Rumi Forum Podcast

On October 7, 2019, Rumi Forum hosted author Dr. Jon Pahl for a book talk and discussion on his recent biography of Rumi Forum's Honorary President Fethullah Gulen. The event was moderated by Ori Z. Soltes from Georgetown University. In this first critical biography of Fethullah Gülen in English, historian Dr. Jon Pahl took us on a journey where we discovered wisdom and controversy, from 1940's Turkey to the U.S. in the twenty-first century. Dr. Pahl told the story of a pious Muslim boy from a tiny and remote Turkish village who on the one hand has inspired a global movement of millions of individuals dedicated to literacy, social enterprise, and interreligious dialogue, but who on the other hand has been monitored by Turkish police, seen as a threat by autocrats, and recently declared number one enemy by the current Turkish government. With lively prose and extensive research, Dr. Pahl traces Fethullah Gülen's life and thought in its contexts, states clearly his own positions, and then lets readers draw thei