About Peace Islands Institute

(Video Duration: 7 mins. 35 secs.)

"Accept everyone who they are"
"Have a chair for everyone in our heart"

"Open your heart so wide like the ocean,
Become inspired with faith and love for others,
Offer a hand to those in trouble and be concerned about everyone."

These virtue quotes are from the Honorable Fethullah Gulen, Peace Islands Institute's source of inspiration and Honorary President, the recipient of the EastWest Institute 2011 Peace Award, 2008 Forbes Magazine's Top Intellectual, writer of over 60 books, and inspiration for millions of people from different walks of life.

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Abant Platform's contributions to societal wellbeing

Video Duration: (9 mins. 49 secs.)

The Abant Platform was established on the premise that dogmatic biases dominant for a long time in Turkish political life are foremost permanent obstacles hindering democratic development. If the irrevocable basic principle of democracy is “differences being in dialogue,” then the strengthening of democracy with the realization of dialogue is the reality that defines the Abant Platform.

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There is so much to write about the Hizmet Movement

(Video Duration: 3 mins. 41 secs.)

Karen Fontenot, Ph.D.

Dr. Karen Fontenot* speaking at the dinner reception of the conference Mapping the Gülen Movement: A Multidimensional Approach in Amsterdam, October 7, 2010:

“This was one of the most informative and provocative and useful conferences on the issue I have been to up to date. I’ve been involved in the movement since 2005, and I’m fortunate to live with my coauthor, my husband Dr. Michael Fontenot, and we were asked to present a paper at that conference in 2005 at Rice University. After we were finished, I told Mike: ‘This was such an interesting topic, it’s a shame there is nothing more to write about.’ Well five years ago, we were just finding out we just hit the surface.

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Fethullah Gulen and the Concept of Ikhlas [Pure Love for God, Fidelity]

(Video Duration: 1 min. 35 secs.)

Fr. Thomas Michel

A conference titled “Muslims between Tradition and Modernity: The Gulen Movement as a Bridge between Cultures” was held at Potsdam University in Berlin on May 26-27, 2009.

Presenting a conference paper titled “The Concept of Ikhlas [pure love for God and sincerity in Islamic literature] in Gülen's Teachings,” American Professor Thomas Michel said “gaining the approval of God” without expecting anything in return from people is a central tenet in the teachings of Fethullah Gülen. Noting that even reaching heaven is not a motivating factor in his teachings, he said the acquisition of worldly gains does not exist in Gülen's understanding of Islam.

In this video, Fr. Thomas Michel responds to a question about the concept of Ikhlas in Gulen's teachings:

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