Fethullah Gülen Sohbetleri · Yavuz Turan

Hizmetin Evrenselligi Ve Gonullulerinin Ortak Paydasi - Bamteli - 10.11.2014

·38 min·3 clips

How has a service movement from Anatolia gained global followers who vow never to abandon it, even if they leave?

1. Fethullah Gülen addresses Hizmet movement volunteers in a November 2014 Bamteli talk titled 'The Universality of Service and the Common Ground of Volunteers.' 2. Gülen speaks as the movement's spiritual leader, referring to 'our friends' serving across the world; no other named guests are present in the transcript. 3. The episode's central thesis is that the global reach of the Hizmet movement is divinely ordained, and that opposition to it is a recurring historical pattern that ultimately strengthens rather than destroys service-oriented movements. 4. Gülen states that the movement has operated in more than 160 countries, and that in nearly all of them volunteers have been accepted with little or no hostility. 5. He cites a hadith in which God instructs Gabriel to love a specific person, and Gabriel then announces that love to all of heaven, which Gülen applies to the movement's volunteers as an explanation for their reception worldwide. 6. The speaker lists a broad range of potential contacts — Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Brahmins, Shintoists, atheist intellectuals — and argues that respect for universal human values provides common ground with all of them. 7. Gülen introduces the metaphor of distance: if you stay 1 km away from others, they stay 1 km away, creating a 2 km gap; if volunteers close that gap through sacrifice and gentleness, others perceive it and the distance shrinks. 8. He draws a direct historical analogy between the Hizmet volunteers and the companions of the Prophet who participated in the Battle of Badr and Battle of Uhud, noting that the original Muslim community numbered only a few hundred against thousands of opponents. 9. Gülen describes the Khandaq (Hendek) siege in detail: 3,000 Muslims defending Medina against a coalition of polytheists and the Banu Qurayza from behind, while the Prophet struck a rock and prophesied the fall of the Roman and Persian empires. 10. He says the companions — including figures such as Mus'ab ibn Umayr, Abdullah ibn Jahsh, and those martyred at Uhud — trusted these prophecies without knowing when they would be fulfilled, modeling the patience he asks of current volunteers. 11. Gülen argues that those who try to 'finish off' the movement are unknowingly strengthening its members spiritually, increasing their metaphysical tension and resolve, like cooling water thrown on someone sunbathing. 12. He explicitly says volunteers should thank their persecutors for this spiritual service. 13. Gülen frames the volunteers' departure from Turkey as a voluntary migration analogous to the companions' hijra from Mecca to Medina — not a flight but a purposeful step toward establishing something important. 14. He cites the example of movement friends in Africa who meet with presidents and prime ministers and who say they will not abandon the service regardless of what happens in Turkey. 15. The speaker discusses the danger of pride (arrogance) at the movement's successes, citing the Naqshbandi saint Pir-i Mughal, and says the correct attitude is to attribute achievements to God's greatness rather than to one's own capability. 16. He uses the analogy of atoms and electrons creating the vast physical universe as evidence that God routinely does great things through small instruments — applying this to the movement's volunteers. 17. Gülen cites a hadith attributed to the Prophet stating 'God supports this religion even with the hand of a sinful person,' to argue that the movement's success does not depend on the perfection of its members. 18. The tone throughout is calm, reflective, and homiletic — a senior religious teacher speaking to devoted followers with frequent Quranic and hadith references, long historical digressions, and rhetorical repetition for emphasis. 19. Devoted followers of the Hizmet movement, those studying Islamic volunteer movements, and listeners interested in how religious communities frame persecution will find the most value here. 20. Listeners who are not interested in Islamic theology, Sufism, or the Gülen movement's theological self-understanding will find the content opaque.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Fethullah Gülen Sohbetleri