My association with Hizmet dates back to a halaqah (study circle) I used to attend in Cape Town, South Africa, around 2004, when a small group of brothers would meet on a weekly basis to read from, and discuss, the works of the incomparable Said Nursi. The exegetical style of Bediuzzaman made an immediate and immense impression on me: elevated, profound, and, of course, rhythmically poetic prose. Then life happened, and I lost touch with the group for a good decade or so.

In 2021—the circumstances evade me now—I returned and, unusually, felt as though I had never been away. Ordinarily one would expect of such a prolonged absence at least a modicum of awkwardness, a need to settle in, acclimatise, and yet there was no need for anything of the sort. In hindsight, I attribute it to the constancy—the fidelity—of the group, for which the work of Hizmet continues regardless of who is present and who is absent. The work, in other words, is bigger than any single one of us. New Age gurus may preach the virtues of ritual and routine, but they do so without any transcendent philosophy to sustain such practices. How, then, does one begin to account for the steadfastness—and staying power—of Hizmet, despite the traumas and difficulties experienced in recent years? How does one make sense of its awesome global appeal? And to where does one trace the wellspring of humility, sincerity, and generosity that is in evidence each time one sits in a Hizmet circle? These are questions that have percolated inside me for some time now, brought once more to the fore in these recent days of shared sadness.

I never had the honour of meeting Ustadh Fethullah Gülen, but the only answer to these questions that suggests itself is this: the faithfulness of the student is surely a reflection of the immeasurably greater faithfulness of the teacher. That is to say: the devotion of Hizmet to the life of spirit and mind is a testament to Hocaefendi’s own extraordinary devotion to the life of spirit and mind. And in these polarized times in which some lives clearly matter more than others, when the things we cannot tolerate about ourselves we project onto others who become, then, the victims of our paranoid, vengeful destructiveness, Fethullah Gülen’s message of interfaith dialogue and understanding has never seemed more vital for the survival of humankind, a reliable guide for the perplexed in the twenty-first century.

In this time of great sorrow and loss, and beyond, may Hizmet continue to lead through service, committed to gentleness and compassionate understanding, a place of refuge in this malevolent age.