Fethullah Gulen dan perjuangan pendidikan

Fethullah Gulen dan gerakan ‘Hizmet’ nya sangat menitikberatkan aspek pendidikan-keilmuan dan hal-hal keintelektualan.Bahkan Elisabeth Ozdalga dalam Redeemer or Outsider?:The Gulen Community in the Civilizing Process menggambarkan gerakan ini ‘more intellectual in their religious practices than other Islamic communities in Turkey’.Selain itu juga Elisabeth Ozdalga mengungkapkan seperti berikut:’’Reading,individually or in groups is characteristic of the Gulen community’’.

Fethullah Gulen menjadi tulang belakang dan pencetus idea bagi pembinaan sekolah-sekolah,universiti dan institusi pendidikan milik gerakan ‘’Hizmet’’di seluruh dunia.Beliau memiliki keyakinan penuh tentang kepentingan ilmu dalam usaha pembinaan dunia yang lebih baik dan sebagai satu khidmat kemanusiaan. Sekolah-sekolah yang didirikan oleh pengikut Fethullah Gulen di seluruh dunia secara umumnya merupakan sekolah yang lengkap dengan pelbagai kemudahan yang canggih dan menggabungkan sains moden dengan etika dan spiritual. Ramai pelajar di sekolah-sekolah ini yang berjaya dengan cemerlang dan memenangi pertandingan Sains dan Matematik juga siri pertandingan Olympiads di peringkat antarabangsa. Zeki Saritoprak pernah mengulas pengaruh Fethullah Gulen seperti berikut:- ‘’His influence comes not only from his charismatic religious personality but also from the many different educational and social institutions that have been established by his many admirers,who take his advice and recommendations very seriously’’ Sekolah,universiti dan institusi pendidikan yang didirikan oleh pengikut Fethullah Gulen ini tidaklah terhad semata-mata di Turki bahkan ia didirikan di serata dunia.

Zeki Saritoprak dan Sidney Griffith dalam tulisan mereka,’Fethullah Gulen and the ‘’people of the book’:A voice from Turkey for Interfaith Dialogue’ memetik kata-kata Fethullah Gulen seperti berikut:- ‘’Our ongoing activities are for the good of all humanity.They should not be considered limited to our own country,Turkey’’ Kupasan Zeki Saritoprak dalam tulisannya,’’An Islamic Approach to Peace and Nonviolence:A Turkish Experience ‘’ ini turut menarik untuk direnungi bersama:- ‘’For the peaceful world of the future,Gulen encourages his admirers to establish educational institutions in and outside of Turkey.He gives special importance to the areas where ethnic and religious conflicts are escalating,such as Albania,Kosovo,Macedonia,the Philippines,Banda Aceh,Northern Iraq and Southeastern Turkey.The schools have played remarkable roles in decreasing levels of conflict in these areas.While visiting Macedonia in summer 2004,I had a chance to visit one of these schools,established by Turkish businessmen who are great admirers of Gulen.I was told that during the conflict between Albanians and Serbs,both sides would bring their children to the school as a haven of peace in order to deter their involvement in such a conflict.These schools serve children from all backgrounds,regardless of their religious and ethnic differences.’’ Lester R.Kurtz dalam tulisannya ‘Gulen’s paradox:Combining commitment and tolerance’ pula memetik komen yang dinyatakan oleh Dr Thomas Michel(General Secretary of the Vatican Secretariat for Interreligious Dialogue)ketika mengadakan lawatan ke sekolah milik ‘Hizmet’ di Selatan Filipina Pulau Mindanao: ‘’In a region where kidnapping is a frequent occurrence,along with guerrilla warfare,summary raids,arrests,disappearances,and killings by military and para-military forces,the school is offering Muslim and Christian Filipino children,along with an educational standard of high quality,a more positive way of living and relating to each other’’ Manakala Thomas Michel,S.J. dalam tulisannya ‘Sufism and modernity in the thought of Fethullah Gulen ‘ mengambil ulasan Elizabeth Ozdalga terhadap sekolah yang didirikan oleh pengikut Fethullah Gulen seperti berikut:- ‘’the main objective (of the education provided in these schools) is to give the students a good education,without prompting any specific ideological orientation.One basic idea of Gulen’s followers is that ethical values are not transmitted openly through persuasion and lessons but through providing good examples in daily conduct’ Lester R.Kurtz dalam tulisannya ‘Gulen’s paradox:Combining commitment and tolerance’ pula menyatakan:- ‘The purpose of the schools’ movement,therefore is to lay the foundations for a more humane,tolerant citizenry of the world where people are expected to cultivate their own faith perspectives and also promote the well being of others’ Kemampuan gerakan ‘Hizmet’ pimpinan Fethullah Gulen dalam mendirikan sekolah,universiti dan institusi pendidikan di seluruh dunia banyak dibantu oleh komitmen dan keikhlasan menyeluruh pendokongnya dalam ‘infaq’-sedeqah dan waqaf tanpa bergantung kepada bantuan kerajaan bahkan lebih kepada permuafakatan masyarakat madani-rakyat keseluruhannya.