GÜLEN AND POLITICS 1
In recent months, the
well known scholar and preacher Fethullah Gülen has become a target for
criticism from certain Turkish political figures. In this article, I will
attempt to explain Gülen’s position as regards
political issues and how he has become a political instrument for the current
government.
Historically, people
with Islamic concerns have chosen different ways to survive (or struggle) with
the secularist reforms of Kemalist Turkey. The early reforms laid down legislation
that outlawed all Sufi orders and their activities (tariqas), and abolished most other religious organizations and
committees, as well as denying access to or dismantling religious sites such as
graveyards of the saints and Companions.
Under this strict
ban, one set of religious groups either continued their activities in secret (the
Qadiris, Naqshbandis and Mawlawis); a second set abolished their services (this
included most of the Zaviyas and some
other social centres such as food houses or asevleri).
Other scholars chose to
take part in politics or the bureaucracy and to serve society as civil servants,
mostly as heads of the newly established Diyanet institution (Religious Affairs).
A fourth set of
scholars decided to stay away from the political sphere and bureaucracy and
worked within society. Said Nursi,
for instance, deliberately kept himself at a distance from politics and
concentrated on writing and educating within the fields of Islamic theology and
philosophy. Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan concentrated his efforts on teaching the Qur’an
to the next generation. Both scholars managed to establish slow and steady
community support for their causes and this transformed their communities into
movements which later contributed to the development of Turkish society.
Gülen and Politics
Fethullah Gülen belongs to the same tradition as Nursi and Tunahan.
Gülen encouraged his listeners to
undertake responsibility for three major needs within society, namely, the need
for education, the need for dialogue and the need to give in charity. His choice to remain detached
from active political life does not, however, mean that Gülen has ever been
apolitical or anti-political. He has, in fact, always valued the right to vote
as a citizen and encouraged people to take responsibility in elections by
fulfilling their duty as citizens. He has also encouraged his listeners to use
their rights as citizens and to take part in all sectors of life and society,
be it public or private. One could therefore safely say that he is an
individual who supports the political process as a duty of citizenship. What he
has avoided himself and counselled those engaged in civil society projects to
avoid is partisan politics.
Democracy
Gülen’s position can
be summarized as open support for democracy, as well as advocating a liberal
secularism where people are free to exercise their religious or non-religious
activities. He has consistently maintained an “equal distance from all
political parties”, ensuring he was in conversation with all in an effort to
serve society by always striving to gather support for the Hizmet movement’s education
projects both in Turkey and abroad.
In 1995, when Gülen
stated that “democracy is an inherent value of our culture”, political Islamists
challenged and criticized him. For instance, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as a young
politician and a representative of political Islamism, explained at that time
how he saw democracies (and elections) as mere vehicles to assume power. In
contrast to Gülen’s view of democracy as a modern reflection of a value with
deep cultural roots, Erdoğan stated publicly that one should know where to get
off the democracy train after reaching the desired “destination”.
The only time that Gülen
has made a specific political appeal was when he called on his listeners to vote
for greater freedoms in the referendum on reforming some articles in the
constitution. The current constitution still reflects the fact that it was
prepared by a military regime in 1982, and there have been many amendments
during the long and slow process of the democratization of Turkey. Moreover, as
it provides guidance for the further democratization of the country, Gülen is
also in favour of Turkey’s European Union membership process.
Secularism
Gülen is in favour of
secularism if it is defined as the religious freedom of the individual rather
than state-controlled religion, the latter being the case in Turkey at present.
He is confident that Islam can flourish comfortably in a free environment where
no religion is favoured or oppressed. This form of secularism can be observed
in the educational practice of Hizmet schools in Turkey and abroad.
Politics
To reiterate, Gülen is
not against politics, nor a political system; however, he consciously refrains from
involving himself in active politics where one seeks public support by
elections to influence political life. Instead, Gülen prefers to concentrate on
social projects within civil society and encourages voluntary public support
for projects around education, dialogue and charity.
Political influence
Not being party-political is one thing, having
political influence is another. As a public intellectual, Islamic scholar and
philanthropist Gülen certainly has credibility and spiritual influence among
the masses, giving him some incidental political influence. Gülen’s call for
Muslims to take part in every sphere of life and his encouragement of the
development of educational activities not only resulted in the establishment of
the Hizmet Movement, but has also influenced and changed other religious movements
and their modes of working. A prominent example of this is in Erdoğan’s apparent
shifting of his political stance from Necmeddin Erbakan’s political Islamism (the
views typical of the Milli Görüs
movement) towards that of a Muslim-democrat in 2002, the latter stance being
more in line with Gülen than Erbakan.
Gülen’s followers are undeniably amongst the
most educated religious community in Turkey. The majority of Gülen’s followers
are university graduates with a very high number of them also holding post-graduate
qualifications, and there are many of them who are professionals in various
sectors, such as business, media, health, education, engineering and academia. The
current Prime Minister, Erdoğan, is well aware of Gülen’s influence, and has,
through the media, called upon Gülen to motivate his followers to support the government
on several issues, including the Kurdish peace talks and the latest referendum.
Some degree of political influence can be rightly
attributed to Gülen; however, with the March 29 local elections, it became
evident that although the movement is still strong enough to survive and motivate
participants, its political influence is limited.
Erdoğan now seems to have realised that the
Hizmet movement, as a loose network of people with limited political influence,
and Gülen, as a ‘silent opponent’, can be very useful as a political tool he
can exploit to avoid corruption allegations and implement his own agenda in the
“New Turkey”. He has increased the stridency of his tone and his efforts in
such a way that they seem to target the Hizmet movement but his actual aim is
clearly to redefine the future of Turkish democracy on his own terms. In this
process, he is dividing conservative Muslim society in Turkey into two camps that
he sees as “for us” and “against us”.
In my next article, I shall look further at how
Gülen and Hizmet became a political tool for Erdoğan to frighten the voters and
make it possible to legislate some of the most authoritarian laws in Turkey in
recent months and the dangers of these events.
