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Regardless of what is going on around them, they have their methods, their ways, and they
understand. Some of these people have been working in the movement 20-30 years. Maybe
they are not going to see what they want in their lifetime and it is ok with them.
I am Margaret Johnson. I am a sociologist, a writer, and a business owner. I manage a
language translation company. I also work as a senior researcher for the
Institute of Islamic and Turkish Studies located here in Fairfax. In that capacity, I have
been researching the Hizmet Movement for several years now, and I visited with Hizmet members
and interviewed them in several different countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Nigeria,
Egypt, Turkey, of course, the US. When I want to understand the Hizmet Movement,
as a sociologist, first I am looking at it as a social movement, but it has many distinct
characteristics that we don't commonly find in social movements.
I mean social movements generally are oppositional movements or they are looking to achieve some
specific goal or involved in politics. The Hizmet Movement really has a different
kind of character to it, and it very much takes individual approach. So, it is looking
to reform society not by entering politics or changing laws or institutions but really
by reforming the individual. And this is kind of a very unique approach.
I think this is a really important contribution in the Hizmet Movement. And this, of course,
comes from Fethullah Gulen Hocaefendi's understanding. His philosophy is to focus on the individual
and that's what the Movement members do first themselves, they try to develop themselves
as human beings, purify themselves, improve their character... This is what they are doing,
but they are not doing it as an end in itself, they are doing this so that they can be of
service to others. So, when they go out in the world, first of
all, they are modeling an ideal Islamic character, and the Hizmet people are among the best people
I have ever met in my life here on earth, as human beings. And this is very important.
I think it is really an important contribution.
The other thing that is really kind of unique
and special about Hizmet is its time horizon because, really, its philosophy is to focus
on the individual. A lot of times it gets called an education movement, but it is not
an education movement just because it has schools. It has education movement because
it believes this is how you change the world. You start with developing the human being,
the child, the adult, wherever they are in life. You meet them where they are.
And the schools focus on the best education, traditionally they focus on Math and Science
education, they tend to be secular schools. But at the same time, the teachers are modeling
this Islamic character, which basically are universal human values that we can all agree
on—or most people can agree on—sincerity, kindness, love, serving others, loving your
country. They model these behaviors to the students and try to develop that so that at
the end you have a balanced student; well educated in the mind but also a dedicated,
sincere human being. Think about it. This is a long time horizon.
Regardless of what is going on around them, they have their methods, their ways, and they
understand. Some of these people have been working in the movement 20-30 years. Maybe
they are not going to see what they want in their lifetime and it is ok with them. They
are looking for this big kind of a reform that is going to take time, but it is a bottom-up
and this is their approach. The other important thing is that they give
a model to Muslims about—and this is something that Hocaefendi, Fethullah Gulen writes about
quite a bit—is how can you be Muslim in the modern world. And he is a scholar that
writes for his time, so it is not... we don't want to be in some kind of a situation where
we are saying "We should have an Islamic law, we should have Shari'a, we want to get in
the government so we can impose this." Hizmet does not take that approach at all.
So, they are saying and what Hocaefendi says is, you can live your Islamic character, your
Islamic values, your Islamic way of life now; you can do it now regardless of what the particular
governmental structure is you are living under. So, in this way it is also unique. It is not
a political movement, and this kind of separates it from other kind of movements. It doesn't
mean that it doesn't have a reformation, or reform, but the vision is very different,
and this is really important. So, it is important for individuals, important
for Muslims and for non-Muslims, we go in a wider circle. Hizmet Movement is an example
of Muslims living their faith fully and living in harmony with people that are different
from them and this whole idea of peaceful coexistence. They are living this, modeling
this and showing the way. This is really important for the Western world that can see this as
an antidote to this idea because we know, if we look at survey research that a lot of
Westerners and Americans, they fear Muslims, they are thinking negatively about Islam.
So, the Hizmet really provides a very strong counterweight, a positive example to these
negative ideas. So, the schools around the world are very
important. They are important for several different dimensions. But, if we just want
to take.. I talked about the importance of peaceful coexistence, a modeling Islamic behavior,
and how important that was. What you see in these schools is that they are not just places
for education. On purpose, you will see in the Hizmet's schools that they bring together
children from different ethnic groups from different religious groups on purpose in the
same school. In Nigeria, which everybody knows has issues
with Muslim-Christian conflicts, riots periodically, and killings; a very difficult situation.
But, what you will find in the Hizmet schools in Nigeria is Christians and Muslims in the
school together, children learning side by side, being friends, and so, they are having
these experiences about learning. What does it mean? They're learning about each other,
so then, the person is not the other anymore. And they can learn how to get along with each
other. So, they are learning this idea about peaceful coexistence.
Maybe, if you want to compare to other Sufi movements, it very much has a strong emphasis
on developing that perfect human character, like other Sufi movements do. But one key
thing is that for what ends. The purpose is to go be of service. Something unique about
Hizmet always had this, "You are doing this so you can go serve humanity", and the strong
service component from the beginning. And the other thing that I already mentioned;
it is not a political movement. It is not looking to become a political party or endorse
certain politicians. In Turkey you see it have a voice in the political arena as a civil
society organization because part of Hizmet values is to support democracy, protection
of minority rights, justice, freedom, religious freedom, freedom of the press, all of these
different kinds of important aspects of a democratic society.
So, there, you saw Hizmet support the Constitutional Referendums.
But, at the same time, Hizmet
is not going to support any particular candidate, it's not going to pledge loyalty to any particular
political individual because it says, whoever shares our values. So it is not looking to
be a political movement, it's not looking for political power.
In fact, Hocaefendi, Fethullah Gulen, explicitly cautions his followers away from that. So,
it is unique in this way, too. Hizmet is engaged in a lot of charitable activities
around the world. And this is really profoundly important. It is important for, obviously,
your recipients of charity are benefiting from that. Also, it is a way of dialogue.
It is saying, "We are Muslims, this is what we do. Some Muslim people might object and
say, Why you are giving charity to non-Muslims when Muslims are suffering so much in the
world. And it is true.
Unfortunately, we have such high levels of suffering in the Muslim world. But, Hizmet
gives charity to Muslim people all over the world, also. But, it doesn't mean we shouldn't
give to others as well. We should. It is our duty and our obligation.
In America, we have the Red Cross, which pretty much is a secular organization but started
as a Christian organization. It goes everywhere. Muslim should as well. We should go everywhere,
we should be there, and people should see this face of Islam. And also, it is a great
benefit. When Turkish people go, going as Hizmet, a lot of times, people in the countries
are saying, "Turkey is coming and helping us." And that is a great benefit to the image
of Turkey.
In our day, it's become very difficult for people of differing views to sit down respectfully
and hear where the other person sees the world from, what their point of view is.
And so believe God is using the Hizmet Movement to bring people together.
The teachings of Fethullah Gulen and his encouragement of tolerance and of non-violence and of really
learning and listening to one another, it's a very powerful teaching.