Much has already been published about the life, teaching and inheritance of Hodjaefendi Fethullah Gülen. It is likely that over the coming years much more will be written. Indeed, I have been among those who, as a scholar in the study of religion, have contributed to this literature. However, in this special issue of The Fountain, I want to take the opportunity to write a little more personally than usual, not only as a scholar, but also as an individual who seeks to live life dialogically and theologically with others in the Way of Jesus of Nazareth.

Over the years, I came to appreciate that in order better to understand Hodjaefendi Fethullah Gülen and his teaching, it was important also to encounter him, either directly or indirectly, as an embodied teacher and person of prayer. And I was fortunate enough to have had the privilege of meeting him in person on two occasions. Both took place at the Golden Generation Retreat Centre in Pennsylvania, USA. The first was in December 2017, during a stay connected with a research project on his teaching and practice, and the development of Hizmet in Europe, which eventually led to the publication of two books [1]. The second was in February 2023, when he was evidently already very frail, but at which I had the honour of being able personally to present him with a copy of these books.

On the first occasion, I had presented him with three small gifts, namely: some tea, brought with me from England, as a typical English drink (although, of course, originating in China); a book on the history of Regent’s Park College which, as a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford, had been founded to give opportunity to Baptist Christian believers who had been excluded from mainstream higher education; and finally, bearing in mind the experiences of many in Hizmet following the events in Turkey of July 2016 and the heavy burden that he so evidently felt concerning this, I felt moved to recite the Beatitudes of Jesus from the Christian New Testament (Gospel According to Matthew, chapter 5 v’s. 3–10):

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.

⁵ Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.

⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called children of God.

¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In relation to this recitation, I explained: “That’s my prayer as a person of faith” and that “I will do my best in my academic work in the service of truth” meek [2]. And, remarkably, just as I recited the Beatitudes, the Adhan was broadcast in the Centre and the two mingled in a few moments that have stayed with me ever since as among some of the most profoundly moving in my life.

Of the Beatitudes, Mustafa Özcan later explained that Hodjaefendi had asked for a Turkish translation, and after he heard the meaning he had said that, in these words Jesus (peace be upon him) had been referring not only to such people of his time but also to those who will come in the future [3]. Also in relation to this episode, Muhammed Çetin (whose doctoral research on Hizmet I was privileged to supervise) explained that, although in something that he was planning to write at the time, Hodjaefendi had originally been going to draw on the Sufi masters to write about how the negativities of modern human beings might be addressed, having been inspired by the Beatitudes, he thought that he should perhaps in that particular writing switch to focusing on the history of the Prophets (peace be upon them all) and what they taught about how to overcome human weaknesses [4].

The second time I was able to meet Hodjaefendi Fethullah Gülen was in February 2023, when he was already very frail. But I was nevertheless privileged to be able to present copies of my books to him, in relation to which Hakan Yeşilova vouchsafed that, on receiving them, Hodjaefendi had responded in Turkish, “Başımın üstüne alırım”, which, as typical of his gracious humility, meant that he had accepted them with both pleasure but also a sense of responsibility.

Therefore, since Hodjaefendi was kind enough in that way to honour my attempts to articulate something of his person and teaching, I will be bold enough to close this personal appreciation with words of my own from the final paragraph of one of these books, namely that: “…in the final analysis, the creative inheritance of Gülen will not be found so much in the substantive body of his inherited teaching, pregnant though that remains with matters that will remain important into the future; the veneration of his person and/or practice, inevitable as that is likely to be, given the inspiration that he has brought to so many lives; or the copy-pasting of historical Hizmet initiatives, as valid and important as they have been for their contexts and times, but rather is that of a dynamic methodological call to continuously renewed and contextualised engagement with religious and spiritual sources centred on love and the human” [5].

Notes

1. P. Weller (2022),Fethullah Gülen’s Teaching and Practice: Inheritance, Context, and Interactive Development | SpringerLink and P. Weller (2022), Hizmet in Transitions: European Developments of a Turkish Muslim-Inspired Movement | SpringerLink
2. P. Weller (2022), Fethullah Gülen’s Teaching and Practice, p. 75.
3. For originally cited wording see P. Weller (2022), Fethullah Gülen’s Teaching and Practice, p. 103-4.
4. For originally cited wording see P. Weller (2022), Fethullah Gülen’s Teaching and Practice, p. 104.
5. P. Weller (2022), Fethullah Gülen’s Teaching and Practice, p. 243.