Sufi Ideas and Current Issues: An Interfaith Dialogue Panel

Praise for Inter-Cultural Dialogue Efforts

By Ali H. Aslan , Chicago
Published: Sunday, November 13, 2005
zaman.com

Interesting panels and activities were held in the second and final day of the symposium titled, “Inter-Cultural Dialogue” in the Chicago city of the US.

In the “ Sufi Idea and Current Issues” panel held in the Chicago University Club, Marcia Hermansen from Loyola University, Doctor Thomas Michel from the Vatikan Inter-Religions Dialogue Secretariat, Scott Alexander from the Catholic Theological Union and Asma Afsuriddin from Notre Dame University made speeches.

Marcia Hermansen made an extensive description of Sufi movements from a historical and social perspective. Dr. Thomas Michel searched for an answer to the question whether Fethullah Gulen is a Sufi or not. Saying that he sees Gulen’s Sufi teachings as “the accumulated wisdom of Muslim saints”, Michel told Gulen is a discipline who presents Sufism’s “service to humanity” program. According to Michel, while “personal transformation” is more important for Said Nursi, Gulen finds “social transformation via education” at least as important as this. Scott Alexander who defined the “great jihad” concept, which means ones struggle with his own self, told Gulen focused more on the “society” than the “individual” when compared with Nursi. Alexander defined those who make crisscrosses by forcing the cultural border as “inter-cultural mujaheeden”. He said the biggest mujaheedens of the last era were Gandhi, Cathy Kelly, Pope II Jean Paul and Fethullah Gulen. Asma Afsuriddin examined the concept of patience and modesty.

Former National Education Minister Mehmet Saglam, Azam Nizamuddin and Paul Parker from Elmhurst College, and Zeki Saritoprak from Carroll University participated as speakers in the panel titled “Gulen Movement and Interfaith Dialogue.” The president of the panel was Professor Nelson Kiang from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Describing those who construct schools in Turkey as well as abroad with Gulen’s inspiration as “the heroes of education,” Professor Mehmet Saglam said, “I congratulate all of them. They really are busy doing something of the kind that has never been dreamt of before. I wish I was younger so that I could participate in what they are involved in.”. Azam Nizamuddin, a leading intellectual member of the American Muslim group, described the Gulen movement as a subject that has been removed from cultural as well as historical studies upto now. This is so, Nizamuddin thinks, partly because the notion of Islam has been treated in the academia as ‘some political ideology’ rather than as a set of religious as well as moral values. Another reason for this is, in Nizamuddin’s opinion, the difficulty of putting Gulen under a single heading: Gulen has characteristics that some Sufis have, and some do not. He is not a sheikh, for instance. Likewise, it is not possible to think of him as some typical Islamic scholar. Gulen does theological studies of world religions from the Islamic point of view, Nizamuddin thinks. “Here they are,” said Nizamuddin in response to the question of where the moderate Muslims are, which is a common concern of the American people.

Paul Parker said he views the notion of suffering as an integral part of inter-religious dialogue. The life that Gulen leads is a perfect example of the difficulty of inter-religious dialogue, stated Parker. Parker drew an analogy between Gulen and Martin Luther King, the American leader of civil society and an ecclesiastic, in terms of the hardships they both suffered. “Both of them paid the price of being good,” said Parker. “If this isn’t a gesture of solidarity with the world’s children, then what is it?” Parker asked in relation to the growing number of schools being opened for service in foreign nations.

Zeki Saritoprak said during his presentation, in which he referred to the bases of Interfaith Dialogue in the Quran and its place in Turk-Islam tradition, “Gulen accomplishes the message brought in early Islamic history.” Nelson Kiang noted that Gulen’s thoughts are practiced in the schools successfully. He also noted that he finds the science education in these schools “perfect” as a professor at MIT and there is no controversy between religion and science. Nelson noted that there is no ethnic or religious discrimination in Gulen’s schools and added: “The American educational system has a lot to learn from these schools.”