OBSERVATIONS ON THE
GULEN MOVEMENT
The collapse of the Ottoman caliphate was a watershed
dividing the classical and modern phases of Islam. Since
then the Turkish world has been wrenched away from its
Islamic heritage in pursuit of a modernity that is perceived
to be secular, scientific and atheistic. As is well-known
the Turkish establishment has prosecuted, banned and
suppressed the Islamic aspirations of the Turkish people in
the name of the secular ideals of the Turkish Republic.
It is in this context and within these parameters that
the religious thought of Fethullah Gülen has taken
shape over the last few decades. He has given his name to a
movement that is searching for an integral, viable
expression of Islamic spirituality within the often hostile
and suspicious framework of modern Turkey.
In contemporary Islam, as in all religions, there is a
spectrum of movements ranging from militant fundamentalist
to ultra-liberal modernist. The Gülen movement is
ranked as modestly liberal, with an emphasis on the
devotional rather than the social and political aspects of
Islam. In this it is a healthy development. Many reform
movements in today's Islam advocate nothing less than
wholesale appeasement to modern decadence. The Gülen
movement, on the other hand, is motivated by a pragmatic
assessment of modern conditions and a proportionate and
intelligent response to the modern impasse.
While fundamentalists far and wide clammer for a return
to Sharia Law, Gülen makes the sensible observation
that 95% of Sharia Law is of private rather than public
concern and that any robust legal system that prevents crime
and punishes wrong-doers easily satisfies the other 5%.
Similarly, on sensitive issues such as the veiling of
women (hijab) Gülen understands that while such matters
are symbolically potent, in the broader sweep of Islam they
are details, not essentials. His reading of the Koran also
seeks to develop a wholesome sense of proportion. There is
always an on-going "negotiation" between reader and Writ, he
says, or else the text falls dead. There is an unshakeable
core - the Unity of God - but peripheral matters are subject
to renewed interpretation by every generation. This is what
keeps the text, and the religious spirit, alive and prevents
its ossification.
No doubt many of these pleasing features of Gülen's
thought come from roots in the Turkish Sufi tradition.
Ataturk had outlawed the Sufi brotherhoods in Turkey, but no
amount of repression could remove the mystical spirit from
the Turkish soul, and it is from this that Gülen has
drawn much of his inspiration. Unlike most "liberal Islam"
the Gülen movement preserves some real spiritual depth
and a genuine piety. This is a hallmark of the educational
institutions the movement has sponsored. With a modern
curriculum teachers promulgate Islam through example rather
than direct indoctrination.
The shortcomings of the Gülen movement can largely
be explained by the restrictive environment in which it has
had to live. Like all "liberal" movements it has a somewhat
naive disregard for the Promethean dangers of modern science
and technology and an overly forgiving attitude to atheistic
ideologies that if left unchecked would, in fact, like to
eradicate religion from the face of the earth.
Similarly, and perhaps of most concern, Gülen
underestimates the tendency towards idolatry in the
patriotic ideologies of modern nation states. He promotes an
overtly "Turkish Islam" that is strong on nationalist and
ethnic rhetoric. It is a pity that the movement does not
have a more universalist perspective since Gülen's
ideas would benefit the whole Ummah and not just its Turkish
bloc.
Nevertheless, after Islam was eclipsed by the Turkish
secularists who dismantled the Caliphate and put Turkey on
the road to modernity, it can only be of benefit to the
whole of Islam that a new refinement of "Turkish Islam" is
taking shape. Increasingly, Muslims from outside the Turkish
world - and especially the new communities of Muslims who
have emerged in the West - are coming to know the Gülen
movement and the alternative perspectives it offers.
The dominant "flavour" of modern Islam has been Arabic.
The collapse of the Ottoman Empire re-empowered the Arabs
who again took possession of the Holy Places in Mecca and
Medina. But neo-Arabic Islam has been dominated by the
narrow backward-looking perspectives of the Wahhabis and has
failed to find an effective engagement with and response to
the conditions of modernity. In some measure, Islam has been
retarded by this. Worst of all, Wahhabi dominance has done
nothing to revitalise the esoteric core of Islam. The
religion has tended towards an empty externalism of ritual
obedience.
The Gülen movement is a welcome challenge to this
Arab "flavour" and it can only be healthy for Islam to have
a revival of the distinctively Turkish spirit with its
emphasis on social pragmatism and mystical piety. Among
modern movements Gülen's offers much. There can be no
question of the depth and sincerity of Gülen's faith
nor of his intelligent and humble search for a legitimately
modern expression of Islam in the Turkish context.
Gülen seems to understand that the best aspects of
tradition need to be preserved and revitalized by the
compensations that surely follow the religious decline of
modern times. This is not to suggest that Gülen has all
the answers. Contemporary Islam needs a dozen more
Gülen movements, each searching for ways through the
complex and toxic labyrinth of our troubled times.
Dr Abdu Razzaq Blackhirst
The Gulen
Movement Homepage
Site
Map