TIME MAGAZINE, The Turkish Imam and His Global Educational Mission

Students learn about blood circulation in biology class at a Gulen-affiliated school for girls in Kazakhstan

Photograph by Uluc Kecik for TIME

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October, 1992. the Soviet Union has disbanded and chaos reigns in its former territories. Three times a week, a rattly Russian charter plane filled with young Muslim devotees flies east from Istanbul across barren, low-lying steppes to the capitals of Central Asia. The men are clean-cut, sharply dressed in dark suits and ties, trim of mustache and purposeful. It is the first foray out of their hometown for most, let alone on a plane, but such is their faith in Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish Muslim imam they revere. "Fly like swallows," Gulen exhorted, "to these countries that are newly free, as an expression of our brotherhood."

Fly they did. Hundreds of volunteer teachers fanned out across five Central Asian republics. It was the start of a global movement that is now one of the largest and most powerful competing for the future of Islam around the world. There are an estimated 1,000 Gulen-affiliated schools in 100 countries — from Malawi to the U.S. — offering a blend of religious faith and largely Western curriculum. All are inspired by Gulen, an enigmatic retired preacher who oversees the schools — and a multibillion-dollar business empire — from the unlikeliest of locales: rural Pennsylvania.(See pictures of Muslims in America.)

Tall, lanky and possessing a smooth American accent, chemistry teacher Abdurrahman Sel was introduced to the Gulen movement while a high school student in Istanbul. His dad thought his garrulous nature would make him a good lawyer, but Sel was inspired to become a teacher because Gulen considers it the highest form of service. The only way for Islam to survive godless modernity and regain a place in public life, Gulen believes, is through a new "golden generation" who can combine Western scientific thinking with religious belief. Hence the schools.

Sel signed on for Central Asia in 1993 and drew Shymkent, a city in southern Kazakhstan. "It wasn't even on a map or in the encyclopedia," he recalls. "There was no Internet then. But I was just out of university, I was single, and it was all a big adventure. Besides, we owed the people of Central Asia a moral debt. They are our brothers." Many Turks see Central Asia as their ancestral homeland and share an ethnic and linguistic bond with its people.(See pictures: "Looking Beyond the Veil.")

From Kazakhstan's then capital Almaty, Sel traveled by bus and shared car to the grim mining city and a shell of a school building donated by Kazakh authorities. "There was no heating. I taught in fur hat and gloves for months. We spent our weekends mixing cement and laying bricks." At first locals were wary of these strangers who couldn't speak their language, wore a tie even on weekends and refused vodka, as ubiquitous as water. "Everyone expected us to leave after a few months," Sel says. "But when we stayed, they embraced us."

Sel is now director of 28 high schools in Kazakhstan, from three when he first arrived. Entrance is by competitive exam. This year, 30,000 students applied for 1,400 spots and everyone I spoke to in Almaty, from a fashion editor to a construction magnate, wanted their child enrolled. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's nephews are among Sel's students.(See video: "Muslims Online Encourage Debate, Not Hate.")

Gulen, the 68-year-old retired imam behind this colossal enterprise has never visited Central Asia. He leads an ascetic life on an estate in Pennsylvania, where he has lived since 1999 for medical reasons, and to avoid facing (recently dropped) charges of seeking to overthrow the secular regime in Turkey. Gulen declined TIME's request for an interview, citing poor health.

His life mission has been to create a new Turkish-affiliated Muslim elite, well versed in science and technology, successful in a global free-market economy, yet extremely devout. The schools — they are autonomous, so not technically "his" — teach an English-language Western curriculum emphasizing science and math in the classroom (though creationism is offered as fact alongside evolution) and Muslim family-values-style conservatism outside it. In an era when most denominational schools are struggling, the Turkish schools, as they are known, are thriving.(See pictures of Islam's soft revolution.)

"Gulen propagates a kind of 'educational Islamism' as opposed to a 'political Islamism,' " says Bill Park, a defense studies lecturer at King's College, London, who covers Turkey. Through the schools, Park says, Gulen hoped to effect "an 'Islamization' of modernity."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1969290,00.html#ixzz1Yn7SUVKw

Community and Socialization

Often, modern approaches do not consider a particular community's mode of organization as being in line with modern society. The reason for this is that they believe the ideology of modernization increases individualism. This may be true to a certain extent; however, it is not a valid consideration or approach for all kinds of social order. Those who conceive formation of communities to be against modernization—that is, those who conceive it to be a social form that existed in the pre-modern period—consider individualism in modernity as a social given. In the West, the development of a new individualism is perceived as one of the most important gains of modern philosophical thought. All sorts of ideas concerning freedom and liberty emphasize individualism.

The Spiritual Life in Islam

a. Sufism, spiritual orders, and community

There is no record for the existence of spiritual orders, (tariqa), as a social phenomenon, in Muslim history during the time of the Companions and their followers (tabiun). The last half of the period of tabiun and the subsequent century is when the first Sufis appeared. Yet during these two centuries, Sufism was more in the form of personal ascetic experiences, rather than a social phenomenon. A Sufi, like a philosopher, is one who seeks "the truth." The Sufi's search for truth takes place in the domains of willpower, conscience, and heart; in other words the realm of absolute freedom.

Young Scholars say they don't follow Gulen principles

Sunday, September 04, 2011

By Mary Niederberger and Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Philadelphia Inquirer and New York Times in recent reports state that there are about 120 Turkish charter schools in 25 states.
The Philadelphia Inquirer in March reported that federal agencies, including the FBI and Department of Labor and Education, are investigating whether Turkish charter school employees are giving back part of their salaries to a Muslim movement led by Fethullah Gulen, an influential Islamic political figure who is living in self-imposed exile in the Poconos.
Mr. Gulen is founder of the Gulen Movement, which is based on a principle known as "hizmet" or service to the common good. He came to the U.S. in 1998 and as part of his legal argument for attaining a green card, he said the principles of the Gulen movement are the foundations for hundreds of schools established in North America, Europe and Asia.
Melih Demirkan, board president of the Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania charter school, said Mr. Gulen is "a well-known figure in Turkey, but we can't impose his teachings." He said that no money from the school would be diverted to Mr. Gulen's movement.
Levent Kaya, CEO of the Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School, said that his school is multicultural, not Turkish. "It's not my position to ask about staff nationalities or backgrounds," he said.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11247/1172076-298.stm#ixzz1X5nGgPOJ

A Real Muslim cannot be a Terrorist

It appears that al-Qaeda network has a cell in Turkey. You explained about the religious side of the matter. Does it have different meanings as well?

One of the people in the world I hate the most is [Osama] Bin Laden, because he spoiled the bright appearance of Islam. He created a dirty image. Even if we try to fix that terrible damage with all our best, it would take years.

We will tell about it everywhere in different platforms. We will write books about it. We will say, 'this is not Islam.' Bin Laden replaced Islamic logic with his feelings and desires. He is a monster, as are the men around him. If there is any one similar to them, they too are nothing more than monsters.

We condemn this observation. However, prevention of this in a world appears to be Islamic -and I stated earlier that I do not accept an Islamic world. There are only countries in which Muslims live- of Muslims solving their problems.

It becomes of question of will they think differently when they elect their leaders or will they do reforms. For the growth of well-groomed generations, Muslims should solve their problems. Not only in the terror issue, which is certainly not approved by God, but also drugs and cigarettes, which are another of God's prohibitions. Dissension should also be added to the list.

Hassles and not overcoming poverty are also frowned upon. To be lead by others in contempt, to put up with this leader, to always be insulted are others.

As [Mehmet] Akif [Ersoy] said: slavery, various troubles, addiction, accepting things out of habit and derision are commonplace. All of these are God's anathemas placed primarily on our nation. Overcoming of them, in my opinion, depends on being a just man and that is to be a man of Allah.

The Gülen Movement, Ahmet Kuru

The Gülen Movement

The Gülen movement developed a pro-globalization view in the 1990s. If my two hypotheses are correct, this movement should first, have benefited from international opportunity structures shaped by globalization, and second, have had a tolerant normative framework open to cross-cultural interactions.

The Gülen movement emerged in the late 1960s as a local group around I zmir. In the mid-1980s, it began to open educational institutions and spread to other parts of Turkey. As it spread geographically, it transformed from a local group into a nationwide social movement. Ties became more impersonal, and abstract principles prevailed instead of communitarian customs. In the 1990s, the Gülen movement experienced its second transformation. It changed from a national social movement into a transnational one by opening institutions internationally and gathering sympathizers from several nationalities.^[36]

What is Islam's Gülen Movement?

Founder Fethullah Gülen: His motives have been questioned in the past.

Turkey's Gulen movement, which promotes service to the common good, may have grown into the world's biggest Muslim network. Is it the modern face of Islam, or are there more sinister undercurrents?

From Kenya to Kazakhstan, a new Islamic network is attracting millions of followers - and billions of dollars.

Inspired by a little-known Turkish imam, the Gulen movement is linked to more than 1,000 schools in 130 countries as well as think tanks, newspapers, TV and radio stations, universities - and even a bank.

This massive network is unlike anything else. It has no formal structure, no visible organisation and no official membership.

Its supporters say they simply work together, in a loosely affiliated alliance inspired by the message of charismatic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who promotes a tolerant Islam which emphasises altruism, hard work and education.

Turkish businessmen are attracted by what they see as his international outlook and pragmatic approach to issues like using credit.

Fethullah Gülen: Contributions to Global Peace and the Inter-religious Dialogue

Are these the best of times or the worst of times for Muslim-Christian relations? Its hard to argue that these are the best of times when reliable social polling, such as that undertaken by the Pew Research Foundation, indicates a precipitous decline since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, across the entire Muslim world, in positive sentiment towards America and its western allies. Unfortunately, for many Muslims the ineptly titled 'Global War on Terror' feels more like a 'western war on Islam'. Tragically, the near-universal goodwill towards America in the wake of the horrible events of September 11, 2001 was not seized upon as an opportunity for cooperation between the US and the Muslim world. Instead, though ignorance and a single-minded rush to action, the moment was lost. It will be a long time before America, and the west in general, fully recovers the good standing it used to enjoy amongst ordinary Muslims everywhere. Through ineptitude much more than through malice the dubious efficacy of 'hard power' has washed away the work of a lifetime in building 'soft power', understanding and trust from Casablanca to Jayapura.

Muslim Networks and Movements in Western Europe

ANALYSIS September 15, 2010

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Gülen Movement

The Gülen movement refers to a cluster of religious, educational and social organizations founded and inspired by Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Islamic scholar, author and speaker now in his late 60s. The movement strives to give faithful Muslims the secular education they need to thrive in the modern world. At the same time, it also emphasizes the importance of traditional religious teachings. To this end, the movement has inspired the creation of a worldwide network of schools and other centers of learning that focus on secular subjects in the classroom but also offer extracurricular programs that emphasize religious themes.

By some estimates, there are now more than 1,000 Gülen-inspired schools and centers in more than 100 countries around the world.¹¹  In Germany, the European country with the strongest Gülen presence, there are at least a dozen of these schools and more than 150 smaller educational and cultural centers. While open to students of all backgrounds, Gülen-inspired schools in Europe typically cater to Turkish immigrants and their offspring.  Many of the schools charge tuition, but it is generally low because the schools are subsidized by wealthy supporters of Fethullah Gülen.

Snapshot: Gülen Movement

Origin
Began in Turkey in the late 1960s under the leadership of Islamic thinker Fethullah Gülen, who now lives in the U.S.

Stated Purpose/Goals 
Strives to show Muslims that they can live modern lives while remaining faithful to Islamic traditions; also encourages intercultural and interfaith dialogue.

Method/Activities
The movement spreads its vision mainly through Gülen-inspired schools that offer a modern, secular curriculum in a religious milieu. It also organizes conferences and other outreach activities, often with intercultural groups affiliated with the movement as well as with non-Muslim groups.

Representative Organizations/Key Figures 

• Fethullah Gülen is the founder of the movement.
• The Dialogue Society is a Gülen-affiliated outreach and research center in London.
• Forum Für Interkulturellen Dialog is a Gülen-affiliated outreach and research center in Berlin.

The Gülen movement lacks a centralized organizational structure, describing itself as a global cemaat, or “community,” whose primary mission is to reinforce the idea that Muslims can be both modern and faithful to Islamic traditions. It is perhaps best understood as an extensive and well-coordinated network of supporters, many of whom make sizeable donations to Gülen-linked foundations.¹²  The group’s priorities are set by Gülen, who entrusts a relatively small group of deputies to carry out his broad plans.

At the local level, the movement’s activities are coordinated by a network of “elder brothers,” who preside over the various centers affiliated with the movement.  Additionally, the movement sponsors a number of Turkish business associations in Western Europe, which play an important role in networking and facilitating communications among Gülen’s followers.

Gülen himself has been living in the United States for the past decade. He came to the U.S. for medical treatment in 1999 at a time when Turkish religious groups were under mounting pressure from the country’s secular military establishment. He decided to stay in the U.S. and eventually was granted permanent residency status. He now lives in a secluded compound in the Pocono Mountains in eastern Pennsylvania.

Origins of the Gülen Movement

The movement emerged in Turkey in the late 1960s when Fethullah Gülen began organizing reading groups in the homes of his closest followers in the western port city of Izmir. After establishing a presence throughout Turkey during the 1970s and ’80s, Gülen and his followers expanded their educational operations internationally, first to the Muslim-majority regions of what was then the Soviet Union and then, in the mid-1990s, to Western Europe.

The most direct intellectual inspiration for Gülen’s work came from the early 20th-century Turkish religious reformer Said Nursi, who combined aspects of traditional Islamic scholarship with modern scientific knowledge in the pursuit of social and political reform in and outside of Turkey.

Like Nursi, Gülen argues that a better understanding of the secular world deepens religious faith. Moreover, he believes that promoting Islam using traditional religious institutions, such as mosques andmadrasas (religious schools), is unlikely to work in a modern world in which success and social mobility are tied to the mastery of scientific and technical skills. Instead, he calls for an educational program that combines the rigorous study of modern, secular subjects with an extracurricular focus on spirituality and conservative religious values.

The Gülen Movement: a modern expression of Turkish Islam - Interview with Hakan Yavuz

Religioscope
21 Jul 2004

On first looking at the volume edited by M. Hakan Yavuz and John L. Esposito entitled "Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Gülen Movement" (Syracuse University Press, 2003), many people are likely to wonder who the man is pictured on the cover of the book. They will discover that he is Fetullah Gülen (b. 1938), an important figure in contemporary Turkish Islam. The book is a well-informed introduction by Western and Turkish experts to the Gülen movement – a movement that, as we shall see, sometimes looks more like a network.


This movement is one of the eight major groups derived from the work of the reformer Said Nursi (1873–1960), author of several volumes of Qur'anic exegesis known as Risale-I Nur. Nursi made an attempt to respond to the debates of his time (emergence of the new republic and Kemalist secularization efforts): he became the source of a powerful movement active in Turkey. Hakan Yasvuz explains:

"The Nur movement (also known as Nurculuk) differs from other Islamic movements in terms of its understanding of Islam and is strategy of transforming society by raising individual consciousness. As a resistance movement to the the ongoing statist modernization process in Turkey, it is forward looking and proactive."

Regarding the Gülen community, its impact is not limited to Turkey: putting into practice Nursi's educational ideals, the community has created more than 300 modern, high-quality schools (including high schools), not only in Turkey, but also in several other parts of the world (primarily in Central Asia and the Balkans, but also in more exotic places, such as Mongolia or Bangladesh as well as in some Western cities). The curriculums of these schools do not have any explicitly Islamic content. Gülen aspires to create an educated elite and does not see any conflict between reason and revelation. His schools also contribute to the development of Turkish influence abroad.