Islamic Political Identity in Turkey

the neo-nur movement of fethullah gülen 185The Gülen movement is of great signiWcance because of its Wnancial resources,vast educational network, and media outlets both in Turkey and abroad.The neo-Nur identity movement is the most ambitious and well-organized TurkishIslamic movement poised to eVect developments not only in Turkey but alsoin the Balkans and Central Asia. The followers of the neo-Nur movement seekto bring cultural frames to the forefront by investing new meanings in themwith the political goal of building Turkey as a regional power. No religious leaderin Turkey stresses action (aksiyon) more than Gülen; he does so because he isaware of the sociopolitical eVects of globalization on Turkey, and he takes theinitiative to mold minds and hearts through the movement’s Wnancial, educational,and media empires. 13 Moreover, the movement has managed to form asymbiotic relationship with the rising new Anatolian-Muslim bourgeoisie andhas used its enormous resources to challenge the assumptions of political andcultural superiority held by those in the Kemalist-secularist establishment.The Theology of Action: Hizmet, Himmet, and 8hlasAn examination of the formation of a new prototype of a religious intellectualand his transformation into a modern version of a hocaefendi reveals the modernizationof traditional practices and institutions. Gülen, for example, is not atraditional sheik but rather a new prototypical hocaefendi who has a series ofoverlapping roles as a modern intellectual and religious scholar. Three maincharacteristics diVerentiate Gülen from the traditional ulema. First, unlike theulema, whose references are the Qur’an and sunna, the reference points forGülen and the new class of Muslim intellectuals include rational reasoning andEuropean Enlightenment thought. Second, Gülen encourages independentthinking (the ulema, in contrast, guide the community and seek to preserve tradition,whereas these new Turkish Muslim intellectuals seek to encourage criticalthought). Gülen, in fact, has managed to juggle a remarkable mix of these twotraditions, which accounts for his enormous popularity with middle-class andurbanized Turks with religious sentiments. By realizing the power of ideas insocial change, Gülen stresses education for forming a class of Muslim intellectuals,who are rooted in the Turkish-Islamic tradition and able to breach the sharpcleavages caused by the Kemalist revolution. 14Another major characteristic of this modern hybrid of ulema-intellectual ishis ability to interpret Islamic precepts within the context of modern social conditions.He recontextualizes Islamic knowledge across diVerent social boundariesby making use of interpretation in an original and incisive fashion. Forexample, Gülen is well versed in works of such world writers as Kant, Shakespeare,Victor Hugo, Dostoyevsky, Sartre, and Kafka, and he uses their ideas toreinforce his reinterpretations of Islam to meet contemporary needs. 15Gülen has a charismatic appeal that is derived from his intellectual abilitiesand leadership skills, as is evidenced by his ability to develop close ties withthe state, bourgeoisie, and international religious institutions. However, thereasons for the growing inXuence of his movement go beyond his personal