Toward an Islamic Enlightenment This page intentionally left blank Toward an Islamic Enlightenment The Gülen Movement M . H Y AKAN AVUZ 1 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Th ailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 © Oxford University Press 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yavuz, M. Hakan. Toward an Islamic enlightenment : Th e Gülen movement / M. Hakan Yavuz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–19–992799–9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Gülen, Fethullah. 2. Faith and reason—Islam. 3. Social movements—Religious aspects—Islam. I. Title. BP80.G8Y39 2013 297.092—dc23 2012006293 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Becir (1928–2009) and Nedime Tanovic and Edibe Sözen This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction: Islamic Enlightenment 3 PART ONE Man 23 1. Lives in Context 25 2. Th e Contextual Th eology of Gülen: Islamic Enlightenment 47 PART TWO Movement 69 3. Th e Structure of the Movement: Authority, Networks, and Opportunity Spaces 71 4. Education and the Creation of a “Golden Generation” 92 5. Islamic Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism: Pietistic Activism in the Market 117 PART THREE Meaning 131 6. Muslim Subjectivities: Islam in the Public Sphere 133 7. Secularism and Science: Gülen’s View 152 8. Th e Th eology of Interfaith Dialogue 173 9. Th e Clash of Political Visions: Th e Military and the JDP 198 10. Th e Critics of the Movement 221 Conclusion 243 Notes 249 Bibliography 277 Index 289 BULGARIA BLACK SEA 0 75 150 km GEORGIA Bosporus 0 75 150 mi AZER. GREECE Istanbul Hopa Samsun MSaeram oafra GemliKkocaeli (Izmit) Trabzon ARMENIA Dardanelles Bursa Ankara G Balikesir Eskiçsehir Sivas Euphrates Erzurum R AZER. EEC IzmMuarnisa ANATOLIA Kayseri L. Van Van IRAN E Konya Diyarbakir Kahramanmaraçs AESGEEAAN Antalya Içel (Mersin) Adana Gaziantep ÇSanli Urfa Tigris Iskenderun SYRIA IRAQ MEDITERRANEAN SEA CYPRUS Toward an Islamic Enlightenment