Two Frontrunners for Peace: John Paul II and Fethullah Gulen
by Thomas Michel S.J.
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Gülen is convinced that working for peace is demanded as the proper expression of an Islamic way of life. It is commanded by the Qur'an as the better way. It is the starting point of dialogue. It is the precondition for serving both society and humanity. As Gülen stated in 1995:
If we start our efforts for dialogue with the belief that “peace is better” (Al-Nisa' 4:128), then we must demonstrate that we are on the side of peace at home and abroad. Indeed, peace is of the utmost importance to Islam; fighting and war are only secondary occurrences which are bound to specific reasons and conditions. In that respect, we can say that if an environment of peace where all can live in peace and security cannot be achieved in this land, then it would be impossible for us to do any good service for society or for humanity.
It is interesting to compare Gülen's views on the role of forgiveness in peacemaking with the above-cited words of John Paul II. In 2002, the Pope stated that forgiveness implies a short-term loss aimed at a long-term gain, the repair of damaged human relations, whereas violence is an apparent short-term gain which entails a long-term loss. In a 1996 article, Gülen encouraged Muslims to dialogue and tolerance with very similar words, stating: “I would like to stress the fact that Muslims will lose nothing by employing dialogue, love, and tolerance. Muslims continuously seek the approval of God. This is the greatest gain of all. In that respect, things that may appear as losses to some people are seen as gains by Muslims which certain other events may actually be detrimental even when they appear to be lucrative.”
He goes so far to say that “Peace, love, forgiveness, and tolerance are fundamental to Islam. Other things are accidental.” Although according to specific circumstances, recourse to war might sometimes be justified, this “lesser jihad” of the sword is secondary to the essence of Islam, summed up in the terms “peace, love, forgiveness, tolerance.” Gülen accuses those who advocate war and violence of having been misled by a grossly literalist reading of the Qur'an. As a consequence, they misunderstand the nature of Islam. He states: “It is necessary to give priority to basic Muslim issues according to their degree of importance. Unfortunately, those who ignore the essence and do so without taking into consideration the reasons for secondary rules and regulations, those who (by reading the Qur'an in the manner of a crude kind of superficial literalism) emphasize violence - these people have not understood the rules, the reasons for them, nor their source, nor have they understood Islam.”
Ultimately, for Gülen, peace comes down to respecting the legitimate differences among peoples. Anything less means self-destruction. In a 2002 book, Gülen states: “The peace of this (global) village lies in respecting all these differences, considering these differences to be part of our nature and in ensuring that people appreciate these differences. Otherwise, it is unavoidable that the world will devour itself in a web of conflicts, disputes, fights, and the bloodiest of wars, thus preparing the way for its own end.”
We all have much to gain from the insights on peace offered by these two frontrunners. Their teachings go hand-in-hand and complement one another. In their thinking, we find evidence that Christians and Muslims have much to learn from one another and that, when their respective faiths are deeply reflected upon, can lead to truly surprising coincidences of thought.
This paper was presented by Thomas Michel S.J. at the “Frontrunners of Peace” symposia organized by the Cosmicus Foundation, Holland, at universities in Tilburg, Erasmus, and Amsterdam, March 16-18.
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