“People send their children to these schools with absolute trust to education volunteers, who are determined to raise the level of knowledge and wisdom of our people, making many financial sacrifices. They consider these schools as greenhouses, saving the society from terrible troubles. So it is imperative that these places are truly quarantined and protected from all dangers.”¹⁾

“For this reason, it is very important for the dialogue and educational activities, which is also called as the ‘Movement of Volunteers,’ to be independent… In this respect, it is very important that the dialogue and educational activities mentioned as the ‘Movement of Volunteers’ be independent. Sociologists and political scientists making academic studies related to this movement mention this independence at every opportunity and say, ‘This enterprise is an independent civil society movement that does not rely on any external power.’ Yes, today the education volunteers whom I refer to as ‘today’s passionate ones’ set out saying, ‘This noble nation is strong enough to heal its own wounds.’”²⁾

“There are a few hundred schools opened abroad by sincere people, who came out of the heart of Anatolia and spread to the world today… I wish this number were a few thousand. I wish there were tens of thousands of students all over the world, who received the same education, shared the same feelings, shared the same thoughts and spoke the same language when they came together, and each of these enlightened people would represent friendship, dialogue and universal peace in their own country. I wish there was no tardiness in this matter. I wish the education volunteers would eat less, sleep less, and rest less so that they would give courses and make talks in a few places a day, hurry to the next one, and run without stopping so that there would be no place left to spread the message.”³⁾

“Secondly, it is not in the monopoly of anyone to call people to knowledge, morality, spirituality, and genuine religiosity, as well as to serve others in this respect. For people who see themselves as ‘Muslim,’ this duty is requirement of the values they believe. If education volunteers, who love this country and people so much, try to address every section of the society and as a result, if people from different sections respond positively to this call, is it infiltration to the state and trying to seize it, or is it serving the people, country, and humanity?”⁴⁾

“As for the education volunteers in our time, they adopted the message of Jalaluddin Rumi, who said, ‘A candle does not lose anything from its own light by lighting another,’ and set forth to four corners of the world in order to light up the entire world with the luminous source they have. By God’s permission and grace, they are welcome in the lands they go.”⁵⁾

Education

The Movement of Volunteers

“Educator Volunteers in the Gülen Movement”

Türkçe