For human society, the last few centuries have been one turmoil after another. In response, we are still searching—sometimes in a disciplined manner, sometimes not so much—for the ways and methods to rise, once again, as ourselves: as human. We continue our search on diverse fronts—in educational activities, charitable works, media organizations, and places of worship. If we had only been able to commit ourselves, centuries ago, to the knowledge from the Divine and the morality of love spread by the Infinite Light; if we could have committed to humanity’s destiny to eternity and turned to God, then we would stand today, without doubt, as the “inheritors of the world” and could have a say in maintaining its direction.

During a period when the world was immersed in darkness, the civilization introduced and the renaissance kindled by the believers enlightened the world. This was an outcome of their Divinely inspired knowledge and the morality of love they embodied in their time. If we are to expect a similar civilization or renaissance in the future, we need to know they are dependent on these very dynamics. Embracing knowledge from the Divine and “morality of love” was a gift of faith; however, the true worth of this gift was not grasped well enough, thus, at certain times, it failed to shine forth as bright as it could have. Instead, the materialistic worldview and crude power were mistaken for truth. To a great extent, this is still the case today.

The world, however, keeps spinning, and it is our hope that it will eventually reorient itself to the orbit that the Almighty has set forth. We can see that there are people among us who are more determined than ever to find their own essence and return to their true values. This is an attempt to revive our true human spirit.

During a rather unfortunate period, we have followed the rest of humanity down the rabbit hole of materialism only to demolish in our minds the essential values that make the humankind unique. As a result, we have not only dethroned humans from their status as the “most perfect creation” but also pushed them down to the level of any animal. Supposedly in the name of questioning old ideas, we disgraced humans and humanistic values. Alas, we were not even aware of what we were doing while committing this grievous mistake. We are still broken under the influence of that shock; standing at the crossroads, we cannot decide which way to go.

Yet, the human—this noble being—has inviolable rights. Our liberties are untouchable, and we are adorned with qualities that are more precious than every glorification and praise. In the words of the late poet Akif:

“Humankind; their nature is loftier than the angels
Therein hidden are the worlds, folded are the realms.”

Debasing humanity is mocking the ultimate purpose of being; holding humanity in contempt is tantamount to believing that the spirit of creation is worthless. The human is an exceptional being that is too sublime to be devalued and mocked; a human bears certain characteristics and qualities that cannot be compromised. The freedom of people cannot be taken away, and we cannot be subject to oppression. Humans cannot be tyrannized nor abused. All of these are insults to the meaning of humanity, injustice to the human spirit, and the greatest immorality.

Given the circumstances today, we need to once more revisit what we consider “human values.”

First and foremost, the sources of knowledge and our fundamental thoughts that make us who we are command us to respect humanity. These sources value humans above everything else as the best of creation and honor our free will, inviolable rights, and freedoms as the dynamics upon which we are supposed to weave our lacework of happiness, both in this world and in the next.  

Indeed, from the perspective of faith, divine knowledge, love, and spiritual delights planted in our potential, humanity is above the angels. Loving humanity is a manifestation of one’s connection to the Creator, and, of course, disrespecting humanity is a grave disrespect towards our Owner. The first thing, therefore, that we must do is give back to humanity the values that have been taken from us and work hard to raise new generations that will cherish and protect these values for eternity.

Secondly, the notion of community is also very important. We must foster communities around noble ideals to which feelings, thoughts, and spirits of individuals are rationally and spiritually committed. Morality, in its truest sense, will manifest itself when individuals become a part of such a prosperous and flourishing community. The morality or immorality of individuals who have secluded themselves from society is irrelevant (for the way they live is binding on themselves only). Islam, for instance, encourages living as a community and considers it a holy struggle to endure problems that may arise from it. After all, a truly moral society is one that promises bliss both in this world and the next and is comprised of individuals who, with their free will, dedicate their lives to lofty ideals. In such a society, the unifying power of faith, the softening effect of love, and the sublimity of purpose do not give way to wrongdoings caused by one’s ego; thus, immorality, which originates from egoism, cannot thrive.

The transcendent power of faith and living with a sincere purpose melts the individual’s specific characteristics into society. Though they are still true to themselves, they virtually become one with the community with which they attain such immensity and prosperity that come, as it were, by way of transforming from a mere drop into an ocean, from a single particle into the sun, and from nothing into everything. The road to existence passes through nothingness; wealth is fed by poverty; power opens up and sprouts in the arms of weakness; tribulation becomes a blessing; and gratitude transforms into a delightful zeal. Serving on this path is the noblest of duties and is for those whose sole purpose is to seek the good pleasure of the Creator; the end result is eternal bliss in the hereafter. Indeed, if this purest of pure thoughts is contaminated by even the smallest conflict of interest at a personal or group level, then the connections that bind both the individual and the community to the Divine will break. These disruptions will cause the individual—and eventually the community—to stray from the true path.

Yes, in a group which ties its every action to God, there should not be any mention of individual desires or personal ambitions and worries; nor should one have any ultimate goals and ideals that are not bound to eternity. A true community is a blessed gathering of individuals who have submitted themselves to the eternal. In the words of Bediuzzaman, they do for God’s sake, start for God’s sake, speak for God’s sake, and meet for God’s sake. They act within the domain of God’s good pleasure, by way of which every second of their lives expand as immense as the years, branding, as it were, mortal things with the seal of immortality. Indeed, all their endeavors are exceptionally genuine, pure, and directed towards that which is Eternal.

Not all crowds can be considered a community. In fact, in certain masses when individuals are opposed to one another, their multitude is a means of decrease, not increase, for they diminish the whole, just as fractions do to whole numbers when they are multiplied. Since the friends of God’s messengers were blessed with the spirit of a true community, they were able to fulfill what is expected of a powerful community, although they were small in number. Many individuals among them, like Abu Bakr and Umar—the two prominent companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)—can be considered each as great as a community or a nation by their own credit; this would not be an exaggeration at all. Apostles of Jesus, the Messiah (peace be upon him), who were only a handful, can be considered more powerful than the most powerful of armies. Throughout all of history, groups that were small in quantity but excellent in quality have proved to be much more superior and fruitful than masses that were plenty in numbers.

Just as the love of morality is the most important way of disciplining one’s spiritual world, it is also the most significant component of stability and the most vital principle of harmony within a society. Truthfulness, ensuring security, being fair to all, honoring one’s word, engaging with others with confidence and respect, and commitment to spirituality—these are the essences of morality and the fundamental dynamics of the soul.

The understanding of morality we inherited—excluding perhaps the shiny rubbish of the last few centuries—is essentially a very rich and strong one. It can carry us forward from where we are now if we can lead our lives according to this understanding. Then we will automatically overcome many of our societal problems; then, we will be able to think more clearly, work more efficiently, and walk at a faster and more harmonious pace, making up for the time we have wasted. If we can accomplish this task, the future of our society will be brighter, more vibrant, and more colorful than ever.

The second fact is that Gülen views spiritual life as the sole alternative for solving the problems of people in our time. This is one of the dominant themes in Gülen’s world of thought. The Statue of Our Souls, one of his most significant works, is a collection of his essays in which he attempts to establish the guidelines for a revival of Muslim life, in both action and thought, to attain the level of true humanity on a societal scale.

Gülen is one of the most prominent representatives of sunni school of thought, with a balanced understanding of the tradition, and he is recognized for his proficiency of Islamic scholarly heritage. His scholarship is based on almost every relevant discipline and many outstanding scholars ranging from Kushayri to Ghazzali, from Rumi to Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, and from there to Imam Rabbani and Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. He benefits from poetry as well as prose when making his points.

Particularly in Emerald Hills of the Heart, he sets the main guidelines for the “life” of the spiritual heart. Imam Ghazzali explained the nature of the heart and its functions from his own perspective in The Revival of Religious Sciences; in his Flourishing of Hearts, he elaborated on deeds of the heart such as sincerity, patience, and reflection (tafakkur). Similarly, in different works, Gülen also describes the heart from a broad perspective. In the Emerald Hills of the Heart, however, Gülen does not only present the basic concepts of spiritual journeying, he also elaborates on the deeds of the heart and shed light on these deeds for people in our time.

The heart from a personal perspective

Gülen points out that the heart serves as a bridge for all goodness and grace to reach a person, though it also leaves the person potentially open to all devilish and carnal urges and recollections. As far as the heart can be oriented to God, it becomes a projector lighting up the entire body, down to its darkest points. The heart is the essential home of faith, worship, and a spirit of perfect goodness, as well as being a lively river of the finely flowing feelings between humans, the universe, and God.

If, however, a person remains stuck in the realm of physicality, the heart becomes a target for the poisonous arrows of Satan. There are countless enemies seeking to deviate the heart from its course, shifting the bed of that river. Lots of enemies, from gloom to unbelief, from long-term worldly ambitions to greed, from lust to heedlessness, and from selfish interests to love for status, lie in wait, hoping to take advantage of the heart’s weaknesses.

The heart is the center of human abilities such as understanding, feeling, sensing, reasoning, wishing, and inclining; it perceives and understands things as far as it can use these traits. Thus, as the center of the mind’s functioning and perception, the heart is constantly monitored by God Almighty. From this aspect, it is “the perceived.” On account of this quality, the heart is referred to as, “the focal point of God’s sight.”
Gülen derived this fact from the saying of God’s Messenger that, “God does not look at your bodies nor your forms, but He looks at your hearts.”

According to Gülen, God Almighty takes individuals as His addresses to the level of their heart’s respective spiritual progress. Accordingly, God Almighty’s relationship with a person who has attained a higher level of divine knowledge (marifa) is more profound and mysterious in comparison to a person with a lower spiritual level. If the heart is atrophied in its abilities due to the person committing grave sins, then the faculties mentioned above will also be affected negatively, and the person will struggle to fulfill their duty.

The heart, according to Gülen, is born from the coming together of divine favor and human essence, and it bears a stamp of the Almighty Sovereign. In this respect, it is closely interrelated with both the spiritual and material realms. This approach is important in terms of the fact that it stresses the significance of the heart’s role between a person and God, as well as stressing the value of a spiritual faculty, which is a crucial means for a person to know God. As a matter of fact, it is a great favor of God to the humankind that He has endowed us the heart, for while bearing responsibilities as faith, worship, and morality, the human is not left helpless, but is supported with the mechanism of the heart, which has the capacity to fulfill these responsibilities in the best way.

Gülen uses a metaphorical description for the heart and refers to it as “a stairway leading to human perfection, a projection of the realms beyond in the corporeal world, the largest door within the human body open to spirituality, the sole laboratory where our selfhood is formed, and the most important criterion of telling right from wrong.”

In the same context, he explains the wisdom of the heart’s existence as, “establishing intimate friendship with God Almighty.” The meaning of the heart’s friendship with God refers to matters of deep faith, as well as to knowledge, love, and fear of God, as well as nearness and familiarity with Him. A heart that realizes these will have fulfilled the purpose of its creation.

While portraying the prototype of an ideal individual, Gülen uses the term “man of the heart.” With this and similar phrases, he evaluates humans in a context of the heart. The people of the heart have merits such as a sound heart, a strong willpower, perseverance, insight, and active patience. Only by means of these will believers attain their due character, qualities, and purity. To quote his own words, “Indeed, the hero of the heart is, as the Qur’an and the Messenger of God have told us, the person of truth, who sees, thinks, and acts with all the faculties of such a conscience; whose sitting and standing are mercy, whose words and speech are mildness and agreement, and whose manners are politeness and refinement. They are the people of heart and truth who reveal and teach others the secret of knowing and perceiving the Creation from the inside, who can express the true meaning and purpose of the Creation.”

Extracting the essence of Qur’anic verses and the Prophet’s sayings, Gülen paints the portrait of an ideal believer, and again refers to the heart as an attribute. According to this approach, people of the heart are merciful, clement, and kind; they listen to their consciences about every idea and behavior. They are the ones who can realize the true meaning and purpose of this life. While writing about depths of the heart, Gülen frequently refers to the faculties known as the secret (sir), hidden (khafi), and the most hidden (akhfa), and he uses metaphors like observation, observatory, beholding, witnessing, binoculars, and telescope to describe various functions of the heart.

The heart from a social perspective

In Gülen’s world of thought, the issue of attaining the level of being human in the true sense is of central importance. He believes that the development of the heart and spirit is crucial in terms of both a person’s relationship with the Almighty Creator and of being a successful individual, beneficial to society. In other words, Gülen believes that the solution for the troubled state of the people of our time lies in the flourishing of their heart and spirit. He expresses this point as follows:

“Although some people today disdain moral values, the inner depths of the human being, and the importance of the life of the heart and spirit, there is no doubt that the route to true humanity passes through them. No matter what some people may think, the successful practice of these dynamics in life offers the only solution that can save the person of the present. People today must be relieved from the social, political, cultural, economic, and various other depressions that are bending them over double, forcing their back into a misshapen twisted form.”

These words reflect both his diagnosis of the disease and ways of curing it.

Accordingly, bringing the heart and the spirit to life is the “sole” dynamic and cure to solve modern people’s depressions. It is a strikingly significant fact that even while referring to the worldly underdevelopment of Muslims and others, Gülen directly comes to the issue of spirituality first and saw it as the starting point for material progress, too. In his opinion, humanity is misguided in its pursuit of physical or material satisfaction when what it truly needs is to fulfill its spiritual hunger. Correcting such an error depends on a holistic approach to the human, by evaluating them with their spiritual aspect.

Another relevant concept Gülen expounds on is a “marriage of the heart and mind.” This is like an initial and indispensable condition to be met. Gülen makes a concise explanation of this concept with the following words:

“The first and concise purpose of our creation is obvious: realizing the meaning of being human in the context of humanity, the universe, and God, and thus reaching the horizons of faith, knowledge of God, and true delight of the spirit. Fulfillment of such a large-scale and succinct plan is only possible with systematic thinking and disciplined action. Such a basic first plan and first action, yet unsuitable for elaborated thought, forms the initial ring in the chain of a virtuous cycle of thought and action. Later, the person begins to experience so many virtuous cycles between the transcendental horizons of the heart and reason’s dawnings of wisdom. In time, actions gain greater perspective toward more complicated thoughts, and thoughts continue by transforming into greater projects.”

In conclusion, we can say that Gülen resembles earlier spiritual teachers in that he evaluates the human as a whole; he is concerned with human’s not only spiritual but also material well-being. This holds true not only on a personal, but also societal level. Gülen sets a spiritual map that begins with faith, leavens with knowledge and love of God, preserves its right state with enthusiasm and loyalty, and attains consistency with delights of the spirit.

It is also possible to refer to this as a civilization of gnosis, or knowledge of the divine (marifa), which can be reached after a long and tiring journey by letting the heart, which has the position of a commander, fully function with all of its faculties. While making particular reference to this issue in The Emerald Hills of the Heart, he puts emphasis on the same issue in many other articles. He envisions a universal civilization of people who attains a revival with their hearts and spirituality. There should be nothing wrong in referring to his as a “civilization of the heart.”