Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Global Impact of Fethullah Gulen Nur Movement (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)

This book examines recent reformations of Islam and culture in Turkey and the successful Islamic modernist Fethullah Gülen movement. Combining a devotion to Islam with love for modern learning, especially modern science, the Fethullah Gülen movement has gained a substantial following in Turkey over the past twenty years, and since 1991 has achieved great influence in Central Asia through the establishment of schools. Contributors explore the origins and establishment of the Gülen movement, its intellectual and religious formation, its spread across Turkey and Central Asia, and its influence on citizens outside the movement, including on leading Turkish politicians.

Contents

"Islam in the Public Sphere: The Case of the Nur Movement," M. Hakan Yavuz

"The Gülen Movement: The Turkish Puritans," M. Hakan Yavuz

"The Gülen Movement's Islamic Ethic of Education," Bekim Agai

"Fethullah Gülen as Educator," Thomas Michel "Following in the Footsteps of Fethullah Gülen: Three Women Teachers Tell Their Stories," Elisabeth Özdalga

"Fethullah Gülen's Search for a Middle Way Between Modernity and Muslim Tradition," Ahmet Kuru

"Diaspora and Stability: Constitutive Elements in a Body of Knowledge," Yasin Aktay

"Fethullah Gülen: A Sufi in His Own Way," Zeki Sar Toprak

"The Making of Enemy and Friend: Fethullah Gülen's National Security Identity," Hasan Kösebalaban

"National Loyalties and International Undertakings: The Case of the Gülen Community in Kazakistan," Berna Turam

"Ijtihad and Tajdid by Conduct: The Gülen Movement," Ihsan Yilmaz