Event Details


Wednesday, 10 September 2014 / 12:00 – 14:00

Dialogue Platform, Rue Montoyer 31, 2nd floor, Brussels 1000

Summary: A roundtable interactive discussion on the title in hand with an expert speaker and a select group of twenty invitees including an open buffet lunch and tea & coffee. Chatham House rules will apply throughout with one hour allocated for open discussion, contribution and Q&A from guests.

Although a number of conferences have been organised emphasizing the social, civic and educational activities of the Gulen-inspired Hizmet Movement, as well as Gulen’s contribution to interreligious dialogue, very little attention has been paid to his formal and informal education, his scholarly works and his interpretation of basic Islamic sources and disciplines in the modern period.

Ismail Albayrak will focus on his scholarship and explore some of the themes and questions below:

– What are Gulen’s credential as an Islamic scholar? What are his areas of particular expertise?

– Why has he had such a disproportionate impact in Turkey but less among the Arabs and the non-Turkish Muslims

– Can Gulen’s views and ideas influence the mindset of the Muslim intelligentsia and grassroots of society? If so, how?

– What are the stumbling blocks?

– What contribution, if any, has Gulen’s discourse had on Islamic theology and thought? –  How Islamic is the Hizmet movement?

Programme:

12:00 Arrival & open buffet lunch

12:30 Welcome and Introduction 12:40 Talk by Ismail Albayrak

13:40 Open discussion and Q&A

13:45 Closing remarks

Ismail Albayrak is the professor of Islamic studies and author of ‘Mastering Islamic Knowledge in Modern Times: Fethullah Gulen as an Islamic scholar’ (2011)