoples in northern Europe held festivals in mid-December to celebrate the end of the harvest season. As part of all these celebrations, the people prepared special foods, decorated their homes with greenery, and joined in singing and gift giving. These customs gradually became part of the Christmas celebration.

Kwanzaa

Celebrated December 26 to January 1st of every year.  1966, KWANZAA was created by a young visionary living on the west coast who was also the founder and chairman of the Black Nationalist Organization. Dr. Maulana Karenga, a trained political and cultural scientist and a participant and theoretician of the Black Liberation Movement, postulated that significant and meaningful Black movement in the U.S. was improbable, if not impossible, without a cultural component (base). He felt that at the base of any movement must be the cultural imperative that give the people a clear and precise sense of "idenity, purpose and direction."

Hogmanay

Hogmanay s the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner. Its official date is 31 December (Old Year's Night). However this is normally only the start of a celebration which lasts through the night until the morning of Ne'erday (1 January)or, in some cases, 2 January which is a Scottish Bank Holiday.

Sadeh

Sadeh or Jashan-e Sadeh is an ancient Iranian tradition celebrated 50 days before nowrouz. Sadeh in Persian means "hundred" and refers to one hundred days and nights left to the beginning of the new year celebrated at the first day of spring on March 21st each year. Sadeh is a mid winter festival that was celebrated with grandeur and magnificence in ancient Iran. It was a festivity to honor fire and to defeat the forces of darkness, frost, and cold.

Têt Festival

Tết, the Lunar New Year, marks the beginning of spring and is the most observed holiday within the Vietnamese community. As a means to preserve culture, the Vietnamese Canadian Community celebrates Tết through a vibrant array of traditional foods, ceremonies, and customs. This year they celebrate year of the rat.

Chinese New Year

Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an important holiday in East Asia. The festival proper begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called the Lantern festival . Celebrated in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese, Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had a strong influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbours or, more correctly, cultural offsprings. These include Koreans, Mongolians, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese, and formerly the Japanese before 1873. 2008 is the Year of the Rat, which is also known by its former name of Wu Zhi. New Year starts on February 7, 2008.

Who is Santa Claus?

 This Christmas, Muslims once again visit various churches throughout Greater Toronto Area joining Christians on their holy period. Each year CIDC organizes members of the Muslim faith communities to visit Christians on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Mass. The visits enable Muslims to breakdown barriers and understand the religious practices of the Christians in Canada.

Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Noel Baba ... whatever you call the beloved symbol of Christmas, you probably imagine him living in the North Pole, surrounded by elves and reindeer. But the real St. Nicholas lived in a warm, sunny town on the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Turkey.

St. Nicholas was born in the town of Patara in 245 A.D. When he was young, his father died and left Nicholas a great fortune. Instead of spending it on himself, Nicholas started anonymously giving the money to the needy, especially children.

Nicholas eventually became the Bishop of Myra (modern-day Demre in Turkey), where he performed several miracles, including saving sailors from drowning and resurrecting three boys who had been killed by an evil butcher. Today, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children, sailors, teachers, students and merchants.

The Orthodox Church later raised St. Nicholas, miracle worker, to a position of great esteem. It was in his honour that Russia's oldest church, for example, was built. For its part, the Roman Catholic Church honoured Nicholas as one who helped children and the poor. St. Nicholas became the patron saint of children and seafarers. His name day is December 6th.

In the Protestant areas of central and northern Germany, St. Nicholas later became known as der Weinachtsmann. In England he came to be called Father Christmas. St. Nicholas made his way to the United States with Dutch immigrants, and began to be referred to as Santa Claus.

The American version of the Santa Claus figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, brought by settlers to New York in the 17th century. As early as 1773 the name appeared in the American press as "St. A Claus," but it was the popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas. In his History of New York, published in 1809 under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, Irving described the arrival of the saint on horseback (unaccompanied by Black Peter) each Eve of Saint Nicholas.

The popular North American form Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas, which in turn is a contracted form of Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas). However, the Dutch Sinterklaas is depicted as being very different from Santa Claus in many ways. Santa Claus has a suit that comes in many colors depending on the country. The most common depiction (red with white cuffs, collar, and black leather belt) became the more popular image in the United States in the 19th century due to the significant influence of Thomas Nast. In the mid-20th Century a series of Coca-Cola advertisements featuring a Santa Claus drawn rotund and jovial by artist Haddon Sundblom popularized Nast's depiction.

In North American poetry and illustrations, Santa Claus, in his white beard, red jacket and pompom-topped cap, would sally forth on the night before Christmas in his sleigh, pulled by eight reindeer, and climb down chimneys to leave his gifts in stockings children set out on the fireplace's mantelpiece.

Children naturally wanted to know where Santa Claus actually came from. Where did he live when he wasn't delivering presents? Those questions gave rise to the legend that Santa Claus lived at the North Pole, where his Christmas-gift workshop was also located.

There are controversial aspects of the Santa Claus fiction. Some Christians feel he takes the focus of Christmas away from Jesus Christ; others feel it is unhealthy for parents to orchestrate elaborate lies to their children to enforce their belief in Santa Claus. Others oppose Santa Claus as a symbol of the commercialization and conspicuous consumption of the Christmas holiday, and as an intrusion upon their own national tradition.

Muslim world in transition: Contributions of the Gülen Movement

A conference was held in London on Oct. 25-27 to discuss contributions of the Gülen movement, led by Fethullah Gülen. This conference was launched at the House of Lords and was attended by several members of parliament, lords, baronesses, newspaper editors, academics, dignitaries and high-ranking civil servants.

The conference's main theme centered on the Gülen movement's actual and potential positive contribution to transition in the Muslim world vis-à-vis education and dialogue for a lasting peace, democracy, peaceful coexistence and human rights.

The conference proceedings book has already been published by the Leeds Metropolitan University Press and describes the movement as a leading movement in contemporary Turkey with a universal educational and interfaith agenda that aims to promote creative and constructive positions on issues such as democracy, multiculturalism, globalization and interfaith dialogue in the context of secular modernity.

As promised in the preface of the book, Gülen's re-reading of religious texts in the context of a renewal and re-interpretation of Islam that can take part in the building of a fully humane society in Europe also featured in the deliberations of the conference.

Many presenters underlined that the Gülen movement is renewing Islamic discourse and practices in tune with contemporary times without boasting that it is doing so. Many of the movement's activities in the Muslim world were elaborated on in detail from an academic perspective for the first time. Some papers argued that Gülen's understanding of Anatolian Muslimness and his tajdid (renewal) can be transferred with some contextual modifications to other parts of the Muslim world as well as to Muslims living in the West.

The conference was not without criticism. E-mails were sent to members of the editorial board asking them to call off the conference, labeling the Gülen movement an extension of the imperialist West and a project of moderate Islam fashioned by the US that seeks to destroy democracy in Turkey, etc.

Many scholars who participated in the conference commented about how they were surprised to see that the author(s) of these e-mails naively expected serious scholars to believe these groundless and unsubstantiated accusations, adding that these e-mails helped them understand Turkey more in terms of the old elite's adamant, but desperate, fight against the prospects of open society.

Many papers agreed that Gülen is a contemporary Mevlana Celaladdin Rumi. It is no coincidence that Rumi like Gülen was also misunderstood by some in his lifetime. Some reactionary conservatives in Rumi's time criticized him harshly because he was open to "the other" and accepted everyone as they were. Some even claimed that Rumi was not a Muslim at all while others claimed that he was a spy of the occupying Mongols. Some even suggested that Rumi was after political power. Looking in retrospect, it is crystal clear how odd these accusations really are.

Coming from and continuing in the same tradition, it is not surprising then that Gülen faces similar odd accusations directed at him by those who see the world from a narrow perspective. Likewise, sharing the same fate with Rumi makes Gülen a Rumi of this age.

Gülen’s initiatives for peace on table in Rotterdam An international conference on Fethullah Gülen’s initiatives for peace in the contemporary world continues today at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. 23.11.2007 Ali Çimen Rotterdam Gülen’s initiatives for peace on table in Rotterdam An international conference on Fethullah Gülen’s initiatives for peace in the contemporary world continues today at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. The two-day international conference, titled “Peaceful Coexistence: Fethullah Gülen’s initiatives for peace in the contemporary world,” began on Thursday with the participation of some 50 academicians and more than 200 attendees. By focusing on the Islamic scholar and peace activist Gülen’s concepts and how they are put into practice, the conference aims at exploring the appeal and impact of the Gülen movement’s worldwide initiatives to help people respond creatively to the profound social changes occurring throughout the world. Secretary of Interreligious Dialogue for the Society of Jesus in Rome, Professor Thomas Michel, who delivered an inaugural address at the conference, said the Gülen movement is based on peace and dialogue. “Schools, television channels and dialogue centers established in the region after the collapse of the Soviet Union brought about a new horizon for humanity. If it were not for charitable Muslim businessmen none of this could have happened. These charitable Muslim businessmen have even supported the education of Buddhist children in Cambodia,” said Michel. Addressing participants, Professor Andres Kinneging of the University of Leiden said the conference is an opportunity for Western and Eastern civilizations to understand each other. “A significant curiosity and interest in Islam arose in the West following the Sept. 11 attacks. Such conferences are of vital importance for the understanding among religions and civilizations. The Gülen movement is doing its utmost to represent and introduce Islamic values.” Dr. Şevket Yavuz from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University noted that the most important aspect of the international agenda after the Sept. 11 attacks has been dialogue. “Super powers tried to split the world into different ideologies during the Cold War era. In the present day, they are trying to do the same thing by exploiting differences among religions and cultures. The Gülen movement’s call for mutual dialogue and understanding is important for moving away from such doomsday scenarios.” Ian Fry from the Melbourne College of Divinity, stated: “The real objective of all religions is to guide humanity to a life of harmony and fraternity. Conflict among religions will harm this mission. The Gülen movement has assumed a significant role in nurturing mutual understanding among civilizations of the world.”

Professor Howard Wettstein from the University of California, Riverside, indicated in his address to participants of the conference that the Gülen movement contributed largely to modernization in Islam, adding that Islam is a religion based on reason and logic. He also noted that he was inspired by the ideas and projects put forward by Gülen. “The Gülen movement reminds me of Aristotle’s golden mean. The acknowledgement of differences among parties is of vital importance for dialogue.”

Interfaith dialogue can break barriers

Gulf News
Published: November 07, 2007, 23:32
In an age of heightened religious intolerance and a worldwide environment where violence in quite a few instances has been used as an immediate resort, it is critical for representatives of various religious beliefs to exert maximum effort to ease such tensions. Islam as a religion, which has unjustifiably and unfairly been under attack for some time now, deserves to be judged rightfully as much as accurately. The recent meeting between Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican is an example of how relations should be bridged. Both leaders have stressed in this historic meeting the importance of dialogue, inter-cultural and inter-religious collaboration and discussion. "Let us start a civilised dialogue, one which would eliminate evil thoughts and would bring back to humanity hope in a brighter future... In every civilisation there are bright areas... God has given us the ability to distinguish between good and evil. There is no doubt that all monotheistic religions encourage kindness to others," said King Abdullah. The call made by the pope and the king is critical and very important to building bridges between various religions and cultures. In fact, today there is no other way except for peaceful coexistence, as the two leaders have called for, between peoples and nations. Calling for a Christian-Muslim dialogue surely would assist in achieving what the pope and the king have termed as "spiritual and moral values". This aspect is undoubtedly very significant given the sheer number of followers from around the world of two main monotheistic religions - Islam and Christianity.

It is also imperative given the numerous attacks against the Islamic world in the past few years. Hence it is now essential that steps and actual measures be taken to achieve a state of harmony between various religions

Positive Christian response to recent Muslim outreach must be one of many steps to peace.

An unprecedented outreach from top Islamic leaders to Christians is meeting a positive response. This budding dialogue has the potential to correct misunderstandings and foster trust among each faith's followers – which the world sorely needs. The overture began in October with a letter from 138 Muslim clerics and scholars addressed to Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders. "The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians," it stated, and called for dialogue among the leaders of faiths that together account for more than half of the world's population. The letter (available at www.acommonword.com) is remarkable for its depth and message. Its signers represent all major schools of Islamic thought. It quotes from religious texts of Muslims, Christians, and Jews to show two shared, fundamental beliefs: love of one God, and love of neighbor.

Pope Benedict XVI invited a delegation of senior Muslim personalities, who signed an appeal for greater dialogue between religions, to a meeting at the Vatican in November 29 2007. The pope praised the "positive spirit" behind the October 11 message signed by 138 top Muslims from around the world and sent to Christian leaders, said Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in the letter sent in Pope Benedict's name. The pope wanted to meet a representative group of the signatories at the Vatican, he added in the letter sent to Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, head of the Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman.

"The Pope has asked me to convey his gratitude to Your Royal Highness and to all who signed the letter," Bertone wrote.

"He also wishes to express his deep appreciation for this gesture, for the positive spirit which inspired the text and for the call for a common commitment to promoting peace in the world.

"Without ignoring or downplaying our differences as Christians and Muslims, we can and therefore should look to what unites us, namely, belief in the one God, the provident Creator and universal Judge who at the end of time will deal with each person according to his or her actions. We are all called to commit ourselves totally to him and to obey his sacred will."

The letter said the pope "was particularly impressed by the attention given in the letter to the twofold commandment to love God and one's neighbour."

"The life of every human being is sacred, both for Christians and for Muslims. There is plenty of scope for us to act together in the service of fundamental moral values."

"Such common ground allows us to base dialogue on effective respect for the dignity of every human person, on objective knowledge of the religion of the other, on the sharing of religious experience and, finally, on common commitment to promoting mutual respect and acceptance among the younger generation," the letter went on.

"The Pope is confident that, once this is achieved, it will be possible to cooperate in a productive way in the areas of culture and society, and for the promotion of justice and peace in society and throughout the world."

Bertone said that with a view to encouraging the "praiseworthy initiative" from the Muslim leaders, "His Holiness would be most willing to receive Your Royal Highness and a restricted group of signatories of the open letter, chosen by you.

"At the same time, a working meeting could be organized between your delegation and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, with the cooperation of some specialized Pontifical Institutes (such as the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Pontifical Gregorian University)." The precise details of these meetings could be decided later, should this proposal prove acceptable, the letter said.

Just a year ago he angered many Muslims with a speech that linked Islam to violence. In the United States, the Muslim letter has prompted Yale Divinity School to lead an effort toward interfaith conferences and workshops in the US, Britain, and the Middle East.

But the stirrings of dialogue among the world's Muslim and Christian leaders must be ongoing and reach down to their followers. It will take a flood of mutual understanding to make the religious soil hospitable for tolerance and inhospitable for terrorism.

If the purpose of interfaith dialogue is peace, it must include Jews. "Let us respect each other, be fair, just and kind to another," the Muslim letter concludes. May those words take root in thoughts and deeds, far away and at home.

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Dimitri Kitsikis, since the 1960s, has been the recognised theorist, first in Greece and then in Turkey, of the idea of a Greek-Turkish Confederation, which he has promoted by influencing statesmen, politicians, journalists, artists and thinkers in both countries. His books in Turkish became best sellers in Turkey and were praised by the Prime Minister of Turkey. He kept close ties with Prime Ministers Konstantinos Karamanlis senior of Greece and Turgut Özal of Turkey as well as the Chinese leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. His books in Greek created one of the greatest controversies ever encountered in Greek historiography. He has also opened the way to the study of technocracy in international politics. He has insisted that religion is an essential component of international politics and strove by conferences and other means to facilitate the collaboration between the four main religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. He organised Orthodox dialogues with Iranian Shiites and Indian Hindus. He worked with Israeli Jews and fundamentalist Catholics from Quebec. He is the founder of the branch of study known as Photohistory. He is also a recognised poet with six collections of poetry published by Kedros (Κέδρος), Hestia (Ἑστία) and Akritas (Ἀκρίτας.) In 1991 he was honored with the first Greek-Turkish prize for poetry Abdi İpekçi, a Turkish journalist who had been shot dead by terrorists. In 2007, his 34th book was published under the title, "A Comparative History of Greece and China from Antiquity to the Present" (Athens, Herodotos, 345 pages). His books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Serbian, Bulgarian, Russian, Turkish and Greek. Founder and editor of Endiamese Perioche (Intermediate Region), Greek quarterly of Geopolitics, since 1996. Public Foundation and Library under the name “ Dimitri Kitsikis” set up and financed in Athens, by the Greek State, in 2006. He has many interesting books including Aspects of Ottoman History; Orthodoxy and Islam; Dialogue among Civilizations; Woman and Family in Islam; Multiculturalism; Geopolitics and Greece; Comparative History of Greece and Turkey; Greek-Turkish Area; L'Empire ottoman;The Third Ideology; Turkish Greek Empire.Kitsikis was our guest speaker at Mevlana Rumi Conference that held in Toronto on November 3, 2007. He answered our questions related to Greek-Turkish dialogue and Ottoman’s multiculturalism compare to Canadian.

By Faruk Arslan

Your book called Turkish Greek Empire was published in Turkish, thought that the Ottoman Empire was, in a sense, a Turkish-Greek co-dominion. What are your historical facts that support your thesis?Dimitri Kitsikis: History teaches us that the Ottoman Empire was the last manifestation of the Empire of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC which evolved into the Roman pagan Empire, then into the Christian Orthodox Roman Empire (called also Byzantine) and finally into the Bektashi Roman Empire (called also Ottoman) up to 1923.

Why did Greeks live over 400 years under the Ottoman, and waited that long to declare independency?

Dimitri Kitsikis : Before the appearance of a Western ideology called nationalism, at the end of the 18th century, the Empire was multireligious and multinational. Respect of differences was vital to the survival of the Empire this necessity had nothing to do with sentimentality, which contrary to the West had never been imperialistic. Nevertheless, the Ottoman period, i.e. the last phase of this 2500 long Empire, was the most tolerant and the most respectful of equality. Greek was voluntarily involved with Ottoman where multiculturalism exist.

The Greeks were living under the Byzantine Empire as the Greek religion and culture while Turks captured Istanbul. What did change after Fatih Sultan Mehmet conquer to Istanbul? Was it invasion or invitation?

Dimitri Kitsikis: From the 11th to the 18th century, Greeks and Turks had fought side by side to liberate their common fatherland (the Empire) against the imperialist West and the Ottoman King Fatih Sultan Mehmet in 1453 had been the most glorious liberator of these two people.

This is very radical answer. Most Greek won’t like it. What was the Multiculturalism model in the Ottoman Empire? Were the Ottoman policies too soft to prevent nationalistic propagandas?

Dimitri Kitsikis: Two of the four basic millets (the four pillars of the Empire were the Greek, the Turkish, the Armenian and the Jewish millets)) were in fact the most important: The Sunni (or "Turkish") millet and the Orthodox (or "Greek") millet. At the beginning of the 19th century the importance of the Greek millet had increased to the detriment of the Turkish millet, while the Empire began falling into decadence within an intense social crisis.

Then, who did separated Turks from Greek, why it was happened, and when this process has been started?

Dimitri Kitsikis: This was the time when the imperialist West, wanting to colonize the Empire, introduced the microbe of nationalism and while the Orthodox Church was imploring the Greeks to continue to be faithful to their sultan, Greek traders and intellectuals of the Diaspora inspired by the West and freemasonry provoked a separatist insurrection in 1821 which started the long process of dismantlement of the Empire which came to an end only a century later, in 1923. This is what I have called the Greek-Turkish one hundred year civil war.

Wow! How interesting facts are. Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni expressed surprise at a poll showing that 73 percent of the Turks like Greeks. Greek probably likes Turks. What was two nations political problem, then?

Dimitri Kitsikis: Because of the above circumstances, the Greeks were taught by the Westerners to hate the Turks, while the Turks who woke up a hundred years later and were the last of all the peoples of the Empire to catch the microbe of nationalism, continued to love their Greek brothers and had difficulty in understanding why the Greeks hated them, not knowing that the origin of this hate was inspired by the West. This is the reason why, still today, most Turks like their Greek brothers, while less Greeks like the Turks.

In fact, Greeks are no less likely to be nationalists than Turks, but rather more. To quite some degree it depends on school historical education. We couldn’t correct the remnants of historic nationalist propagandas on books. How do we influence to remove that official hatred contained history books?

Dimitri Kitsikis: In the last twenty years huge progress was made towards overcoming nationalism on the two sides of the Aegean Sea. History school books have been purged from the myths which inspired hatred, traders and intellectuals have come together and the perspective of a Turkish-Greek Confederation, which I was alone to defend in my books in 1978, is know vindicated by both governments. The most pro-Turkish Greek politicians are nowadays Dora Bakoyanni and Giorgos Papandreou.

After joining European Union, Greeks own nation and culture gone beyond borders. Why people are not speaking loudly after giving up their independency? Are they happy now?

Dimitri Kitsikis: The European Union is a golden prison for Greece. Like the Holy Alliance of 1815, it prevents any social revolt against capitalism. The solution is not that Turkey enters this prison but that Greece loosens its ties with the EU, confederates with Turkey and, as Sarkozy rightly suggested, form around these two countries a Mediterranean union (including Israel). This confederation would be linked to the EU by a special agreement.

Ataturk founded Turkey as a nation country. Could we be going to lose Turkish identity under EU?

Dimitri Kitsikis: The purpose of the EU is not only to assure capitalist stability to its member states but with time to dismantle them and transform them from nation-states to European provinces (like Catalonia and Padania).

Well! I agree with you. Do you think joining to EU is not a good idea for Turkey?

Dimitri Kitsikis: In any case, nation-states having become obsolete, Turkey would certainly be dismantled if she enters the EU (as Greece will also be in time). As both countries cannot escape dismantlement, a solution would be to follow the plan of the USA to transform the Greek Turkish whole into a large confederation which would counterbalance the influence of the European Union, while at the same time being linked to it by loosened ties.

What do you mean by that. Are you suggesting that US is establishing new modern Ottoman?

Dimitri Kitsikis: This US inspired broadened confederation would consist of a hardcore (a reduced Greece and Turkey), joined by a Kurdish State, Georgia, Armenia, Syria and Israel in the East and by a Thracian State, Albania and Macedonia in the West. Thus the Ottoman Empire would be revived in a modern form; Istanbul would become the capital of the Confederation like Ottawa for Canada.

The two official languages of the Confederation would be Greek and Turkish, while the other languages of the peripheral states (Albania, Macedonia, Kurdistan, Armenia, Georgia, Syria, Israel) would also have their place.

What do you think for sub communities such as Alevism, Orthodoxy, and other cultural community in your idea of Confederation?

Dimitri Kitsikis: The two main religions would be Alevism (as heir of Bektashism) and Orthodoxy, which would be insured by the nominal head of the Confederation, having his seat in Istanbul, the Sultan. The only prince, who could, because of his past, be the sultan and at the same time be Bektashi-Alevi and Greek Orthodox, is a member of the Turkish-Greek dynasty of the Osmanlis (Ottoman), as this dynasty has not yet disappeared.

Do you see any similarities between Canadian and Ottoman multiculturalism models?

Dimitri Kitsikis: It is evident that the best example of such a Turkish-Greek confederation is the one that has proven its success up to now, i.e. the Canadian Confederation.

By the way, where have Sunnis gone who are majority of population in Turkey now? How can Greece and Turkey expect to be union again when they still think and act like they are under influence of nationalism?

Dimitri Kitsikis: All the above has been analyzed and proved by tens of my books, hundreds of my scientific articles and public conferences, by 47 years of University teaching, by influencing statesmen like Turgut Özal or Giorgos Papandreou, all along of my professional career as History professor, researcher and public figure, since 1960.

You should keep in mind that if the Turkish and Greek public opinions are still kept in ignorance of the facts and plans put forward in my interview, the centers of political decision -and especially Washington- are not only perfectly aware of them since many decades (as proven in particular by the archives of the US State Department) but are pursuing the realization of such plans. It is just a question of time.