Love-And-Tolerance.Pdf

TOWARD A GLOBAL CIVILIZATION OF LOVE AND TOLERANCE TOWARD A GLOBAL CIVILIZATION OF LOVE AND TOLERANCE M. Fethullah Gülen New Jersey Copyright © 2009 by Tughra Books 12 11 10 09 5 6 7 8 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher. Published by Tughra Books 26 Worlds Fair Dr. Unit C Somerset, New Jersey, 08873, USA www.tughrabooks.com Translated by Mehmet Ünal, Nagihan Haliloðlu, Mükerrem Faniküçükmehmedoðlu, Mustafa Mencütekin, Hakan Yeþilova, Korkut Altay Library of Congress PCN 2004109325 ISBN 978-1-932099-68-3 Printed by Çaðlayan A.Þ., Izmir - Turkey TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ......................................................................................ix INTRODUCTION ............................................................................xiii ABOUT THE AUTHOR....................................................................xix LOVE AND MERCY Love ..................................................................................................1 Love for Humankind ........................................................................4 Humanism and Love of Humanity ....................................................8 Love of God ....................................................................................10 Appeal to Mercy ..............................................................................19 FORGIVENESS, TOLERANCE, AND DIALOGUE Forgiveness ......................................................................................27 Tolerance and Liberality ..................................................................31 Tolerance..........................................................................................33 Tolerance in the Life of the Individual and Society ..........................37 Making the Atmosphere of Tolerance Permanent ............................46 The Two Roses of the Emerald Hills: Tolerance and Dialogue ........50 Without Hands Against Those Who Strike You, Without Speech Against Those Who Curse You ........................................................54 Islam -A Religion of Tolerance ........................................................58 Islam As a Religion of Universal Mercy ..........................................63 Tolerance and Dialogue in the Qur’an and the Sunna ......................69 Dialogue in the Muhammadan Spirit and Meaning..........................71 Dialogue with the People of the Book..............................................74 Sports and the Process of Dialogue ..................................................77 vi Table of Contents THE IDEAL HUMAN The New Man and Woman..............................................................81 The Portrait of People of Heart........................................................84 The Ideal Believer, the Ideal Muslim ................................................88 Ideal Spirits and Heroes of Love......................................................91 What It Takes to Be a Believer ........................................................95 Spirits Devoted to God ..................................................................100 Today’s Devotees............................................................................105 Human Beings and Their Nature ..................................................112 The Inner Profundity of Humankind ............................................116 Humanity and Its Responsibilities..................................................122 An Ideal Society ............................................................................128 SUFISM AND METAPHYSICS The Meaning of Life ......................................................................133 Faith: A Particular Perspective ........................................................136 The Horizons of Faith....................................................................142 The Horizons of the Soul: Metaphysical Thought..........................148 Chaos and the Mystical World of Faith ..........................................152 The Horizons of Tranquility ..........................................................159 Sufism and Its Origins ..................................................................164 Sufism as a Lifestyle ......................................................................166 JIHAD – TERRORISM – HUMAN RIGHTS Human Rights in Islam..................................................................169 Lesser and Greater Jihad ................................................................171 Love, Tolerance, and Jihad in the Life of the Prophet ....................176 Real Muslims Cannot Be Terrorists ................................................179 On Recent Terrorist Attacks ..........................................................184 Table of Contents vii EDUCATION Educational Services Are Spreading Throughout the World ..........193 Education from Cradle to Grave ....................................................202 A Movement Originating Its Own Models ....................................210 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES Real Life and Real Humanity ........................................................217 A Comparative Approach to Islam and Democracy........................219 At the Threshold of a New Millennium..........................................225 As a New World Is Being Built ......................................................233 New World Order ..........................................................................251 Regarding the Information Age and the Clash of Civilizations ......254 “I Trust in the Beauty Found in the Make-Up of Humanity” ........258 Message Concerning the September 11th Terrorist Attacks ............261 INDEX ..............................................................................................263 FOREWORD he need for dialogue among people of faith has been underscored by the events of the past few years. Interreligious dialogue is seen T as an alternative to the much-discussed “clash of civilizations.” Those who do not subscribe to the theory that a civilizational clash is inevitable are proposing instead a dialogue of civilizations, an exchange of views aimed at mutual enrichment, a sharing of insights that can lead all to a deeper understanding of the nature of God and God’s will for humankind on this planet. That is what this book is about. It presents the thoughts of one of the most influential Muslim scholars and spiritual leaders in the Islamic world today. The movement inspired and guided by Fethullah Gülen is offering Muslims a way to live out Islamic values amidst the complex demands of modern societies. From its origins in Turkey, the movement has spread rapidly, through its schools in many countries, through its cul- tural and media activities, and through the social projects and dialogue encounters of Turks in diaspora in Europe, North America, and Australia, to the point that the influence of the Gülen movement is being felt in vir- tually all regions where Muslims live as majorities or minorities. This book has a double purpose. On the one hand, it is a call to Muslims to a greater awareness that Islam teaches the need for dialogue and that Muslims are called to be agents and witnesses to God’s universal mercy. Mr. Gülen calls upon his broad knowledge of the Islamic tradition by bringing together the Qur’anic Scripture, the hadith (the Prophet’s traditions) reports from Muhammad, and the insights of Muslims down through the ages, to build a convincing argument that tolerance, love, and compassion are genuinely Islamic values that Muslims have a duty to bring to the modern world. On the other hand, the book is an invitation to non-Muslims to move beyond prejudice, suspicion, and half-truths in order to arrive at an x Toward a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance understanding of what Islam is really about. Someone whose knowledge of Islam is limited to the headlines of the daily newspapers is likely to believe that the religion teaches terrorism, suicide attacks, oppression of women, and hatred for those outside its community. Who would ever want to be in dialogue with people who promote such actions? Who would ever want to live among people with such attitudes? However, through the writings of Fethullah Gülen, the reader of this book will see that a proper interpretation of Islamic teaching leads rather to truly spiritual values like forgiveness, inner peace, social harmony, hon- esty, and trust in God. In expressing these Islamic values, which are shared by many religious believers of various faiths, the author is not only call- ing Muslims to engage in dialogue, but is engaging the non-Muslim in a discussion of commonly held ideals. I can cite my own case as an example. I am a Catholic priest, an American living in Rome. I have known the members of the movement associated with Fethullah Gülen for more than a decade, and I can state that they are sincerely and impressively living the teachings of their spiritual guide. They respectfully call Mr. Gülen “Hoca Effendi,” which simply means “Teacher.” The lessons in this book, derived from the Qur’an and Islamic tradition, form and shape the attitudes by which these Muslims practice their Islamic commitment. In bringing together his writings which have appeared in a wide variety of journals and interviews, many of which have never

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