Terence (Terry) Cozad Taylor

My experience with the life and teachings of Fethullah Gulen has come through my connections with the Interfaith Dialogue Organization (IDO) at the University of Kentucky and the Rumi Forum in Washington.

In the summer of 2009 I visited Turkey as a guest of Rumi Forum. That trip cemented for me some conclusions I had come to as I had read about and read the words of Fethullah Gulen. For many years my own spiritual practice has been informed by the life and witness of the the great twentieth century Catholic leader, Thomas Merton.  Merton was a Cistercian monk who spent most of his adult life at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, was a pioneer and major leader in three areas of religious practice.

• The rebirth of ‘contemplative’ religious practice in Christian spirituality;

• The recommitment of religious leaders to work for peace and justice;

• Bridging the gulf that separates people of different religious by engaging in deep inter-religious dialogue.

If I had to describe Mr. Gulen in a word it would be to say that he is, to me, the Thomas Merton of Islamic spirituality, but more. I have experienced through his followers the kind of deep, Sufi spiritual practice that Gulen embodies. I have seen first hand, both here in the US and in Turkey, the way his followers embrace the concepts of peace and justice, not just for followers of Islam, but for persons of all religions throughout the world. I have taken part, in the company of followers of Fethullah Gulen, interfaith activities that clearly serve to heal misunderstandings and resentments that sometimes exist between followers of different religions.

But when I say that Gulen goes farther than Merton, I want to emphasize what I encountered in Turkey in August of 2009. Over and over again I saw examples of the way that people inspired by Gulen work to further high quality, spiritually-based education by building schools and universities, so called “Gulen Schools” from the ground up. These are institutions which ensure that generations of young Turkish citizens yet to come (and those who encounter them around the world) will be infused with a sustainable spirituality that embodies the idea of love.

Terence C Taylor is Executive Director for Interfaith Paths to Peace in Louisville, Kentucky