Customer Reviews

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

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Turkey is known with its peaceful Islamic movements and among them is the Nurcu movement to which Gulen belongs. Although the Turkish political establishment views Gulen's educational activities with suspicion, he preaches tolerance and co-existence in a pluralistic cultural environment. The book appears to be the first study, a compilation of good articles on the movement he leads. Some of the articles concentrate more on his ideas and views than analyzing the movement itself. Particularly noteworthy are pieces by Hakan Yavuz, Yasin Aktay, Elisabeth Ozdalga, Ahmet Kuru, John Voll and Hasan Kosebalaban. Overall the book is a timely study particularly in the context of strong anti-islamic movements around the world, with the rhetoric that Islam breeds violence. The book shows that this accusation is largely false using the empirical case of Gulen movement. It reminds the readers that Islam like any other religion is interpreted in a particular context shaped by political, social and economic conditions.

Content Summary: Fethullan Gulen, and the "Gulen Movement" is the focus of this book. Gulen is Turkish-born, from Erzurum, and began to make an impact as a mosque preacher in Izmir, Turkey. His primary emphasis since then has been educational, and in terms of "Islam and universal ethics." He believes the Creator was responsible for making all peoples, so that Islam must love and include all. Modern, scientific education, and the best, most inclusive values of Islam has been part of his doctrine. While many have criticized his support of the State and Nationalism, he has also been compelled to flee Turkish military authorities that consider him a threat to secular society.

Analytical Review: This is a "non-book" in the sense that it is a compilation of articles by multiple authors with different perspectives. While "non-books" can be very disjointed and disappointing at times, this book proves to be an exception. From reading it even an introductory student can piece together important aspects of Gulen's career, as well as that of Said Nursi, one of his mentors. On the whole an engaging read about a side of Islam that speaks of universal moral values...a side which should be more frequently emphasized.

As a first in this kind of academic attempt, this book is very successfull. The articles especially took my attention are ones from Elisabeth Ozdalga, Ahmet T. Kuru, and Zeki Saritoprak. Elisabeth Ozdalga's research subject is an interesting one which should be expanded in the future. Ahmet T. Kuru's article is compact and very well organized. I liked the conclusion part clever. 4 points explained in detail needs further detailing -which might be a subject for a whole new book-

Thank you to all the authors who contributed to such an excellent guidebook about the Gulen movement. This education-centered modernization is no doubt being watched by many people all around the world with an increasing curiosity. I would hope to see more books on this issue in the future.

Being the first academic book on Gulen, I think this book serves a very important purpose. The articles cover variety of his and his movement's aspects, neverthless there seems to be a lot of room for new studies to cover all of them. The most interesting articles are the ones written by Ahmet Kuru, Thomas Michel and Zeki Saritoprak. I congrulate all the authors and the editors of the book for their nice work. It is also very nice to have the book with this affordable price.

This academic work is of a high standard. It Brings out of the mist the work and thoughts of Gulen. He is a remarkable individual who serves others through different activities, particularly in these difficult times where Muslims and Islam are so misunderstood. Of speacial interest to me was the paper by Thomas Michel. I look forward to a greater analysis and research into his interfaith activities.