Permanent migration, unlike casual tourism, is not just a temporary pattern of visitation. It is a conscious choice of making home within the walls of someone else’s citadel, about stepping into their worlds. However, we live together now in the age where stepping into the world of others need not be restricted to direct one-to-one physical contact. Why do people need to move at all? Increasingly the electronic highway permits most of us access into the thoughts, minds and the geographical worlds of others. The television, the oral, print and visual media, the internet network are producing highways of virtual tourists scanning and accessing the worlds of others, without sometimes even the hosts being aware of their vicarious presences of others in their lives. Touristic escapades into the world of others can happen from the electronic comfort of one’s armchair.

However, a distinction needs to be made between these flippant voyeuristic tourists, and more permanent migration. Tourists are welcomed into most countries, significantly because of the huge revenue they deposit into the receiving country as they “taste the exotic other.” Permanent migrants by contrast are usually viewed rather more suspiciously. In this article I choose to focus on how Turkish citizens influenced by the Hizmet philosophy underpinned by Fethullah Gülen choose to understand their journey into the world of others, outside the borders of the society in which they were born (Çetin, 2011). What drives these members of the Turkish community to leave their native land and venture out? Are these adventures a matter of tourism, a matter of foreign infiltration, an economic plan, a matter of migration of a worldview of Islam? I make three broad arguments in this article: that this particular Hizmet form of migratory pattern is not a uniform goal for different parts of the globe; that this mandate is often understood in philosophical rather than pragmatic material terms, and that these migrants evolve in different stages in their settlement and relationships with the “motherland Turkey.” I will argue that living abroad for these unique “Turkish tourists” is sustained by a particular operational orientation of the Hizmet communal way of life. They become more than just visitors to foreign lands: they are bringers of philosophical insights for building deeper valuing and respect for dialogue and tolerance across the globe. But, is this a new kind of disguised evangelism? Do they walk in the shoes of their host countries?

Firstly, in reflecting on how the Hizmet philosophy has spanned across 140 countries, Mustafa Yesil, President of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (Istanbul) argues that the goal of crossing borders is not one of deliberate expansionism. Instead different individuals have chosen to interpret their mandate in multiple perspectives. The Turkish ambassadors are not exporting a single model of either educational, business, scientific, artistic, technical, or cultural know-how into the recipient countries. Hizmet, by definition is an attempt to reach out into the lives of others, to assist in collaborative partnership for the well-being of all who are engaged drawing measurably from the sources within the host context itself. The philosophy of Hizmet begins with a deep-seated respect, but also critique of their host countries. Foreign support from the source country (i.e. from Turkey) is sometimes a foundational option to spearhead projects.

So for example, when a school inspired by the teaching of Gülen is set up, the negotiations always revolve around the matching with the local cultural, political and curricular context of the society within which they are relocating. Nevertheless, the organization upholds the core Hizmet philosophical value of “a community serving the well-being of humanity.” When being set up in the context of corruption and greed, or rampant materialism, the philosophical carriers of Hizmet choose to realize alternate values. It recurs that matters of quality home, family and communal relations permeate their operations. In countries where abject poverty and malnutrition are dominant the Turkish Hizmet custodian usually chooses to address basic human dignities. The aim of these philosophers is to activate views of collective agency amongst the communities including a rethinking of the very values that the locals may have discarded (Agai, 2002). The Hizmet philosophy aims not to impose a value system, but to assist community members to realize what valuing system underpin their social systems, which perhaps have been forgotten or suppressed in their own contexts. The intent of examination of these values is to develop self and sustainable development.

It might therefore translate in many different ways in different social contexts. In the age of materialism in the western world the goal of the Hizmet activist is to be a beacon of alternate values; in the age of subjugation, personal and social liberations may be opted for; in the context of youth not taking responsibility for their action, then more pastoral roles may be offered. These are not absent of any core ethical valuing: the goal to realize the wonderment and potential of all human beings reaching their fullness of being. The choice for simple rather than lavish lifestyles characterizes these operations. The Hizmet philosophy of self and social upliftment is usually translated into many spheres of everyday life simultaneously: in terms of what it means to be a leader; in what it means to open up the minds and hearts of the young through schooling; in promoting rather than demanding fairness, respect and dialogue in business. The intention is not to draw attention to the doer, but the purpose of the action and its communal influence.

Secondly, it is easy to interpret, given the widespread reach that the movement underpinned by the Gülen teaching has achieved, that Hizmet is a disguised economic plot to enter into the markets of the foreign world. Mehmet Altan, a Turkish academic and journalist suggests that it should be understood that Gülen’s brand of modern Islam is an intersection of both the material and the spiritual wellbeing of a society. He suggests that Gülen introduces a more current interpretation of Islam in the modern world. Islam needs to find its presence in the everyday reality of its times, and will therefore be always a responsive and relevant religion. Altan argues that the fact that there are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims in 57 countries internationally, one would expect that there would be a proportional representation of the international wealth generated from these sources. This ought to be an economic reality. Muslims do not, he suggests, realize this full potential. Economic productivity is however, not an end in itself: it is a means for the broader upliftment and development of the society as whole. However, most so-called Muslim states who claim to be promoting this kind of productivity are more preoccupied with asserting their rights of access to supreme power in political and exclusive economic terms. The rampant econometric and political forces lead to a generation of fundamentalists who choose to assert their so-called Islamic identity through the use of force and terror. Productivity is understood in oppositional, competitive and dichotomous terms.

Gülen himself argues against this particular interpretation as being anti-Islamic since the core principle of Islam is to promote peace, dialogue, and tolerance. True Islam does not, in his view, promote a backward ritualized set of culturally interpreted routines that continue to oppress individuals into forms of subjugation, nor is Islam intended as a process of setting up hierarchies of alienation and othering. A more authentic understanding of Islam is guided by the interest to realize the full potential of all persons, of all classes, genders, or creeds. One will get to know God more closely when one understands more closely the plight and hopes of fellow human beings. Islam is not just a way of life, but a matter of a continuous internal journey for greater clarity of purpose and service to one’s fellow beings. One serves God through service to one’s fellow human beings. This spans across boundaries of race, gender, geography or creed. Hizmet as a philosophy therefore should know no bounds in terms of medium or method, shape or form. It is to be guided by clarity of intention and purpose of action. This conception of Islam recognizes the need for the faith to be located in the specific contextual landscapes with which its people operate: in the lived reality of the present (Gülen, 2011).

As a Catholic myself I am intrigued by how this Hizmet philosophy resonates parallel interpretations of the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church (Vatican, 1962a) which was a particular assemblage of the organized Church to examine its presence and operations in the modern world. The unified Church Council encouraged Catholics to open up to the real presence of the modern world in which the people of God existed. The Church (its clergy and laity) was exhorted to recognize the breadth of creative and productive diversity across the globe and that forms of liturgy and worship should be guided by such celebration and valuing of each other’s richness. One example is the shift away from all Church services conducted in Latin, the official language. Instead in order to access the worlds and lives of the community, local languages are used in praise and worship services and masses.

The Church cannot live in isolation of the many different representations of man’s relationship to the Creator. However we aim to seek “the common ground” across all religions and faiths. Hence inter-faith dialogue was the expressed mandate of the renewing Church (Vatican, 1962b). Migration into the world of others is therefore both an external and internal journey. The exhortation of Nostrae Aetate (Our common ground: On other faiths) (Vatican Council, 1962b) declares as follows:

“The Catholic Church rejects nothing which is true and holy in these religions… The Church therefore has this exhortation for her members: prudently and lovingly through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions and in witness of Christian life and faith acknowledge, preserve and promote the spiritual moral goods found among these people, as well as the values in their society and culture” (ibid. 1962,2) (my emphasis added).

Thirdly, migration of Turkish persons living abroad should not be understood as a completely fulfilled agenda at the commencement of the journey. This agenda is likely to evolve over time: is likely to modify, solidify and yet expand. Kerim Balci (Chief Editor of the Turkish Review) argues that we need to interpret the following kinds of migratory patterns when examining the Turkish volunteers of the Hizmet movement, but these patterns are perhaps equally applicable to any of the types of migratory patterns globally, across time and space. The first generation of movers may be argued to be engaging in a “horizontal migration”: a migration in which they share what they presently know about their base disciplines, fields of areas of interest, skills or labor (for example, in education, business, science, agriculture, etc.). This generation is characterized by a listening mode which pays attention to the values of the society in which they are embedded. Their agenda is usually one of assimilation into the world of the other; of recognition and understanding of how to make sense of the other’s worlds. However, this generation usually stays closely aligned with their original mother country values, beliefs and operational levels of competences.

The second generation of migrants (sometimes offspring of the first generation, but sometimes a new wave of migrants altogether) tends to be more adventurous in their engagement with the host country. They tend to be more assertive in enunciating their own brought cultures. The next generations usually are able to transcend the class or status of their former generation and usually represent hybrid interpretations of the cultural values. This, Balci refers to as a “vertical migration.” It is usually the co-existence of these two generational forms that produce communities of particular cultural aggregations, as new forms of exerting power and influence are available. In the context of the Hizmet activities, the second generation usually draws from the quality of interaction established with the host countries and its peoples by its predecessors. In Turkish context, the second generation is a class of more confident proponents of the valuing system of the Hizmet worldview. It is usual that the host country have already seen the benefit of the Hizmet influence within their society and the second generation choose to build on this reputation.

A third wave of migration may be said to characterize these Hizmet activists. This constitutes what Balci refers to as a “re-migration”: a return to the “motherland” (of Turkey). It is important that this is not understood as a form of narrow nationalistic agenda to assist in the equally important contributions that are needed within the native (Turkish) society itself. This reverse migration is a response to the growing needs for a development of the agenda of reconstruction and transformation within the source Turkish society as it expands its footprints economically, socially, politically, culturally and especially educationally. Having been exposed to the global discourses of the many parts of the world in which they have served, these re-migrants may be said to introduce into the base (Turkish) society a quality of international discourse which societies seem alien even to the source (Turkish) society itself. Another interpretation of the re-migration is that the Hizmet philosophy, if powerful enough, should be able to sustain itself without the need of the presence of its original advocates. Local proponents take on the responsibility of sustaining its values.

The “foreign” re-migrants into the native homeland are sometimes treated as disrupters of the formative truths of a social system and this is notably present when more conservative entrenched values dominate in the source country. Reverse migration is not always welcomed by those who have remained sedentary in the home country. This pattern of migration forwards and backwards is cognizant of the impact that when one interacts with the world one is likely to shape it, as well as be shaped by it. The important consideration is the question whether the core values of the Hizmet “community serving humanity” philosophy still abides within these reverse migrants?

It is important to understand how the Hizmet migration is able to sustain itself especially when it enters into worlds which are vastly different to the home base traditions, religious practices and values. Engagement with the world of the others is done within the context of a brotherhood / sisterhood of fellow believers around an extended conception of “houses of light” in the form of houses, residences, dormitories, and other facilities where these pioneers socialize. The movement draws strength from the closeness of this supportive network which rally together to address the potential otherness of the environment within which they find themselves. The collective band of proponents share common cultural practices of dance, dress, diet, and resonant outlooks on worship and well-being. They therefore serve as a source of support and strength to each other, refining the values of their mission, clarifying of their goals. The leader of such a brotherhood/ sisterhood of support serve as a custodian and moral guide holding individuals in check and ensuring that the deeper philosophical intentions of their actions and practices are not subverted. This becomes a home community away from home: a living presence of their origins and sources in an external environment.

This article has attempted to argue that the migratory patterns of Turkish bearers of the Hizmet philosophy traverse the globe for different reasons, with different modes of operation, yet still underpinned by the quality of service. In the process they change and are changed by the many people they meet. They become part of the global humanity and commonality of value of purpose in our existence is thereby promoted. However as successive waves of migration evolve the challenge about this is a philosophical rather than material expansion which needs to be carefully guarded. Gülen (2011) argues, as do many religious and spiritual foundations, that one should be aware that one is patently in this world, but not of this world. We share a responsibility to guide the world to a better realization of its potential fullness of being; towards a greater goal of good. Therefore we cannot simply succumb to the world’s present values. We are here on a mission of realizing greater love, tolerance and dignity to all whom we meet. Our patterns of exit and re-entry from our home countries should be guided by this deep sense of quality of realizing the true freedoms of all whom we meet. I am surprised how much we across different religions, social and cultural systems share about these goals of and for good.

Acknowledgements

This paper draws from interviews conducted with the following sources during a cultural exchange visit of the author to Turkey in May 2012:

1. Mustafa Yesil: President of the Journalists and Writers Foundation

2. Mehmet Altan: Journalist, political commentator, academic

3. Kerim Balci: Editor-in-chief, Turkish Review

My thanks to Atilla Dag, Regional Director: Turquoise Harmony Institute, Durban, South Africa who provided the translation and interpretations of interviews during my May 2012 visit to Turkey.

References

Agai B. 2002. “Fethullah Gülen and his movement‘s Islamic ethic of education.” Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies. Spring 2002. 11 (1). 27-47.

Bourne, R. 2011. Update of Ramphal Commission report on migration and development. Presented to the Commonwealth Secretariat Advisory Council on teacher mobility, recruitment and migration meeting. Stoke Rochford Hall, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. 01-02 June 2011.

Website http://www.ramphalcentre.org/pdf/Ramphal_First_Report_Commission_Mig_and_Dev.pdf

Çetin, M. 2011. The Gülen Movement: Civic Service without Borders. New York: Blue Dome Press.

Gülen, F. 2011. Towards a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance. New Jersey: Tughra Books.

Vatican Council 1962a. Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope). Pastoral constitution of the Church In the modern world. Document of the Second Vatican Council. Rome.

Vatican Council 1962b. Nostrae Aetate (Our Common Ground). Declaration on the relationship of the Church to other religions. Document of the Second Vatican Council. Rome.

“There were no lovers left for me in the world, I used to think,
Then I took leave of my self and saw all were nothing but lovers.”

The above couplet from Niyazi Mýsri describes the state of a “perfect human,” or insan al-kamil in Sufi terminology. Departing from glorifying our own virtues at the expense of fair judgment of others, is an important challenge for anyone who seeks truth in this transient life. For a true believer who has managed to “take leave of” the carnal self, the universe is a palace, all things in existence are servants welcoming him or her in, and every event in the cosmos is an entertainment glorifying its Owner, Who deserves all praise. For those who cannot attain this level, this life is a horrifying tunnel of darkness, and far from being a true lover, every object and person is a potential threat to their security. The recent Gulen conference in Germany in May, the Turkish festival in Turkey in June, and the coming conference in Melbourne this month have made me ponder this couplet once again. An attraction on this scale with such wide-reaching global reach could only be possible for a person if he can represent insan al-kamil, in the true sense, with an all-embracing love for the whole of humanity.

Reflecting this summer’s busy schedule of activities related to the Gulen Movement, this edition of The Fountain features articles by two scholars who study this civil society movement. Kerim Balci of Today’s Zaman shares with us his observations of the conference “Muslims between tradition and modernity-the Gulen Movement as a bridge between cultures,” jointly organized by the University of Potsdam’s Institute of Religion and the Forum for Intercultural Dialogue, Berlin. He mentions the paper of Dr. Bekim Agai of Halle University, Germany, who commented that thanks to the activities of the Gulen Movement, Turkish migrants in Europe are no longer a part of the problems of Europe, but are problem solvers, and not only on issues relating to migrants themselves.

The second article comes from Maimul Ahsan Khan, a professor of law in Bangladesh, who introduces Gulen as a “modern-day Rumi.” For Khan, “Gulen has brought [Rumi’s] glorious tradition [that cut across the lines between nationalistic and sectarian differences] back to the minds of millions of modern and religious Turks.” Professor Khan notes that for Gulen the question is how well Muslims can represent the universal message of Islam to build a global society based on equality, tranquility, and humane treatment for all.

Also in this issue comes a thought-provoking interview with Dr. Lynn Mitchell, a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Houston. Having taught a course titled “The Bible and Modern Science” for many years, Dr. Mitchell offers noteworthy insights into the history of the relationship of science and religion.

If I had not actually seen them I would have said, it is mere fantasy, idle talk or imagination-a luminous shadow of the generation of the noble companions of the Prophet. Although it is understood of course, that the merit of the Companions cannot be surpassed, in these men were combined two of their great qualities-migration (hijra) and support (nusra). However, they were not divided into migrants and helpers but rather were migrants who help.

Migration to God and His Messenger (upon him be blessings and peace) are words often pronounced on tongues but rarely heeded by hearts. It is when a person leaves behind a life of comfort and rest, and the alluring bright lights of the city. He sets off journeying through the land to penetrate into foreign and remote territory. Carrying a lantern in his hand he searches out the needy throughout the land in order to nourish them with a sip of the nectar of life. On this path he has to endure self-sacrifice, self-annihilation and the abandonment of his worldly interests. That is a spiritual experience that nobody can truly comprehend except the one who has endured it. This is indeed an obstacle besides which are more obstacles, which count among the various degrees of striving.

Their sun rises in the land of Anatolia, and its rays effuse throughout the world in clear radiant beams. By this light old ties of kinship are bonded and the warmth of compassion is imparted to the wounded. They are migrants who left everything behind them and set forth like unsaddled, unshod horses. They open the doors and windows of the besieged in every land and teach them how to breathe again, breathe in the open air after having lost their ability to sense life centuries ago.

They are migrants (muhajirun) who have abandoned that before which dead-hearted people debase themselves: the pleasures of this life and its adornment, even though these flowed toward them in abundance from every direction. They set out towards God, distributing words of light, giving the world the good tidings of security and peace, and transmitting to the hearts of the poor great hope. Their legions are dispersed over deserts, mountains, jungles, and oceans. A horse may buckle here or there but the vanguard ever reaches its goal and raises its banner of light on the highest and loftiest peaks. True faith in God is elevated and honored through them.

A shadow of the generation of the Companions or a new copy, I know not. I have certainly seen them and my eyes did not deceive me. Among them are those who have passed on and among them are those who await their turn. They have not changed. It is for God to reward them! What men they are!

They are helpers (ansar) for they have supported the good, becoming thereby the helpers of the modern age. Each time they see the light of a candle faltering in a stormy wind, wherever it may be, they rush forth without a care for hardships and shield it with a niche of clear glass. Then it becomes like a shining star emanating beauty and splendor.

They went hungry so that others could eat, and they gave the clothes of their backs so that their poor could be clothed. They went short so that their needy could have possessions, and they wept so that their brothers could laugh. Truly, they preferred others over themselves even though they were themselves needy.

They are helpers who have acquired their state of support (nusra) by drawing from the light of Medina Al Munawwarra in the period just after the emigration of the Messenger (upon him be blessings and peace) there, when the joy of the people of Yathrib was still fresh and expressed in outbursts of song. It is from there that they have received the essence of their support, fresh and moist as a supple green branch sprinkling dew and bearing delicious fruit.

They migrated, and they gave their support. Furthermore, they have given themselves fully to the quest of migration and given themselves fully to the task of offering support. On this earth there remains nothing for them! However, in the world of the spirits they own everything through their dependence on God, the Rich beyond need, Owner of Praise.

They are crazy in their love of serving in foreign lands, from the cold of Siberia to the heat of South Africa. There is no island, cave, plain, or mountain, in all the continents of the world where they have not reached and there transmitted the rays of light effused by the approaching dawn. They smile in the face of painful afflictions, and they are happy to cross thorn-ridden fields which cause blood to flow from their feet and tears to flow from their eyes while their hearts rejoice in God!

They are truly men; men about whom if an ancient book had spoken, we would have called it an exaggeration like the exaggerations encountered in stories, histories and biographies. However, they are living now in the present and in the future. There they are, in front of you-living examples of burning longing and great dynamism. How commendable they are these youths and mature folk. They have revived in us hope in life, and given us certainty of a new dawn. They are a testimony to the verity of the prophetic words that God will make true faith in Him triumph universally such that there will not remain a house of wool or mud to which it will not have entered, bringing to it either humiliation or honor.

I have beheld the lights of the beautiful divine names reflected in their eyes. Those lights pour out before them and they follow their guidance, drawn by their force, to realize the will of God, the Tremendous, to revive the earth after its death, with prosperity, generosity and munificence. You would see one of them as a nation embodied in a man or a man as if he were a whole nation. If your eyes set upon one of them, they would be dazzled, and you would say, “Goodness! Surely, he can have no equal.” But when you see another, his beauty would make you forget the magnificence of the first. They have united within themselves all the best qualities associated with goodness and virtue. One gaze upon them would rid you of the need to read any books on philosophy and morality, and imaginary ideas on the “city of virtue.”

They do not speak about good character; rather they are in themselves the embodiment of good character walking on earth in an age when noble character is a neglected object consigned to the museum of history.

Would you like to be one of them? Think, and think again before saying yes, for it is just a word that you pronounce but a truly great proclamation that you make, before which lies the obstacle that you must overcome. But what will explain to you what that obstacle is? It is that you should sell your soul to God completely. There should not remain anything of yourself belonging to you; nothing whatsoever. Then you should submit to God’s will and accept whatever comes to you by His decree such that when your whole self is buried away in some corner of the world far, far away from your familiar home country, family folk or loved ones, your only provision and your sole source of nourishment will be the remembrance of God and dependence on His magnificent light.

To be one of them means that everyone will forget you and only God will remember you. It means leaving this world while you are still living, eating its food and walking its streets. You do not see anything in yourself or anything that is yours. You observe among the contemporaries with whom you are acquainted those who have a high opinion of themselves. The latter have not been able to free themselves from earthly yokes or escape from the snares of the realm of causes. They climb in the ranks of worldly delusion and look down on you from their high towers, proud of their posts and titles.

As for you, you walk on the earth barefoot, poor in everything except for the support of God Almighty.

But we have made some of you a means of testing others-will you stand fast? (Furqan 25:20)

Do you really want to be one of them?

“Yes.” That is a word that is easy on the tongue, but it involves a bitter experience. Whoever says that fire does not have the quality of burning; let him test it with his hand. Are you prepared to be burned to the extent that your body becomes dust-dust which the wind then disperses throughout the continents of the world, scattering particles here and there? Whenever one of these particles falls on barren ground, it becomes verdant and sprouting…

These are the giants of our time, examples of the true human being whose appearance has been awaited by the world for a long time. Has not the time come to return to the earth the security that was established there by the liege of creation, Muhammad (upon him be blessings and peace)?!

They have surrounded the oppression of guns and defenses with institutes and schools and put out the fire of discord and wars with words and letters. Every school that they build, wherever it may be, becomes a green tree which continues to sprout palm shoots around it that grow and grow until the region becomes full of trees. Thus does a forest of goodness stifle the loathsome sound of bullets and rid it of the rotten stink of gunpowder.

They are teachers who have spread everywhere; teaching the children of the world the language of birds and the song of sparrows. They draw on their green boards in front of them dreams of a beautiful future and the outlines of the path leading to Paradise. The children who graduate leaving the custody of these teachers, throughout the continents of the earth, come out singing one hymn-giving tidings of goodness and peace to the world.

The angels of remembrance love them, for often do they listen to their heart rending songs. The angels of knowledge know them, for often do they carry their vanguard under their wings while it is journeying through the land towards the forests of Australia, the deserts of Asia, the jungles of Africa, or the foggy lands of the far west.

They shoot rays of light over skyscrapers. They are teachers, unarmed except with the weapons of education and edification. They are prepared to venture into dangerous situations wherever they may be. They advance bare-chested, smiling in the face of abysses of discomfort.

Extending before them, they have a far reaching vision which never strays from its goal. Behind them is solid instruction which provides them with guided inspirations received from God. The burning core of their teacher’s heart makes them steadfast through works of wisdom. These works are outpourings of light which gush forth via streams whose support could scarcely be cut off, God permitting!

O my beloveds! You are the true guardians of love, and upon you may God send His greetings of peace!

Farid al-Ansari is a professor of Philosophy of Islamic Law at Mawlay Ismail University, Morocco.

You would indeed have a lot to calculate before taking off: What is the most economical flight speed of your aircraft, and how does it vary with winds, flight altitude, and the extra weight of fuel reserves? Perhaps the gliding performance of your aircraft is good enough to permit you to travel some distances by soaring in up- draughts, with the engine off. It may even be economical to make detours in order to stay over regions with strong up-draughts. Would it be favourable to bring along large fuel reserves and fly non-stop for long distances without refuelling, or to travel by numerous short flights, saving transport costs for extra fuel? To solve that problem, you have to know about possible refuelling stations along your route, about petrol prices, landing fees, and the time delay you will face by landing at a particular site.

Which is the optimal route to your destination? Perhaps it pays to follow the Great Circle, or should you make a detour where you can benefit from favourable winds? Of course, you will fly only on days when the weather is as favourable as possible, but which is the best weather? And how can you know which weather condition is most favourable for you? What flight altitude will you prefer under different weather conditions? You must also consider whether and how you will compensate for wind drift, when to fly low along coast-lines and other leading-lines to gain protection from the wind and avoid drift, and how to exploit the winds at high altitudes. And you must also take into account many unpredictable situations that you will face. There are lots of questions and you would spend a long time looking up facts and making calculations before you could arrive at a reasonable strategy for your flight.

Your situation is analogous to that of migrating birds. The migratory strategy of birds, a harmonious mixture of rigid and flexible behaviour to achieve a safe and economical journey which can be affected by a bewildering number of factors, is an astonishing feat – where do they get the skills and capabilities to accomplish it?

There are many animals, not only birds, which migrate on a regular basis. Some examples: Bull elephant seals travel 21,000 km (over 12,000 miles) each year, from California to the Gulf of Alaska, the longest migration of any mammal. Millions of monarch butterflies fly 2,000-3,000 km from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Grey whales swim 10,000 km from the Arctic Ocean to California and Mexico. In Bracken Cave in Texas 20 million free-tailed bats assemble every summer. All are female. They leave their mates 1500 km to the south in Mexico to come here to give birth to their young. Herring migrate annually and cover over 3,000 km. The bison, the wildebeest, the sockeye salmon, the eel are also known to migrate long distances. But here we will consider the migration of birds – one of the most impressive feats in animal behaviour- across thousands of kilometres of ecological barriers, like oceans, mountains and deserts.

Birds store fat for use as fuel during their migratory flights. They start to do so well before migration starts. Stored fat is the most economical type of fuel in terms of high oxidizing energy per unit mass. Once the animal is in the right condition to migrate, it may need some further environmental cues to initiate the actual migratory movement. A bird may wait for the right weather conditions or at least the disappearance of the wrong ones, such as fog or very strong winds.

In order to locate its goal at a different position on the earth’s surface, an animal must possess certain sensory systems and have certain decision-making programmes in its behaviour. The ability to take up a particular direction with respect to some feature or property of the environment is called orientation’. The orienting animal is rather like a man who possesses a compass and an instruction to proceed in some particular direction. Animals may orient with respect to objects on the earth’s surface, to the sun, to the stars, to the earth’s magnetic field, to the directions of current flow and so on. Further, they may use more than one of these environmental sources of information at any one time, and may use different ones at different times.

Birds may use continuous flapping flight or soaring flight. Migration of soaring birds attracts much attention among bird-watchers because of spectacular concentrations of these migrants at passages with favourable soaring conditions. The migrants make long detours to avoid having to use flapping flight over the sea, and the sites most famous for soaring bird migration in Europe, Falsterbo, Gibraltar and the Bosphorus, are situated at minimal sea crossings. Migrants’ coasting behaviour probably is part of their ‘strategy’ to exploit winds and conserve energy at the same time. Coastal migration occurs mainly under opposed and cross-winds, while migrants usually fly across the coast and depart over the open sea with following winds. Due to differences in friction, winds generally are stronger over the sea than over land. Migrants minimize the headwind force by following the coast, where they can use local topography and vegetation to gain additional protection from the wind. Furthermore, over the sea they will be exposed to wind drift, and under certain cross-winds it is beneficial to follow a coastline, some distance in the direction of their goal, rather than to take a direct route over the sea.

Some birds travel by numerous short flights, each of about three to ten hours duration. Many species depart either by day or by night, whenever weather becomes favourable. Flying with a small load of fat is advantageous, since the labour costs for carrying the extra fat can be high. However, there are also drawbacks involved in migrating by numerous short flights: the birds have to refuel often and find suitable resting sites on their route.

Some species undertake enormous non-stop flights. A regular migration route from North to South America directly over the Western Atlantic Ocean, a distance between 3,000-4,000 km, is used by many species. Just to mention some examples of long, nonstop flights over oceans other than the Atlantic: there are some geese that fly almost 4,000 km across the Pacific Ocean from the Alaska Peninsula to the South Californian coast; two species of New Zealand cuckoos fly about 3,500 km to the Solomon and Samoa islands; passerines, bee-eaters and Amur falcons travel almost 3,000 km of the Indian Ocean between India and East Africa.

Many migrants fly between Europe and Africa across the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara desert in one single non-stop flight, lasting at least 40 hours in the autumn, when winds are generally favourable, and 60 hours in spring when they are less favourable.

Honey buzzards migrate by cross-country soaring over a distance of 7000 km from Europe to tropical Africa without refuelling. Common buzzards cover a distance of 10000 km between East Europe/West Siberia and South Africa by soaring migration. Many young Manx shear waders, in their autumn flight from Britain to Brazil, cover almost 0,000 km without refuelling. Various water species wintering in South Africa cover the total distance to their high Arctic Eurasian breeding grounds, about 13,000 km, in four or so long flights.

Arctic terns are transglobal travellers on a scale unequalled by any other migrant. Some annually commute between the Northern and Southern pack ice, crossing the equator twice. The round trip must be at least 40,000 km (25,000 miles).

Low temperatures seem not to prevent birds from migrating at high altitudes, The highest migrants over Puerto Rico experience temperatures of about –12 C, and over Switzerland migration is perfectly regular at altitudes with temperatures around -IC to -15 C. In fact, the birds’ capacity to fly under conditions of low temperature and low oxygen pressure is so great as to be hardly credible: On 9 December 1967, a radar controller in Northern Ireland reported an echo at high altitude moving south over the Hebrides. The radar height finder indicated an altitude between 8,000 and 8,500 m. The pilot of an aircraft in the vicinity was asked by radio to make a course deviation to pass near the position of the echo. In doing so, the pilot reported a flock of about 30 swans at just over 8,200 m. The observation probably refers to whopper swans, which are known to migrate, sometimes in the middle of the winter; from Iceland to Britain. At 8,200 m, the temperature was -48 C and very strong northerly tailwinds blew at this altitude.

Although, according to some radar studies, probably 90% of birds travel below 2,000 m, two small flocks close behind each other of curlew-like birds were observed at I 0,000 m above sea level.

These observations, indeed, are extraordinary. One wonders, are such enormous flight altitudes merely exceptional or do some birds regularly migrate that high?

We tend to think of events which happen regularly, as ‘normal’ or ‘ordinary’. But are they really? Very often, we do not realize the dimensions of the events. Hundreds of millions of birds migrate from one place to another. Tens of thousands of birds start to fly together. They fly very long distances together and land and feed together. Many of them have never flown that long, nor been to those places. But still they are able to fight against all the odds and finish their journey How do they know when to start? How do they recognize the landscape? How do they decide which route to take? How do they find their way to their destination? How do they know where they can find food? How come so many birds can act together? How and when did they learn to use the sun and other stars, or the earth’s magnetic field, for navigation? How did they acquire the necessary means in the first place?

There are numerous such questions to ask and very often, it is not easy to find the right answers. When the other migrating animals are taken into account, the questions get more complicated and more challenging Hundreds of millions of animals migrate twice a year covering thousands of kilometres. We must ask questions which start with how and why and not take ‘ordinary’ events for granted.