According to the journals American Foreign Policy (AFP) and Prospect, Fethullah Gulen has been voted first in the world in a poll to find the world’s top public intellectual.

Muhammed Yunus, an economist from Bangladesh, came in second place. Yusuf Quardav- theologian from Egypt received third, while Nobel Prize winner and writer Yorhan Famuk occupies the fourth position. Over 500,000 people took part in the survey.

 “The intellectuals were selected in accordance with their thinking. However, it is necessary to communicate with various layers of society to become a popular intellectual,” the article’s author commented.

AFP reminded readers that some intellectuals on the list used internet and media outlets to inform society about their involvement in the poll. Later, news of the poll was published in Zaman and many readers of the newspaper participated in the poll as a result. The journals evaluate most supporters of Gulen to be educated Muslims, and underlines that it is owing to that demographics involvement in the polls that 10 Muslims including Gulen appeared among the top intellectuals.   

The Guardian published an article on the poll results and noted that the organizers were somewhat surprised by the results. Bulent Quenesh, editor of Zaman rejected the opinion that the results are based on the answers of a single group. According to him, Fethullah Gulen has many supporters in the world, as he contributes much to the world peace through his appeals on international dialogue and tolerance. In addition, Quenesh noted that Gulen was originally nominated by the journal itself, rather than by his supporters.

Fethullah Gulen named Esposito as a desired member of the list

The journals conducting the poll describe Gulen as a theologian of Islam with numerous followers throughout the world and is either highly respected or sharply criticized in his native country. The supporters describe him as a leader who folows moderate principles of Islam.

The magazine also asked those picked as the 100 top public intellectuals in the world, whom they would like to see on the list. Fethullah Gulen named American professor John Esposito. According to him, “for Esposito, Islamophobia is one of the most important factors endangering world peace. His opinions are more interesting that inter-religion relations and dialogues, and it is inadmissible to reject them.                

The poll resulted in the following list of the top twenty public intellectuals in the world:

1. Fethullah Gulen, religious leader, Turkey; 2. Muhammed Yunus, economist, Bangladesh, 3. Yusuf Quardav, Islam theologian, Egypt, 4. Yorhan Famuk, writer, Turkey, 5.Ayathzaz Ahsan, politician, Pakistan, 6. Amr Hallid, Egypt, 7. Abdul Querim, theologian, Iran, 8. Tarik Ramadan, Islam theologian, Switzerland, 9. Mahmud Mamdan, anthropologist, Uganda.10. Shirin Ebad, Nobel prize winner, activist, Iran 11.Noam Chomsky, intellectual, the USA, 12. Al Gore,  Nobel prize winner, former vice-president of the USA, 13. Bernard Levis, historian, England, 14. Umberto Eko, writer, Italy, 15 Ayan Hirs Alli, activist, politician, Somali/Netherland , 16. Amartia Sen, economist, India 17. Fared Zakaria, journalist, writer, the USA, 18. Gari Kasparov, world champion in chess, Russia 19. Richard Dickens, writer, England, 20. Mario Vargas Losa, writer, Peru. 

Radio program dedicated to Gulen’s movement

A radio program broadcasted by 40 radio stations in the US and Canada, was dedicated to Turkish theologian and thinker Fethullah Gulen and the education movement led by him.   

Morin Fidler, a program presenter, said, “I have visited Turkey  recently and the discovery of Fethullah Gulen was a real surprise for me. After I returned to the USA, I decided to inform society about his ideas. In this regard, I made the program and invited Jeal Carrol, professor of Riza University and author of the book ‘Dialogue of Civilizations.’” 

Fidler and Carrol are astonished that, in the West Gulen is not so popular. Carrol admitted that she carefully watches religious processes in the world and says that she did not know anything about Fethullah Gulen until four years ago.

Carrol explains, “When I got acquainted with Gulen, I felt that I discovered a new island. Gulen is a great thinker. Despite that, he is the full ideological antipode of Osama Bin Laden, unfortunately he is not known in the West. Gulen stands beside great personalities like the Dalai Lama, Tito, Mother Theresa, who were closely connected with their religion and at the same time spread global messages to the whole world. They wished for a world where everybody would live in peace.”   

In free and democratic conditions

Carrol says that the west is afraid of Islam. Hence, it is important to listen to Gulen and his message. He believes that education turns human being into people. Education enables people to change the world for the better.    

The radio program “Inter-religion” concerned Gulen’s religious ideas on freedom and democracy. Carrol stated that the main goal of Gulen’s movement on education is to create an inter-religious dialogue that is possible only through universal education.

According to Carrol, Gulen currently lives in Pennsylvania. Numerous education institutions have been opened by his initiative, but he did not wish to manage them. He lives alone. Carrol also noted that the reason Gulen lives in the US is due to health problems and his desire for religious freedom.