Fethullah Gülen Sohbetleri · Yavuz Turan

Hicret Ve Cihad I Ekber - Bamteli - 14.01.2019

·40 min·3 clips

Fethullah Gülen explains why the Prophet called the internal fight against one's own ego the 'greater jihad'.

1. Fethullah Gülen delivers a January 2019 Bamteli lecture on forced migration (Hijra) and the greater inner struggle known as Jihad al-Akbar. 2. Gülen speaks as the sole host of this sohbet (spiritual conversation) format, addressing a community of followers who have migrated from Turkey to other countries. 3. The episode's core thesis is that the most important battlefield is not external war but the daily internal struggle against the ego, worldly desires, and the devil's subtle influences. 4. Gülen opens by citing Quranic verses on migration—specifically phrases about those 'who have migrated and striven for God'—arguing these apply directly to the movement's displaced members. 5. He distinguishes Jihad al-Asghar (the lesser, physical jihad) from Jihad al-Akbar (the greater, inner jihad), citing the hadith in which the Prophet said upon returning from battle: 'We return from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad.' 6. Gülen explains that even the Companions of the Prophet may have had subtle traces of ego contamination in their neurons and hippocampus after combat, which required the deeper cleansing of Jihad al-Akbar. 7. The inner struggle is enumerated as: ego, carnal desires, the devil's daily signs, the lure of public praise and salary, worldly beauty, and the delusion of permanence in this life. 8. Gülen warns that a person encounters ego traps daily—a position offered, applause received, a salary increase—and that awareness of these moments is a constant requirement. 9. He recounts the story of Abdurrahman bin Auf, who gave 500 loaded camels in a single act of charity yet was seen being 'dragged into paradise' because of his wealth, prompting him to give everything away on the path of God. 10. Gülen argues that education is the only reasonable solution to three global problems: lack of faith (exacerbated by radicalism and deism), conflict between peoples, and ignorance. 11. He describes the movement's schools—1,400 institutions across 170+ countries—as built by volunteers who arrived with no money and no geographic knowledge of their destinations, relying only on character and divine support. 12. These volunteers are described as having traveled without knowing where their planes were landing, trusting God rather than advance preparation, and finding doors opened 'like the doors of a castle.' 13. Gülen cites the hadith of the Prophet that 'my name will go wherever the sun rises and sets,' from penguin habitats in the south to the Arctic north, as the guiding promise behind the movement's global reach. 14. He references the Quran's Surah An-Nahl to promise that those who emigrated after being oppressed will receive 'beauty in the world and a greater reward in the Hereafter.' 15. The lecture includes a personal anecdote: at age 17-18, Gülen was offered an official imam salary but refused it on jurisprudential grounds, giving the money to a poor family, and later had the salary cancelled to spare him the legal complication. 16. He invokes the Tabi'in-era scholar Muhasibi as a model of rigorous self-accounting, noting that contemporary theologians avoid Muhasibi's books because his standard is too demanding to call oneself Muslim alongside. 17. Gülen references historical Turkish traumas—May 27 coup, March 12 intervention, September 12 coup—as suffering that now feels distant, predicting today's trials will similarly become a topic of detached historical conversation. 18. The lecture's tone is solemn and hortatory, with rhetorical questions, Quranic quotations, and cadenced repetition; it is structured as a spiritual pep-talk for an exiled community rather than a doctrinal argument. 19. Listeners who are interested in Islamic spirituality, the theology of inner jihad, or the Gülen movement's self-understanding will find this episode substantive. 20. Those seeking factual journalism, debate, or discussion of opposing viewpoints on the Gülen movement will not find that here.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Fethullah Gülen Sohbetleri