In Western countries where Muslims are a minority, the Hizmet movement's openness to dialogue and coexistence attracted attention and was appreciated… - Fethullah Gülen

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In Western countries where Muslims are a minority, the Hizmet movement's openness to dialogue and coexistence attracted attention and was appreciated. While the service participants were striving to properly represent Islam in the West, they also set a good example by integrating aspects of modernity that did not conflict with Islam. They played a role in breaking negative opinions about Muslims in the West. However, it cannot be said that this can be fully explained in Muslim-majority countries. Dialogue activities in Turkey in the 90s were evaluated as diluting and compromising Islam, and smear campaigns were carried out. Recently, the Erdogan government has tried to discredit the Service in the eyes of the public by presenting it as a pawn of foreign powers, the Vatican, the CIA and MOSSAD. Some groups affiliated with them have also made this propaganda in Muslim-populated countries outside Turkey and continue to do so. That's why we cannot say that we can express ourselves properly in countries with Muslim populations.

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About Fethullah Gülen

(27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish preacher, former imam, writer and political figure.

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Muhammad Fethullah Gülen Fetullah Gülen Gülen beweging Gülen-beweging Fetullah Gulen Gulen beweging Fethullah Gulen Gulen-beweging Muhammed Fethullah Gülen

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Additional quotes by Fethullah Gülen

Even as the world grapples with COVID-19, the yearly rituals of Ramadan will continue. Throughout the holy month, most of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims will fast between dawn and sunset, spend time in Quranic recitation, self-reflection and prayer in an effort to become closer to God, and give thanks for our blessings. But this year, the prescribed exceptions from fasting for young children, travelers, pregnant mothers and anyone who is sick will now be extended to those feeling symptoms of COVID-19.

Despite my unequivocal protest, similar to statements issued by all three of the major opposition parties, Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, immediately accused me of orchestrating the putsch. He demanded that the United States extradite me from my home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania where I have lived in voluntary exile since 1999.

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It is deeply disappointing to see what has become of Turkey in the last few years. Not long ago, it was the envy of Muslim-majority countries: a viable candidate for the European Union on its path to becoming a functioning democracy that upholds universal human rights, gender equality, the rule of law and the rights of Kurdish and non-Muslim citizens. This historic opportunity now appears to have been squandered as Turkey’s ruling party, known as the A.K.P., reverses that progress and clamps down on civil society, media, the judiciary and free enterprise.

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