In his speech at the traditional iftar program, Bülbülzade Foundation President Turgay Aldemir emphasized that Ramadan is a time for intellectual accounting and that the ultimate aim is to expand kindness rather than material resources.
Dear friends, distinguished guests…
We are experiencing the peace of sharing the same table in the atmosphere of mercy and abundance that is Ramadan. I praise our Lord for bringing us together at this blessed iftar table and bid you all a warm welcome. Truly, we are in a period where everything is being reorganized and the rhythm of life is being redefined.
The age we live in offers us great opportunities, speed, and communication. Yet, this age of haste often prevents us from thinking, reflecting, and searching for meaning, distancing us from the truth. At this very point, Ramadan invites us to stop, think, and slow down, adding extraordinary meaning to our lives. We do not gather at these tables merely to satisfy our hunger. We are here to remember the direction of our lives through fasting, the Quran, and charity.
In Surah Al-Anbiya, verse 51, our Lord says, "We gave Ibrahim his integrity (right thinking) before." Right thinking is a process of accounting and reasoning through which we gather the scatteredness of our year. This ability, described as "rushd" in Islamic civilization, is a state of insight and the re-grasping of truth amidst the chaos of the age. Our faith teaches us not only to worship but also to take responsibility, to be involved in life, and to be sensitive to social events. An Abrahamic stance is not blind submission; it is the meeting of mind, thought, and wisdom within life. Our mukabeles and readings during Ramadan carry us to this level of consciousness.
Active Muslimhood and Our New Conceptual Sets
In our faith, worship does not detach a person from life. If the fast we keep or the prayer we perform turns us into passive individuals who touch no one and have no cause, we must face ourselves. The secret that makes a human the "noblest of creatures" (ashraf al-makhluqat) is the ability to reason, think, and speak about the flow of life. A person must be able to say "this is wrong" or "this is right" and produce new concepts through consultation.
Dear friends, today’s existing conceptual sets are not enough to solve our problems. We need a new "science of tools," new prescriptions. We have seen what the imported prescriptions of others have turned us into. As Cemil Meriç said, "under the influence of modernism, we fell into the situation of the gardener who stole and drank his master’s medicines." We must re-evaluate this issue through our own world of contemplation and history. Old readings and old minds are no longer sufficient; we need new minds and new books. Even Prophet Musa said "I am not enough alone" and asked for Harun. One civil society organization is not enough; each of us needs the other.
The Role of Gaziantep in Our Unity
At this point, Gaziantep stands in an extraordinary position. Aleppo has now been added alongside this city where the rhythm of the East and West flows. We must correctly understand Gaziantep through its production, education, culture, and architecture. The "Century of Türkiye" vision is a new rhythm where the ideal of our country, our geography, and a region free of terrorism meets the collective mind of the state and the nation. In Anatolia and Bilad al-Sham, we must work for the brotherhood of Turks, Kurds, and Arabs. These lands have no "other"; the only "other" is the devil. The capital of our conception of homeland is Anatolia. That ancient longing between Antep, Aleppo, Istanbul, Damascus, and Jerusalem must finally end; we are the separated children of Jacob.
We Are Constantly Renewing Ourselves
As the Bülbülzade Foundation, we are constantly renewing ourselves. When we saw that the state was providing dormitory services in the best possible way, we immediately reflected and added value to the city by transforming our existing building into a congress center. We produce our own energy and conduct production in our workshops in the earthquake zone. We are a people of the Book; we must bring Anatolian wisdom into life through art, thought, and sagacity.
Our educational and cultural work continues in Syria as well. By restoring an Ottoman work built in 1912, we established the Anatolian Cultural Center. We serve in Damascus, Aleppo, and various parts of Syria with eight facilities, five cultural centers, and family centers. With our focus on children, youth, thought, and education, we strive for intellectual works to reach both regions.
Let Us Widen Our Hearts
The great thinker Semiha Ayverdi says, "If someone comes to you with their trouble, do not turn them away. Because their trouble reached Allah first; Allah sent them to you so that you may solve it." With this awareness, we must see every trouble that comes to our door as a divine trust. As Professor Mehmet Görmez said, "Our geography of the heart has expanded, but we could not widen our hearts to the same extent." Ramadan is precisely the month to remove these walls, open our minds, and widen our hearts. Our goal is not just to expand means, but to grow goodness.
With the principle of "Let the people live so that the state may live," we must raise dignified and large-hearted people. As the Bülbülzade Foundation, we work for the reformation of the generation and the construction of the earth—for a mind that participates in the age rather than just consuming it. We should all keep the sign "He whose two days are equal is in loss" before us.
Eid is the spiritual joy of those who combine their hearts with mercy, their minds with wisdom, and their labor with goodness. It is a day where those who can think correctly and who make room for everyone in their hearts meet. I thank each of you individually for honoring our table with these feelings and thoughts. Our friends from Aleppo, in particular, added great value to us. Last year in Aleppo, we experienced the pride of bringing Muslims and non-Muslims together at the same iftar table.
May our Lord allow us to reach the Eid as those who have been forgiven.
