Fethullah Gülen

Also known as Muhammad Fethullah Gülen

Turkish preacher and imam (1941–2024)

AI overview

Fethullah Gülen was a Turkish Islamic preacher and imam who founded a worldwide network of schools and charitable organizations known for promoting Islamic education and interfaith dialogue. His movement became influential across multiple continents but also controversial in Turkey, particularly after being blamed by the Turkish government for a failed 2016 coup attempt—a charge Gülen and his supporters denied.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works: 46

Top works

Yitirilmis cennete dogru
Salah
Messeger de Dieu Mohammed
Calling to Good
Closer to the Truth

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Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Origin: Pennsylvania
Active from: 1941-04-27

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Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 21
Total plays: 323

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Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

Digital Supply Chain: Literature review and a proposed framework for future research
· 2018 · cited 953x
Synthesis of Large‐Area Graphene Layers on Poly‐Nickel Substrate by Chemical Vapor Deposition: Wrinkle Formation
· 2009 · cited 826x
Asymmetric Supercapacitors Based on Graphene/MnO<sub>2</sub> Nanospheres and Graphene/MoO<sub>3</sub> Nanosheets with High Energy Density
· 2013 · cited 689x
Diffusion Mechanism of Lithium Ion through Basal Plane of Layered Graphene
· 2012 · cited 394x
Influence of Copper Morphology in Forming Nucleation Seeds for Graphene Growth
· 2011 · cited 382x

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Quotes

“I would like to stress that any terrorist activity, no matter who does it and for what purpose, is the greatest blow to peace, democracy, humanity, and all religious values. For this reason, no one—and certainly no Muslims – can approve of any terrorist activity.”
“The Qur’an declares that one who takes a life unjustly has, in effect, taken the lives of humanity as a whole, and that one who saves a life has, in effect, saved the lives of humanity as a whole.”
“I strongly condemn this latest terrorist attack on the United States. It only deserves condemnation and contempt, and it must be condemned by every person in the world. I believe that before America’s leaders and people respond to this heinous assault, I would like to express that they surely understand why such a terrible event occurred and how similar tragedies can be avoided in the future.”
“They try to portray us as a pro-Israeli movement, in the sense that we have a higher regard for them than our nation. We are accepting them as a people, as part of the people of the world.”
“If I were to say anything to people I may say people should vote for those who are respectful to democracy, rule of law, who get on well with people. Telling or encouraging people to vote for a party would be an insult to peoples' intellect. Everybody very clearly sees what is going on.”
“Turkey’s current leaders seem to claim an absolute mandate by virtue of winning elections. But victory doesn’t grant them permission to ignore the Constitution or suppress dissent, especially when election victories are built on crony capitalism and media subservience. The A.K.P.’s leaders now depict every democratic criticism of them as an attack on the state. By viewing every critical voice as an enemy — or worse, a traitor — they are leading the country toward totalitarianism.”

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Wikidata facts

Official website: fgulen.com
Image: Fetullahgulen.png

Show 6 more facts

date of birth: 1941-04-27
Commons category: Fethullah Gülen
birth name: Muhammed Fethullah Gülen
name in native language: Fethullah Gülen
date of death: 2024-10-20
date of burial or cremation: 2024-10-24

Sources (11)

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~40 min read

Article

Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement, which as of 2010 had 8-10 million of followers globally and had established a network of over 2,000 STEM focused schools in more than 150 countries. Gülen was an influential neo-Ottomanist, Anatolian panethnicist, Islamic poet, writer, social critic, and activist–dissident developing a Nursian theological perspective that embraces democratic modernity. Gülen was a local state imam from 1959 to 1981 and he was a citizen of Turkey until his denaturalization by the Turkish government in 2017. Over the years, Gülen became a centrist political figure in Turkey prior to his being there as a fugitive. From 21 March 1999 until his death on 20 October 2024, Gülen lived in self-exile in the United States near Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. Gülen's body was buried inside the Chestnut Retreat Center in Pennsylvania, where he had been residing for the last 25 years. 15,000 attended his funeral in a stadium in New Jersey.

Gülen said his social criticisms are focused upon individuals' faith and morality and a lesser extent toward political ends, and self described as rejecting an Islamist political philosophy, advocating instead for full participation within professions, society, and political life by religious and secular individuals who profess high moral or ethical principles and who wholly support secular rule, within Muslim-majority countries and elsewhere. Gülen was described in the English-language media as an imam "who promoted a tolerant Islam which emphasises altruism, hard work, and education" and as "one of the world's most important Muslim figures". He encouraged his followers to establish secular schools, charities, interest-free banks, and organizations across all areas of society. In 2016, when Erdoğan government began openly targeting the movement, they seized assets worth over $12 billion, including 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities and foundations, 19 trade unions, 15 universities, and 35 medical institutions linked to the movement. Total number of schools opened by Gulen followers globally exceeded 2000 by the same year.