Once again terrorists have struck out at innocent people in Paris and Beirut. To add insult to injury, as if that were possible at this level of depravity, the terrorists claim a religious justification for their heinous attacks. While it is clear that nothing of any worth can justify such barbarous acts, hundreds of Muslim scholars and thousands of Muslim adherents from all over the world have once again condemned these acts, first as ordinary people and then as those whose faith and religion has been hijacked by the perpetrators. Fethullah Gülen, an Islamic scholar, has also added his voice to those of others. Within hours of the attack, Gülen issued a condemnation, which can be accessed here. While Gülen’s condemnation is worth reading, I have taken the liberty of collating Gülen’s position on these matters from his previous talks, articles and statements.
Gülen’s position on violent extremism is based on a comprehensive, thorough and robust understanding and reading of the spirit and teachings of Islam’s primary sources, the Qur’an and Sunna – the same foundations on which its core teachings are based. His views relevant to this issue can be summarised as follows:
While refuting violent extremist ideology that claims a religious justification, Gülen offers an interpretation of Islam that acts as a positive counter narrative. One which espouses a belief in the centrality of love and compassion; that diversity of belief was and is intended by God; that free will is key to human nature, whose proper function must be guarded and guaranteed at all times; that people must seek the middle way in all actions, temperaments and potentials (sirat al-mustaqim); that there is a positive Islamic responsibility on people to engage and learn from one another without needing first to approve of each other’s views and lifestyle; that there is a responsibility always to think positively about others (husn-u zan); that people must be in a constant and continuous state of positive and proactive action (müsbet hareket) while favouring a worldview that brings together on shared humanity rather than divides on the pretext of difference. Gülen would argue that this is an authentic understanding of Islam. Clearly, religion cannot be instrumentalised in the act of committing violent extremism if it is understood in these terms.
May God give us strength in these difficult times and heal our wounds as we bleed from France to Beirut. Amen!
Ozcan Keles
Chairperson of the Dialogue Society
Ismail Mesut Sezgin
Executive Director of Centre for Hizmet Studies
*Parts of this blog have been reproduced from A Hizmet Approach to Violent Extremism, Centre for Hizmet Studies, 2015 by Ozcan Keles and Ismail Mesut Sezgin
Ozcan is a non-practising Barrister and member of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn. He is the Chairperson of the Dialogue Society since 2008; was the Executive Chairperson of the same organisation between 2008 and 2014; the Executive Editor of the peer-reviewed biannual academic Journal of Dialogue Studies since 2014 and a full-time PhD candidate in the sociology of human rights at the University of Sussex. Between 2006 and 2009 he was a research student with Prof Kevin Boyle at the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex, where he held the Scholarship Award of 2006. Ozcan was called to the Bar in 2005 after successfully completing the Bar course at the Inns of Court School of Law. He obtained his LLM in Human Rights Law from SOAS, University of London, in 2002.
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