Topic:

The Hizmet Model of Education

CO-ORGANISERS:

IAIS Malaysia

&

Malaysia-Turkish Dialogue Society (MTDS)

DATE:

15 MAY 2012 (TUESDAY)

Time:

10.00 am - 1.00 pm

venue:

IAIS Malaysia

About the Speakers

Dr Ali Unsal is an experienced writer, researcher, teacher, and preacher with a strong background in Islamic Theology and Islamic Jurisprudence. Dr. Unsal earned his PhD in Islamic Theology and Master and Bachelor of Divinity from top divinity schools in Turkey. He has lived in the US between 2000-2009 where he enhanced his academic and professional studies and experience by engaging with both Muslim and non-Muslim Americans via seminars, workshops, counseling, local community services and academic writings. He also headed the Institute of Islamic and Turkish Studies (IITS) in Fairfax, VA, and the Rumi Forum for Interfaith Dialogue in Washington DC. Since 2009, Dr. Unsal has been Director of Fethullah Gulen Chair at the State Islamic University in Jakarta, Indonesia. He has organized panels, seminars and discussions with academicians from different countries. He frequently travels to the USA, Thialand, Cambodia, Laos, Jordan, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Turkey for various cultural and academic events. Dr. Ali Unsal is fluent in English, Turkish, Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and Tatar. He can be reached at aliunsal5@hotmail.com

Associate Professor Dr Saim Kayadibi, PhD, is the former President of the Turkish Community Association, Imam and Consultant of Kotku Mosque in Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom. He is also the advisor and Interpreter of the Mayor of Metropolitan Municipality of Konya, and the Secretary of the Critical and Analytical Thinking Platform in Turkey. He also serves as the Internationalization Ambassador to the Deputy Rector of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). He holds the posts of Research Associate in the Centre for Islam and Social Sciences (SISS) in Australia, Research Associate in the International Institute of Islamic Law, Management and Finance (ILMF) in Australia, Coordinator of the Unit of the World Countries Studies in Turkey. He is currently teaching in the Department of Economics, Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia. Born in Turkey, he studied at al-Azhar University, the University of Jordan, and obtained his MPhill and Ph.D. from Durham University, UK. He has published more than 220 articles in numerous journals, newspapers and magazines. Dr. Kayadibi has written 11 books. He has taught Islamic banking and finance, mu‘amalat, Islamic law, usul al-fiqh, constitutional law, and Shariah-oriented public policy in England, Turkey, and Malaysia. His areas of interests are Islamic legal theory and jurisprudence, Islamic economics and finance, political economy, public policy, juristic preference in Islamic law (istihsan), Muslim international law, the Ottoman legal heritage, Malay Archipelago studies, human rights and democracy, Sufism, and the philosophy of Rûmi. In 2011 he has received the Best Academician Award among the top 5 contenders and the Best Library Partner Awards from IIUM. He can be reached at skayadibi@yahoo.com

Summary

On 15 May 2012, IAIS Malaysia organised the ‘Forum on Education in Turkey: the Hizmet Model of Education’ in collaboration with the Malaysian Turkish Dialogue Society (MTDS). The speakers were Dr Ali Unsal and Dr Saim Kayadibi while Prof Osman Bakar moderated the session.

Dr Unsal shared his thoughts on the educational philosophy of Fethullah Gulen (b. 1941), the prominent Turkish scholar and intellectual behind the Hizmet movement (also called the Gulen movement). The Hizmet model is guided by the philosophy that education amounts to more than teaching, for the latter merely imparts information, whereas the former helps in the development of personality built on qualities of self-discipline, tolerance and a sense of mission. Thus Hizmet educational system places emphasis on character formation, based on the conviction in the uniqueness of every individual, and on the primacy of service to humanity guided by ethics. These ideals foster in individuals the ability to connect to one another, reaching beyond minds to address also their hearts, which lies at the heart of dialogue.

Responding to Dr Unsal, Dr Saim Kayadibi situated the Hizmet movement against the backdrop of the wider Turkish society, which includes many other movements inspired by Islamic ideals. We were told, for instance, that Gulen’s ideas trace back to Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1877-1960), a scholar deeply immersed in Sufism. There are also other groups that focus on different aspects of society but also in one way or another affiliated to certain leading Islamic scholars, most notably groups associated with Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan (1888-1959), Mehmed Zahid Kotku (1897-1980) and Iskender Paşa. Each of these groups focuses on specific areas: for instance, that of Iskender Pasa on politics and politicians, that of Tunahan on religious education, and that of Nursi (and later Gulen) on the integration of religious and modern sciences. Yet they complement rather than compete with one another. Turkish educational experience developed in the context of a coercive secular system, so the focus for social transformation has been on education rather than politics.

Downloads

(all files are in PDF format)

1. Event Brochure [size  < 1MB]
2. Welcoming Remarks by Dr Alettin Dorman [size  < 1MB]
3. Download PowerPoint Presentation [size  2.8MB]

For more information please contact IAIS Malaysia;