Dialogue and Tolerance in Education

"What we are doing here is for the better future of our people, to tackle global threats and institute global peace," said Rostislav Rybakov, head of the Institute of Oriental Studies, during a conference held in İstanbul on Monday, Septermber 28th, to discuss tolerance and dialogue in education.

The primary purpose of the conference entitled "Tolerance and Dialogue in Education" is to bring Europeans and Asians together and propose grounds for discussion. Its organizers also aimed to launch the unofficial opening of the İstanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture celebrations in terms of education. Invitations sent to 42 countries and representatives from 25 countries joined the conference, which plans to bring related educational and dialogue organizations together to deal with tolerance and dialogue in education.

The opening ceremony of the conference started with a presentation on the importance of intercultural and interfaith dialogue and Dialogue Eurasia Platform's contribution to this.

The presentation stressed the importance of dialogue and tolerance, and people were called on to respect diversity and differences while stressing the significant role of peace and love. "The Dialogue Eurasia Platform is blind to differences, race and diversity and does not recognize any conflicts," it said.

Head of the İstanbul Education Department Muammer Yıldız, head of Pedagogical Club of European Capitals Boris Jebrovski, co-chair of the Dialogue Eurasia Platform and honorary chair of Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oriental Studies, Rostislav Rybakov, prominent scholar and dialogue activist Nevzat Yalçıntaş, head of the Journalists' and Writers' Union Mustafa Yeşil, Deputy Governor for Educational Affairs Harun Kaya and head of the Turkish Parliament Education Commission Mehmet Sağlam were among the participants of the conference.

To read the full article, please visit: http://en.fgulen.com/press-room/news/3459-istanbul-hosts-dialogue-leaders-to-discuss-tolerance-in-education

Living for Others

Gülen attaches importance to this principle of "living for others" (yaşatma ideali) such that he interprets it as a basic dynamic that would make a nation awaken. Every society must make sacrifices. Sacrifice is beyond and above worldly gain, and thus its definition exceeds that of mere altruism. On the contrary, it is more akin to idealistic heroism. Such altruism constitutes the character of people who are uninterested in personal or worldly gain, and who are committed to God's favor. Gülen describes these types of people as "architects of soul" and as "physicians of thought." These are people who are able to instill in the society a consciousness of responsibility and concern for others. Without physicians of soul, it is not possible to preserve the established values that pertain to the Islamic civilization and that have formed its historical identity. If such preservation is not possible, any hope of instigating a renaissance and revival of this civilization and identity will be lost. Such people are an important dynamic, according to Gülen:

Today, what we need are brave people who selflessly work in the service of God and who wave aside personal benefits and egoism... who writhe with people's miseries... who have a torch of knowledge in their hands, and who fight the ignorance and rudeness that ignites tinder everywhere... who, with eminent belief and determination, come to the rescue of those stranded... like stallions, hold on their course without repelling and without griming... those who ramp with pleasure of living for others while forgetting the desire of living.^[2]

I believe that all humanity will be pleased, and that the centuries-long miseries of suffering people, will come to an end, and that the world will once again will come to an axis of thanks in regard to the ideals that related his salvation with rescuing others. Such people can trample on their future and prosperity in the name of others' happiness; they can circulate in the veins of others like blood; they can splash over yearning and thirsts and breathe life everywhere. They then can bind their actions to the responsibility that is idealized in the depths of their inner selves. With compassion that transcends personal responsibility, and through kindness that could encompass all humanity, they will try to bring for us the spirit and significance that we have lost; they will remind us of our human significance. Meanwhile, they will constitute a model for perplexed souls who have lived without ideals for such a long time.^[3]

Our society needs only heroes of ideals: those who can reach out to help first our nation, and then all humanity, with the feeling of compassion; and every time they raise their hand to God, they pray for others. As such a great requirement could not be met by others, it falls upon us who start from ourselves to articulate it.

We consider living for ourselves as egoism, and we have found such a consideration revolting. It has been our passion to live for others and to prepare them for eternal happiness. Even if it were possible to return to life, even if we were free to choose the alternatives of this new life, we would certainly choose to "live for others" again, we would certainly dedicate ourselves to humanity, and we would prepare humankind for resurrection. We would not mind any misprision... We would not be deterred by cries of reaction... We would not quarrel with anybody who has accused us with false and malicious accusations... We would smile while weeping inside.^[4]

The ideal people burn like candles despite themselves, and they illuminate others...^[5]

A true friend who is a mature person is the one who can utter "after you," even while exiting from Hell and entering Paradise.

What we are always stressing is that it is those who live their lives in sincerity, loyalty, and altruism at the expense of their own selves in order to make others live who are the true inheritors of the historical dynamics to whom we can entrust our souls. They do not ever desire that the masses follow them. Yet their existence is such a powerful, inevitable invitation that all run to them, wherever they are, as if these devout people were a centre of attraction.^[6]

Individual projects of enlightenment that are not planned to aid the community are doomed to fruitlessness. Moreover, it is not possible to revive values that have been destroyed in the hearts of the individual in society, nor in the conscience, nor in the will power. Just as plans and projects for individual salvation that are independent of the salvation of others are nothing more than an illusion, so, too, the thought of achieving success as a whole by paralyzing the individual awakening is a fantasy.

Living for others is the most important factor that determines the behavior of such heroes. Their greatest worry is their quest for eligibility for such missions, whereas their most prevalent characteristic is that their utmost ambition is their search for God's consent. When striving to enlighten others, they feel no pain nor do they undergo any shock caused by the delight of enlightening others. The achievements that such people accomplish are regarded as revelations of His holy aid, and such people bow in modesty, nullifying themselves again and again, every day. In addition to all this, they tremble at the idea that their emotions are bound to interfere with the works that they have caused to come into existence, and groan; "You are all I need."^[7]

Expecting nothing in return is the rose of our land. Altruism is the lotus of our gardens. It is our lot to attain but not to enjoy. We forget living for ourselves while burning with the desire of living for others. It is our people who know how to be in the front while serving, and how to stay behind in compensation. The world has discovered from us to love unconditionally.^[8]

Perfect believers do not stick only to their personal development or perfection; they are determined almost like prophets to open themselves up for everyone and to embrace each and every person. They devote their lives to the happiness of others both in this world as well as in the hereafter, at the expense of neglecting themselves. They live like the Companions of the Prophet; they walk in a direction opposite to where their carnal selves urge, and they spread light all around, for they have that potential to illuminate in their essence like a candle. They are always on alert for darkness, and they struggle to keep it at bay... As they burn all the time, they are hurt inside; nevertheless, neither constant burning nor extermination can restrain them from enlightening others.^[9]

We are not in need of local or foreign grants, favors or ideologies. We need the physicians of thought and spirit who can arouse in all people the consciousness of the value of responsibility, sacrifice, and suffering for others; who can produce mental and spiritual depth and sincerity in the place of promises of passing happiness; who can, with a single attempt, make us reach the point of observing the beginning and the end of creation.

Now we are waiting, looking forward to the arrival of these people, who have so much love for their responsibility and cause that, if necessary, they would even give up entering Paradise; people like this, if they have already entered, would then seek ways of leaving Paradise. Like Muhammad, the Messenger of God, who said, "If they placed the sun in my right and the moon in my left to abandon my cause, I would not until God made the truth prevail or I died in the attempt." This is the horizon of God's Messenger. Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, a scholar exuberant with the rays that emanate from God's Messenger, bent double by the pain of his cause said, "In my eyes I have neither love for Paradise nor fear for Hell, and if I saw the faith of my people secure, I would be ready now to be burned in hell-fire." Likewise, Abu Bakr opened his hands and prayed in a way that would shake the heavens, "O my Lord, make my body so great that I alone fill up Hell and thus no place may be left for anyone else."

Humanity is terribly in need of people with inner depths and sincerity now, more than anything else, for people who suffer and cry for the sins and errors of others; who look forward to forgiveness and pardon of others before their own; who, instead of entering Paradise and taking their pleasures individually there, prefer to stay in the A'raf (between the Paradise and Hell) and from there, try to take all the people to Paradise along with them; and who, even if they enter Paradise, will not be able find time to enjoy the pleasures of Paradise because of their thoughts for others, and their concern to save them from the hell-fire.^[10]

This is a snippet from an article by Dr. Enes Ergene. To read the full article, please visit http://www.fethullahgulen.org/about-fethullah-gulen/an-analysis-of-the-gulen-movement/3046-basic-dynamics-of-the-movement.html#_edn5 

The Gülen Movement, Dialogue, and Tolerance

Tolerance[1] and dialogue are among the most basic and broad dynamics of the Gülen movement. These two concepts, first developed on a small scale, have turned into a search for a culture of reconciliation on a world scale. Today, the idea of different groups peacefully living together is a philosophical issue that modern states are trying to formulate. The international relations of past empires were founded on conflict and war. Different civilizations were separated by thick walls, which were supported by political, ideological, and religious identities. Inevitably, this led to conflict. During the long Middle Ages, international relations were governed by a "law of engagement," which allowed for little space to express religious or ethnic differentiation. The domestic laws of states and empires were not exempt from this philosophy. Throughout the Middle Ages, humankind's struggle for civilization found expression in aggressive and passionate conflict. Today, with new concepts brought by globalization, the search for dialogue between civilizations and cultures has entered a new phase.

The Gülen movement is a clear example of this search, a search that has reached international proportions. Gülen strengthens this search with religious, legal, and philosophical foundations. One of the basic aims of the global education activities is to form bridges that will lead to dialogue between religions and civilizations. The long-lasting wars of the past had to do with the problem of power balance that reigned in the international relations of the day. This was probably the case for all political empires and religious formations of the past. But today, humanity is not in a position to shoulder such a conflict on the global scale. According to Gülen, Muslims today should not shape their own cultural, social, and existential identities according to destructive values which are rooted in conflict and fight; these are not aligned with the universal value system of Islam, in which peace, dialogue, and tolerance are the basic principles. Today, humanity is not in a position to bear a conflict on the global scale.

This is the principle that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, practiced in Medina. The people of Medina were composed of groups belonging to different religions and cultures. For the first time in history, the Prophet enacted a system of values that aimed to maintain a peaceful co-existence of these religious groups. What these historical documents show us is that the reciprocal rights and responsibilities of different religious and cultural identities were clearly defined and a consensus was reached. According to this, non-Muslims would be free to practice their religions, their way of life, and their way of worship. No one was to interfere with their partners in a pluralistic organization in which groups had religious, legal, and cultural autonomy. Ali, the fourth Caliph, would formulate this pluralistic freedom in a letter that he sent to the governor of Egypt, Malik b. Ashtar, as a systematic legal expression. According to Ali, people who lived in regions ruled by Muslims were divided into two main groups: one "our brothers in religion, the Muslims," and the other, "our equals in creation, the non-Muslims." They both have rights to protection. In history, there has never been a culture that has been able to place "the other" on such an ontologically humane basis and thus to exalt them. This definition of Ali's stressed the Prophet's saying: "All humans are the children of Adam, and Adam was of the earth."

The interaction of early Muslims with neighboring nations and cultures was rooted in human and moral principles. Six centuries later, a similar development occurred. The Mongols who reigned in the Damascus region in the thirteenth century had taken Muslims, Christians, and Jews who lived under their protection as slaves. A Muslim scholar, Ibn Taymiyya, went to negotiate with the Mongol commander, Kutlu Shah, for the release of the slaves. The Mongols refused to release the Christian and the Jewish slaves along with the Muslim ones. The scholar responded as follows: "The war does not reach an end until all the slaves are free. The Christians and the Jews are under our protection, we cannot accept that a single one of them should remain a slave." Kutlu Shah soon agreed to set free all the slaves. During the periods when Muslims adhered to the principles of tolerance and dialogue, they thus developed a broad and accommodating perspective that guaranteed the lifestyles and freedoms of various religious and cultural communities. The Ottoman Empire was a typical manifestation of this phenomenon.

Today, the Gülen movement advocates social pluralism, based on the principle of tolerance, on a global scale. Unlike pluralism in the past, which was limited by religious principles, today we need broader cultural and political bases on which to build. In order to produce such a culture of reconciliation, members of different civilizations have to make a positive contribution to these efforts. There needs to be a revival of such values so that shared and livable pluralism can be established on the earth. Only then will the efforts of the Gülen movement meet with the expected response on a global scale.

The Gülen Movement

In the contemporary world, Muslim communities are undergoing radical social, economic, political and intellectual change. The ideas of Fethullah Gülen – a Turkish Muslim scholar, author and education activist – initiated a social phenomenon called the Gülen movement. Originating in Turkey but becoming increasingly transnational, the Gülen movement has a universal educational and interfaith agenda that aims to promote creative and positive relations between the Muslim world and the West, and to make a constructive contribution to the dialogue of civilizations, the reconciliation of science and religion, global education initiatives, democracy, and religious plurality.

For a series of articles on the Gulen movement, please visit:

http://www.fethullahgulen.org/about-fethullah-gulen/an-analysis-of-the-gulen-movement.html

About Fethullah Gülen

Known by his simple and austere lifestyle, Fethullah Gülen, affectionately called Hodjaefendi, is a scholar of extraordinary proportions. This man for all seasons was born in Erzurum, eastern Turkey, in 1941. Upon graduation from a private divinity school in Erzurum, he obtained his license and began to preach and teach about the importance of understanding and tolerance. His social reform efforts have made him one of Turkey's most well-known and respected public figures during the 1960s.

Though simple in outward appearance, he is original in thought and action. He embraces all humanity, and is deeply averse to unbelief, injustice, and deviation. His belief and feelings are profound, and his ideas and approach to problems are both wise and rational. A living model of love, ardor, and feeling, he is extraordinarily balanced in his thoughts, acts, and treatment of matters.

Turkish intellectuals and scholars acknowledge, either tacitly or explicitly, that he is one of the most serious and important thinkers and writers, and among the wisest activists of twentieth-century Turkey or even of the Muslim world. But such accolades of his leadership of a new Islamic intellectual, social, and spiritual revival—a revival with the potential to embrace great areas of the world—do not deter him from striving to be no more than a humble servant of God and a friend to all. Desire for fame is the same as show and ostentation, a "poisonous honey" that extinguishes the heart's spiritual liveliness, is one of the golden rules he follows.

Gülen has spent his adult life voicing the cries and laments, as well as the beliefs and aspirations, of Muslims in particular and of humanity in general. He bears his own sorrows, but those of others crush him. He feels each blow delivered at humanity to be delivered first at his own heart. He feels himself so deeply and inwardly connected to creation that once he said: "Whenever I see a leaf fall from its branch in autumn, I feel as much pain as if my arm had been amputated."

For more information on Fethullah Gulen, please visit http://www.fgulen.com/