n his recent book, “Beginnings and Endings -- Fethullah Gülen’s Vision for Today’s World,” Professor Walter Wagner shares his insights about Gülen’s take on Islamic eschatology and the challenges of the contemporary word. According to the Wagner, the world is faced with a leadership crisis whose resolution could fulfill the prophetic message of love to human beings. In the last century, the world suffered under authoritarian leaders who were unable to meet the needs of the people.
Wagner says: “There was a Hitler, there was a Stalin, and there was an Osama bin Laden. We must be very careful and we must examine the heart. In Gülen’s case, the key is love. If the charismatic leader does not lead you to love, does not lead you to acceptance, you should be careful. We live in a world where people are hungry for leadership and, in this country, hungry for leadership and the end of stalemates. We need to say we need leadership. Some of that will be God-given, but also cultivated. [It is] cultivated in the mosques, in the schools, in the churches and synagogues, and it means not fearing the other person. That’s key. Gülen is not afraid.”
Today’s Zaman interviewed Wagner about his recent book and his insights about Fethullah Gülen.
How did the idea to write a book about Mr. Gülen arise?
I have a number of students at the Arabian Theological Seminary at Bethlehem. I also teach at the Lutheran Centre. I am a Christian, I’m a Lutheran-style Protestant Christian and I have a number of Turkish Muslim students who are members of Hizmet, are inspired by Hocaefendi Fethullah Gülen. I also had the honor -- I don’t know if that’s right [to say that I had dinner with Mr. Gülen] -- to even have dinner, once, with him and with several others and I was very impressed by the spirituality and the depth of the man. He does have an atmosphere about him, [a] very gentle atmosphere, but yet deep. This became quite clear. And along with that, I became interested in him. [My] book on the Quran [“Opening the Qu’ran: Introducing Islam’s Holy Book”] was written before I had any contact with Hizmetor before I had contact with any Turkish community. I had been to Turkey once on a tour as a result of iftar dinners. There was a conference at Temple University, in Philadelphia, at that conference someone asked me if I’d like to present a paper. Academic 15 minutes of fame; actually it was squished down to 12 minutes since I was the last one and told, “Hurry up, because there’s another use for this room.” It was a conference on Fethullah Gülen and his views and influence on peace, environment and the Creation. I began to think, “How could I do something?” It occurred to me that the heart of his theology and his spirituality and of the movement is in the creation of the world, the creation of human beings and the destiny of human beings and the afterlife with, “What do you do in between?” Your beginning and resurrection. It seems to me, reading him and the reading of Said Nursi, that that was the key to his thought, but in looking at the literature and in looking at what others have said, they spoke more of him and of Nursi and of Hizmet as social movements, of changing the society, dealing with curriculum and so on. And I thought, you have to see the larger picture of where this life begin, what it is all about and where it’s going and then -- also it was part of the study of the Quran that I had these materials -- it became helpful to, then, look at that and to be helped by the students.
Eschatology-related issues at center
So, you primarily focused on his vision and thoughts about the beginning of the worlds and his vision about eschatology. This is why eschatology-related issues are very central in your book. Is that correct?
Yes, especially about before the absolute end. There are two ways of looking at end, one is cut off, another one is fulfillment -- this is also Biblical, both are in the Bible, both are in Christianity and in Judaism -- and he looks for the fulfillment of this world with a role of Jesus/Isa, peace be upon him. … You don’t have to run directly to chopping off the world. … God gives us the opportunities to fulfill God’s plan in this world now. That’s one of the ideas to fight ignorance, poverty and division. It fits with the plan of Hizmet.
Is there anything you’d like to share with us about your impressions from when you talked to him?
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