Fatina Abdrabboh, Graduate Student at Harvard University, talking about her trip to Turkey

 My name is Fatina Abdrabboh. I am from Cambridge, Massachusetts and I would like to just thank the RumiForum of course for this opportunity. It has been spectacular you know to say the least. I certainly echo everybody else’s sentiments.   It is so funny that all of us have given lengthy concluding remarks, you know this elevated nature, inspiration and enthusiasm, yet we all are somehow able to add to that already kind of gigantic level of things and energy. I think that is kind of telling that we all had kind of unique experience equally, you know uniquely grateful.

This week has been great for me on two levels but firstly I think as a Muslim to come here and kinda see a majority Muslim country and particularly the people we got to see, the Gulen movement, walk the walk of Islam in a way that I haven’t seen a long time or even read about quite frankly in a long time. So to see people walk the walk that are not so busy talking about because they are so busy walking it, has been inspirational for me, remarkable, and refreshing in a way that brought me to tears. Many times this week kind of privately just at the end of the day kind of thinking about processing all of this and what that meant kind of for me as a Muslim for the country for Muslims worldwide where we can be headed where we need to go where we are not, so for that, I am very very appreciative to this experience. Additionally there is no doubt us kind of being put together in the way, you know the best way to get to know the people is to live with them or travel with them, and us traveling together, you know broken down barriers and boundaries. I am just so grateful to you guys. It has been wonderful. There is not one person here I cannot honestly say I don’t want to continue a solid relationship with, maintain our contact and our ideas and our vision. You know different it may as very well be or similar, regardless this week has been fantastic for me.

As far as how things worked here logistically, we all are certainly continuing to be in awe, but the food and everything being behind time, the sites and everything being working like clockwork; what I was especially moved by is, we are all kind thankful and appreciative to kind of talking things and lot of the things along the way, but what moved me is: Every time we tell somebody thank you, at the hospital or the schools, about their hospitality there was this, you are welcome, in a dismissive sense not in a badly dismissive sense: you are welcome but it is not about you. There is somehow this responsibility and accountability I think in the people involved in this (Gulen) movement have that, it was silent and implicit but I think we could all kind of feel that: they had this responsibility and accountability to the movement, to the vision, but most importantly to God. That I think superseded our own morality and limitation as human beings.  Tons of thoughts are going through my head now but I can conclude by: I am very grateful and would recommend it to anybody. So thanks!

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