The Gülen Movement

Fethullah Gulen was a Turkish scholar whose civic movement, rooted in moderate Islam, was committed to educating youth, fostering interfaith dialog, helping the needy and encouraging world peace. This book probes that movement from a sociological perspective.

The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, marked a watershed event not only for the United States but globally. Within hours of the events in New York and Washington, Muslims were targeted as the perpetrators. Suddenly, Americans r- eted to their television and computer screens learned that Muslims were not only some amorphous group in the Middle East but lived in American neighborhoods, worked in American workplaces, and went to school in American universities and even with their children in grammar and high schools. People all over America were asking: Who are these people? What do they believe? How can a religion promote the destruction of thousands of human lives? Suddenly, the news media as well as people all over the United States were fixated on a religion that was foreign to most of them. The following day, September 12, President Bush, while announcing his war on terror, warned the American people that not all Muslims are terrorists and that Islam is a peaceful religion which does not condone violence. He took the lead in framing the previous day's events as the actionsof a radical, extremist group within an otherwise peaceful religion. He called on Americans not to retaliate by attacking Muslims in their cities and neighborhoods.

The first book to describe Fethullah Gülen and the Gülen Movement from a sociological perspective Offers an interesting insight into the theological and socio-political views of one of the largest moderate Islamic movements Contains a chapter on the mechanisms of finance in the movement, a topic of great interest in the light of recent news events regarding Islamic financing of charities

Autorentext

Helen Rose Ebaugh, professor, University of Houston, received her Ph.D. in sociology from Columbia University in 1975 with specialties in organizational sociology and the sociology of religion. In addition to five research monographs and two edited books, she has published numerous articles in scholarly journals, including The American Sociological Review, Social Forces, The Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Sociological Analysis and The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. She served as president of the national Association for the Sociology of Religion, helped organize and served as the first chair of the American Sociological Association's Section on the Sociology of Religion and is past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Ebaugh received two consecutive research grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts to study religion and the new immigrants in the United States. With a major grant from the Lilly Endowment, she studied inter-faith coalitions and their provision of social services. She routinely teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the sociology of religion and the study of world religions.

Klappentext

This is one of the first academic books about Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish scholar and preacher, and the civic movement he inspired in Turkey and ultimately throughout the world. The movement is rooted in moderate Islam and is committed to educating youth, fostering interfaith and intercultural dialog, assisting the needy in society and contributing to global peace. Based on interview data and visits to Gülen-inspired institutions, the book describes the movement from a sociological perspective, especially through the lens of social movement theory. It is the first book, grounded in empirical methodology, to describe the movement to a Western audience. It will be of special interest to social scientists interested in religious movements, religious scholars seeking information on Islamic movements and the general public eager to discover a moderate Islam that promotes humanitarian projects.

Inhalt
Islam and the State Throughout Turkish History.- Fethullah Gülen: His Life, Beliefs and the Movement That He Inspires.- Social Organization in the Movement: The Network of Local Circles.- The Turkish-Islamic Culture of Giving*.- The Water for the Mill: Financing of Gülen-Inspired Service Projects.- Summary.