Apart from looking forward to see paradise (which, of course is not a serious expectation) my wish is that our journey will take us to fresh waters of Green Democracy, that is: to people that are likewise pious Muslims and modern citizens of this world. Our tour is guided by people of the Gülen-movement and the hosts that will open their houses for us will be part of that movement. They are believers inspired by the philosopher Fethullah Gülen. In 2008 the readers of the US-Magazine Foreign Policy put Gülen as Number 1 among 100 world’s top public intellectuals.
Gülen is 68 years old and lives in Pennsylvania/USA. Gülen's inspiration is leading my friend Nureddin Öztaş, our tour organizer, into a life as a devout Muslim with regular prayers and a deep awareness that his life is filled with God’s presence. To fill more and more of the world with that presence Gülen teaches first of all one thing: education. Muslims should, according to him study a lot and so get to the front of modern science. Since God is the creator there is no taboo in research. It will always lead into finding God’s traces anywhere.
Gülen-schools are opening in many countries around the world. A homework-support for schoolchildren was what my friend Nureddin started with. He is now about to open a complete regular school in a town near Cologne/Germany.
Gülen teaches that obedience to Islamic rules does not contradict life in a modern society. He encourages Muslims to meet Christians, Jews and people of other religions and to learn from them. Nureddin’s and my friendship is on his side deeply rooted in the optimism that Nureddin is getting from Gülen. Without him we would not be on this journey to East Anatolia together. Nureddin obviously likes me not although I am a devout evangelical Christian but because.
My expectation is to find conservative Muslims with an open heart for a modern life in the framework of an open society. Words like liberal or western or democratic are over-used but they nevertheless still give an idea of what people all over the world are searching for. If they combine their search with a deeper desire for spiritual foundation it should not necessarily lead to contradictions.
There has been a long period of secular government in Turkey. People have thought that faith would rather hinder the development of a western kind of democracy. Today the ruling AKP is more open to religious influence and has tried to prove the secularist point of view untrue by installing democratic reforms. The Kurds are treated as an acknowledged minority for the first time in Turkish history, the Armenians are welcomed in again (a treaty to open up borders again was signed last Saturday, see photo above) the demands of the European Union for better civil rights have been accepted not as a burdensome requirement for economic cooperation but as a chance for renewal.
There is a lot of modern Muslim democratic reform on the way. My hope is to find it proved also in Eastern Anatolia.
Through Twitter and Facebook I have been in contact with Muslims worldwide that also strive to reconcile faith and life in a world with almost no borders. I greet Adel in Bushere / Iran, Ashfaq in Mauritius, Ahmad (an Egyptian) in Abu Dhabi / Dubai. I also greet Bijan, a Bahai-Persian in Mecklenburg / Germany, David, a Jew in Tel Aviv, Joshua a Texan in California (and a conservative with a heart for immigrants) and, of course Erkan in Istanbul who encouraged my blogging a lot.
I am honored to be mentioned in one of your blogposts sir.
ReplyDeleteI go along your line of thought, i sat minutes on my bed watching the TV that night, thinking finally, we are at the end of the tunnel.
2 news on 1 night. That was One night that should be remembered in history.
That night, the turkey and armenia treaty was announced for the first time on world news and to add to that, the Iranian government agreed to let UN to check its nuclear facilities thus going in the paths for peace.
Not to forget the Barack obama nobel prize was announced the same day. atleast in the hours later.
I just hope that these efforts will not go to waste, and as little as we can, each of us help to change the perspective of others towards peace and a better world where everyone accepts the diversity of others and also that the children of tomorrow remember of war as an uncivilized way of treating with others.
Wish you nice holidays in turkey christian:)
Enjoy yourself.
sincerely yours,
Ashfaq From Mauritius
Dear God-Father,
ReplyDeleteI truly admire your blogging efforts and applaud your style, which, even if english is not your mother tongue still shines through. Hope your expectations are met and you won't see paradise that soon...:-)
Greetings from Metzingen,
B.