Fethullah Gulen Tolerance, Dialogue and Peace
It is always a time for charity for Fethullah Gulen. He has always promoted giving out to the needy. He did not only preach it in his sermons but also exhibited an exemplary role model by personally donating thousands of dollars to the needy. That is not a sacrifice in terms of Gulen’s standards, because charity or almsgiving is one of the most important pillars in his faith system. The actual sacrifice is that these donations were made publicly known, I guess in response to the claims of some presumptuous people who always question Gulen’s income and how he spends it. The official website about Fethullah Gulen announces his donations anytime he contributes a relief campaign. If you are familiar with Gulen’s personality, you would see that this is more of a sacrifice than actually giving out large portions of his personal income.
This month Gulen’s donation was for the victims in Philippines after the Typhoon Haiyan, last Fall it was for the victims in New York and New Jersey after the super storm Sandy, in 2011 it was for the post-disaster relief efforts in Japan after the earthquake of a magnitude 9 and the tsunami afterwards. Before that it was for the victims of the floods in Bangladesh, and the earthquakes in Van, Pakistan, Peru, Haiti, etc. The amounts that Fethullah Gulen donates in each campaign is not a symbolic figure and but are significant contributions that could really make a difference.
Gulen’s exemplary behavior inspired a charity organization called “Kimse Yok Mu” meaning “Isn’t Anybody There?” which reached out the needy in all parts of the world for a large number or relief campaigns. Recently this charity campaigns grew into another global relief organization Hizmet Relief which runs projects like opening water wells in Kenya, providing schools supplies to children in Haiti, giving blankets to Syrian refugees in Turkey and Iraq. This is no surprise for people who are familiar with Fethullah Gulen’s ideas and ideals. Gulen always promotes peace, dialog, education and charity. The Hizmet Movement inspired by him reaches out to people from all walks of life worldwide regardless of their race, religion or color. In Pearls of Wisdom, a book collecting Fethullah Gulen’s quotes, he encourages this ideal but also warns about purifying one’s intentions: “There is no limit to doing good to others. Those who have dedicated themselves to the good of humanity can be so altruistic that they live for others. However, such altruism is a great virtue only if it originates in sincerity and purity of intention, and if it does not define the others by racial preferences.”
In an interview with Daily Nation of Kenya, Fethullah Gulen emphasizes the importance of charity by identifying the two root causes of most social issues: “Religion also teaches that there are two cardinal causes of social turmoils in the world: the ideas or attitudes of “let everyone work so I can eat,” and “I don’t care if others die of hunger so long as I am full.” Religion eliminates the first by banning all unjust dealings and transactions involved with bribery, oppression, usury, exploitation and cheating, and the second through prescribed alms-giving and charity, which serves as a bridge between a society’s various economic levels.” That is why, for Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet movement inspired by him, it is always a time for charity.
