Islamic Political Identity in Turkey

186 islamic political identity in turkeycharisma. First, it has reproduced a new vision of “contemporary Islam” thatoVers a set of options for people to be both Muslim and modern, European andMuslim, and Muslim and Turk, a national identity that is composed of national(Turkish-Ottoman) and religious (Sunni Islam) symbols. Second, his movementhas adopted the global discourse of human rights and developed complex tieswith the national bourgeoisie and the state. Finally, the movement has activatedthe inner mobilizing ideas of society by “inviting” Turks to take part in the constructionof a new powerful Turkey.Gülen wants to inXuence the full range of social and political processespertaining to modern life. He therefore emphasizes the vital role of markets,education, and the media. A well-ordered ideal society, for Gülen, is based on apowerful state and vigorous market that, in turn, presupposes an adequatelydeveloped educational system, in which terbiye (building character) and talim(teaching modern sciences) are combined with discipline. This moral convictionto empower the Muslims of Turkey could only be derived from Islam, thatis, the shared mental map of the Turks. 16In other words, the morality of conviction and the morality of responsibilitycreate a sort of worldly activism that seeks to transform this world for thesake of the other world. This balance between conviction and responsibility inthe construction of a new Muslim Turkey is realized in terms of the decisivequality of self-control and self-discipline under the purposive will to act in thename of religion that helps to (trans)form one’s civilization. The goal of education,for Gülen, is to inculcate Turkish-Islamic values through terbiye and teachingscientiWc knowledge. Gülen’s group diVerentiates itself from other Islamicmovements by stressing the importance of ethics in education and the businessworld. In other words, Gülen moves his focus from Islam to public ethics andfrom identity to education; a well-ordered, disciplined society is a logical outcome.Gülen considers education and the media to be key instruments in theformation of this ethics and consciousness (7uur).In order to achieve his goal, Gülen invokes three inner mobilizing conceptsof Turkish society: hizmet (rendering service to religion and state); himmet (givingdonations and protecting good work); and ihlas (seeking God’s appreciationfor every action). Gülen not only does mobilize the hearts and minds of millionsof Turks but also succeeds in convincing them to commit to the mission of creatinga better and more humane society and polity. By stressing social synergy—the willingness of Muslims to act from their ideals and conception of goodlife—Gülen is a religious modernist and a social innovator. The practice of hizmet,or religiously motivated labor, is used to restructure society according to Islamicideals. Hizmet easily could be used for civic concerns in education, healthcare,media, and new sets of associations to build a public ethics of interaction. Byemploying people in its educational, media, and other activities, the movementteaches the way in which social capital is built and put into practice in the Turkishsociety. In short, hizmet functions as social capital by bringing people togetherfor a collective goal in terms of rendering their time and resources to create apositive environment for the realization of speciWc goals. These hizmet activitiesalso help to build interpersonal trust and a code of ethics.