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THE GLEN HIZMETMOVEMENT AND ITS

TRANSNATIONALACTIVITIES

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THE GLEN HIZMETMOVEMENT AND ITS

TRANSNATIONALACTIVITIESCase Studies of Altruistic Activism

in Contemporary Islam

Edited bySophia Pandya & Nancy Gallagher

BrownWalker PressBoca Raton

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The Glen Hizmet Movement and its Transnational Activities:Case Studies of Altruistic Activism in Contemporary Islam

Copyright Sophia Pandya & Nancy GallagherAll rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any formor by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, with-

out written permission from the publisher.

BrownWalker Press

Boca Raton, Florida USA

ISBN-: ---(paper)ISBN-: ----(paper)

ISBN-: ---(ebook)ISBN-: ----(ebook)

www.brownwalker.com

Front cover: Ebru tulip.Photo taken by Nancy Gallagher, Nigde, Turkey.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Gulen Hizmet movement and its transnational activities : casestudies of altruistic activism in contemporary Islam / edited bySophia Pandya and Nancy Gallagher.

p. cm.Includes bibliographical references.ISBN (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN

(pbk. : alk. paper). Religious life--Sufism--Case studies. . Sufism--Doctrines--Case

studies. I. Pandya, Sophia, - II. Gallagher, Nancy Elizabeth,-

BP.G .'--dc

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Table of Contents

Introduction: The Hizmet Movement AbroadSophia Pandya ................................................................................................

SECTION I:INTERFAITH DIALOGUES

. The Characteristics and Appeal of the Hizmet MovementMichael J. Fontenot & Karen A. Fontenot...................................................

. The Hizmet Movement in the Dialogue between Muslimand Christian Religious TraditionsPim Valkenberg............................................................................................

. Humanism in Islam and East Asia:Glens Vision in Dialogue with East Asian Religious CulturesHeon C. Kim ................................................................................................ . Hizmet Intercultural Dialogue Trips to TurkeyNancy Gallagher ...........................................................................................

SECTION II:HIZMET,WOMEN,AND GENDER

. Creating Peace on Earth through Hicret(Migration):Women Glen Followers in AmericaSophia Pandya ..............................................................................................

. Framing Womens Issues in The FountainMagazineFran Hassencahl .........................................................................................

. Gender and Leadership in the Glen Movement:Women Affiliates Contributions to East-West EncountersMargaret Rausch .........................................................................................

. Using the Glen Movement to Broaden Discussions in the

West concerning Muslim WomenApril L. Najjaj ..........................................................................................

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THE GLEN HIZMET MOVEMENT

SECTION III:SCHOOLSAROUND THEWORLD

. Glen-Inspired Schools in Australia and Their Fundingemen Polat ................................................................................................

. Promoting Multicultural Harmony in Nigeria:The Glen-Inspired SchoolsHasan Aydin & Stephen K. Lafer.............................................................

. The Role of Education in Kosovo:The Contribution of the Glen MovementJeton Mehmeti .............................................................................................

Contributing Authors..........................................................................

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Introduction:The Hizmet Movement Abroad

SOPHIA PANDYA

This volume of essays on the Glen, or Hizmet (service) movement,a Turkish, Sufi Muslim, and humanitarian civil society group,analyzes the recent activities of its participants to practice their formof Islam and carry out their collective projects at the internationallevel. It adds to the newly burgeoning discourse by focusing on the

ways in which members challenge ideological and sectarianboundaries. The Glen movement is the largest and most powerfulreligious movement in Turkey. The last few years, Hizmetparticipants, outside of Turkey, have sponsored at least five hundred(I have been told the number has now reached one thousand)schools, organized Glen-inspired institutes that host lectures,cooking classes, Turkish language classes, art programs, interfaithactivities, charitable events, lecture series, and womens coffee

nights. They have organized business groups, student associations,and trips to Turkey for academics, journalist, businesspeople, leadersin law enforcement, and other prominent persons. For the past threeyears (, , and ) in Southern California, Hizmetparticipants have put on a large and popular cultural festival, theAnatolian Cultures and Food Festival. The Glen movement maywell be the largest and the most successful transnational Muslimoutreach movement of the contemporary age. Given that in recent

years, Islamic movements have been commonly (and unfairly)associated with pubic spectacles of violence, the activities of thisincreasingly prominent group should be better known in the West.Turkey is poised to join the European Union, a move the groupsupports, and in many ways it is a western country, although theWest does not often embrace it as such. Turkeys dominance in theMiddle East is on also the riseit is a stable country with ademocratic form of governmentespecially today when manyMiddle Eastern autocrats are being foisted from office throughgrassroots protests. Turkeys prominence as a regional power isillustrated by the role it played in during the uprising in Syria,calling for extensive reforms in Syria, and hosting refugee camps inTurkey for those Syrians fleeing from Bashar al-Assads repressive

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government and the heavy handed violence of his military. Sheddinglight on the international activities of this significant Turkishmovement offers new ways to understand a facet of Turkeys global

influence, and new ways to understand Muslim activism.While much previous scholarly attention has focused on thetheological and philosophical ideas of Fethullah Glen (b. ), themovements inspirational figure, more attention should be paid tothe ways in which participants have interpreted and carried outGlens messages, in particular his ideas regarding service, education,and interfaith activities at the global level. Here I turn to discussterminology, historically contextualize the movement, consider the

objectives and results of some of the endeavors of those involved atthe international level, and present an overview of the chapters inthis book.

DefinitionsWhile all terms are reductive, it is worth considering some of thosecommonly used to label this group, even though I have already usedsome of the adjectives I am about to problematize. Here I offer a

word of caution for those using the terms religious, Muslim,political, and Islamist, when referring to the movement, althoughfollowers are certainly religious, Muslim, and although some criticshave argued that the movement ultimately has political goals. Thegroup does not proselytize Islam, and while it certainly promotesspecific Islamic principles, members are trying to achieve positivesocial change by furthering universal values of tolerance, dialogue,and peace through their educational and other secular service

activities. They are not attempting to spread Islam to non-Muslims,and other than interfaith dialogue, the activities they carry out abroadare social, cultural, or educational in nature. Of course, the veryhizmet, or service, that they are carrying out through these activities ispart of their religious practice, but the activities themselves are notreligious. As for the political nature of the movement, Graham E.Fuller notes that it is the most wealthy movement in Turkeypossessing powerful institutions; yet he argues that it can only be

considered to have political goals if we consider any attempt totransform society to be a political project, otherwise the movementis more correctly described as a social or moral project (Fuller, , ). While there is a political dimension to all religiousmovements, because the group promotes a secular form ofgovernment, it cannot be called Islamist.

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INTRODUCTION

The Movements NameGlen has said he does not like the term the Glen movement,because of the emphasis on his person, preferring the Hizmet

movement, because this stresses the service of those involved(Ebaugh , ). Glen has spoken of the importance ofindividual service, in the form of helping other people, as a keycomponent of Muslim life. This helping of others is thought to bepersonally purifying and a tool to avoid sin, since the individual willbe engaged in altruistic activities and have little time left to commitegotistical deeds. Working hard in this way is also believed to helpwith ones fate on judgment day (Agai , ). Known to be

restless himself, Glen encourages participants to accomplish asmuch as they can so that they can contribute in every way to thegoals of the movement (Agai , ). Indeed, scholars, such asFuller, have compared the participants work ethic to that of earlyCalvinists (, ), and it is hard not to agree that some parallelsexist, although there are limits to the resemblance. Offering highquality, scientifically focused education for youth is one of themovements key objectives, and indeed service, work, and education

have become imbued with religious meaning (Agai , -).Nonetheless, the term the Glen movement is currently widelyused in the extant academic literature, for greater recognition. Thecontributors to this volume have used both the Hizmetmovement, and the Glen movement, in light of theseperspectives.

Personal History with the Group

My own experiences with the movement have taken place over thelast decade. In , I met several Turkish women who weregraduate students in Santa Barbara, CA, when I was also in graduateschool, and because of my interest in mystical Islam, they invited meto their homes for weekly readings (in English) of the works of SaidNursi (-). A Sufi, philosopher and religiously inspirationalfigure, Nursi argued that there was no contradiction between scienceand religion, and that there was no need to consider Eastern

civilization at odds with Western civilization (Aras and Caha ,). For several years, we would drink strong Turkish tea, nibble oncookies, and discuss a passage selected for that week. I later foundout that thousands of people in Turkey were also meeting in smallgroups (dershanes) to read Nursi. His work, Risale-i Nur (Letters ofLight), became quite popular in the s onward in Turkey. The

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Nur movement, inspired by Said Nursi, led in part to the develop-development of the Glen movement. However, it is important notto consider Glens Hizmet movement as an extension or

branch of the former; there is no institutional relationship.Participants see the Hizmet movement as unique, and Nursi as onlyone of the figures out of many that helped to shape Glens thought.The Glen movement is now quite independent, and classical Nur-inspired movements are still in practice.

Involved in dissertation writing, I did not become aware of theGlen movement until , when some of these same friends beganto speak of a Glen-inspired institute in Southern California they

were attending, founded in .

One reason that I had not beenexposed to Glens work through my reading group is that whileNursis work has been well known and long translated into English,the bulk of Glens work has only been translated into English in thelast decade. One had moved to a group home in my neighborhoodwith other participants. These group homes, I discovered, are knownas iik evler, literally houses of light, or Glen-inspired studentdormitories. My friend told me that living there helped her to re-

main pious while living abroad. Participants seemed a little over-worked as they balanced their many activities at the institute withfull-time work and personal lives. At the time, it seemed as a friendlyoutsider, the focus had suddenly changed, and I began to be occa-sionally invited to small events held at the institute that my friendsfrequented. From my perspective, in recent years the California-based group has become even more organized and ambitious, hold-ing larger events, such as the Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival,

and Friendship Dinners held at elegant hotels. They also began send-ing scholars, businesspeople and media personnel on paid trips toTurkey.

The Movement in HistoryVarious scholars have written about the historical stages of thismovement (Lorasd , - and Yavuz b, -). M.Hakan Yavuz, a prominent political scientist, observed that it

evolved from building a religious community to creating a global,faith-inspired educational system (b, -). Berrin KoyuncuLorasd, also a political scientist and an authority on politicalthought in Turkey, described three periods: -, its emergencein Turkey; -, its expansion; and -, its retreat(Lorasd , ). Its inspirational figure, Fethullah Glen,

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INTRODUCTION

known to his supporters as Hocaefendi (respected religious leader),was born in Eastern Anatolia in . A preacher since , he gavespeeches in coffee houses, taught at the Kestanepazar Quranic

School, encouraged the founding of schools, held educationalsummer camps for students, and established reading groups andhouse of light dormitories (dershanesand isik evler). From the outset,Glen, like Nursi, was also concerned with reconciling religion andscience, and believed educating Turkish youth in both subjects wouldcreate a modern Muslim who would be spiritual and moral, andalso capable of participating in the modern, globalizing world(Lorasd , ). During these early years the movement was

cautious in its relationship to the State, and promoted state securityin defense against the rise of leftist groups (Yavuz b, ).The second stage witnessed the expansion of the movement in

Turkey and abroad, with Glen bringing together people from avariety of backgrounds, rich, poor, Turks, Kurds, and even non-Muslims (Aras and Caha , ). In Turkey, the movementestablished several institutions such as Zamannewspaper in , aRadio channel, Bur FM, and a plethora of other financial, and high

quality educational institutions including several universities(Lorasd, ). The interfaith movement began in the s aswell, during a decade that witnessed widespread corruption, aneconomic meltdown, and heightened public insecurity. Glensanswer to these crises was to advocate all forms of dialogue. In thisspirit, he met with the Pope, the Greek Patriarch, and other religiousleaders (Fuller , ). As a member explained, the point ofinterfaith dialogue is to find the cures for societys ills. We want to be

able to engage the heart and the mind. We can only fly with twowings, heart and mind.By , The Fountainmagazine, publishedin English, was also founded. The Glen movement had becomelarge, influential, and powerful, and had begun to establish a networkof Glen-inspired schools in Turkey and abroad (including Ethiopia,Yemen, the US, and many other locations; those abroad have beencalled Peace Islands, (Lorasd , ). These schools, whichfocus on science and technology and are often taught in English,

have attracted the children of elites of those countries, turning outpromising graduates (Aras and Caha , ). Those students ofGlen-inspired high schools in Turkey have consistentlyoutperformed their peers (Yavuz b, ). Until this period, theHizmet movement remained largely apolitical. However, thesecularist Kemalists remained suspicious of Glens motives,

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regardless of his attempts to convey his support for the State and themilitary. In fact, critical of extremist Islamic governments such asIran and Saudi Arabia, Glens policy was to remain as neutral as

possible politically (Aras and Caha , ).Nevertheless, the third stage began around when Glenbegan to face intense legal confrontations and a critical military.Some Kemalists were deeply uncomfortable with the movementsstrong external connections, fearing a threat to a secular Turkey(Yavuz b, ). After leaving to the United States where hecurrently resides, he stopped speaking of his loyalty to the State, andchanged his focus to the promotion of human rights and democracy

(Lorasd

, -). Lorasd

characterizes this period as aretreat because of Glens relocation abroad and new focus. Yet,since the movement has continued to expand during this period, inTurkey, and particularly at the global level, this term is inadequate.Indeed, the movements external prominence increases every year,and thus a better descriptive name for this period would be theHizmet movementabroad, the title of this introduction.

Hizmet Organization and FundingGlen-inspired projects abroad, such as the wide-reaching networkof educational institutes, Turkey trips for scholars and otherprominent public figures, interfaith events, friendship dinners, andcharitable activities, require substantial financial resources. TheTurkish value of hospitality and generosity explains part of themovements ability to raise funds (Ebaugh and Baskal , -).

These projects are dependent on fundraising carried out in circles of

Turkish businessmen, professionals, and other working peoplesparticipating in the movement, and on average percent of onesyearly income is donated, with a smaller group able to donate over percent (Ebaugh , ). There is no fixed rule; people give whatthey can. One friend in California told me that if she or her husbandreceive a phone call from another follower asking for funds for aproject, if they have any means of giving it at all, they simply giveiteven if it means accruing credit card debt. Those that give and

are able to be otherwise active are admired by others, and indeedfrivolous spending on flashy cars, etc. is not generally approved of inthe movement. Participation does seem to involve a degree ofWeberian asceticism; however, another member laughed when Ispoke of the lack of Mercedes Benz and BMWs at events, and saidthat he would, in fact, purchase a BMW, because of its safety record

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INTRODUCTION

and utilitarian form, when he could afford to. After chuckling abouthis desire for that luxury car, he acknowledged that the movementdoes espouse the idea of living a reserved, simple, life. Clearly, each

participant is a distinct individual, and diversity exists within thecommunity. No formal membership to the group exists but ratherinformal networks (circles) of those who are willing to donate.Ebaugh notes that the circles are structured around physical locationand careers, and that those who donate also engage in mutuallybeneficial networking (Ebaugh , -).

Goals of Hizmet while on Hicret (hijrahor migration)

What are the goals of these international outreach activities, andwhat is achieved? This is a matter of some dispute, and certainly afew Turkish secularists fear that Glen and Hizmet participantsultimately aim (through all of their projects) to create an Islamic statelike Iran in Turkey, endangering the very character of the modernrepublic. This fear is wildly unfounded and smacks of paranoia:Glen himself is highly critical of revivalist Islamic regimes (Yavuzb, ), and participants have repeatedly stated that they have no

plan to create a Turkish theocracy. The group has no history ofmilitancy or the use of any form of jihadist rhetoric; Glen himselfdisapproves of violence used towards any political goal (Ebaugh, ). The ongoing annual roundtable Abant Platforms (-present), organized by Hizmet participants, bringing together variousTurkish intellectuals of diverse backgrounds, have resulted in a seriesof declarations that promote the compatibility of Islam with asecular, democratic state, and support human rights and pluralism

(Akyol , - and Yavuz b, ). Suspicious of religiousgroups, Turkish Kemalists, inspired by Mustafa Kemal Atatrk(-), founder of modern Turkey, believe the State should beuncompromisingly secular.This secularism was and is understood asmodern, in the sense that Talal Asad, an influential anthropologistwho writes on the concepts of secularism and modernity, offerswhen he notes that the term modernity is commonly associatedwith contemporary developments in the Western world and (so-

called) Western undertakings such as secularism, capitalism,democracy, human rights. He argues that it is something thatcertain people in power seek to achieve, something that oftendevalues local culture and values (Asad , -). The practice ofIslam, then, has been seen as detracting from modern (i.e.Western) projects both by Orientalist scholars and by those in power

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at the governmental level promoting a secularist view (Yavuz andEsposito , xvi-xvii). In Turkey, secularism, as a nationalundertaking, has been used to justify the marginalization and

oppression of those practicing Islam in the public realm. The wellknown theory of contesting modernities, put forth by the latesociologist Schmuel N. Eisenstadt, applies well to the Glen project.Participants alternatively seek to create a society that values religionand indigenous Anatolian culture, but which can participate fully inthe globalizing world and in many of the same facets of modernitythat Asad describes, including the pursuit of democracy, capitalism,and human rights (Eisenstadt , ). This movement, thus,

offers and promotes a different form of modernity, both in Turkeyand abroad, in which the West is not The Great Satan, andspirituality is not marginalized.

According to Lorasd, the movement has two primary goals.The first is to create a new generation of moderate, spiritual Muslimsable to engage with democracy and the contemporary world. Thesecond is to expand the influence of Turkish culture at the globallevel, to create allies abroad, and even to make Turkish a world

language (, -). She notes that Glen wants Turkey to onceagain become a global power as it had been during the Ottomanperiod (). These latter comments seem to contrast with othertypes of discourse presented by followers and by much of Glensmessage of interfaith dialogue, tolerance, and global peace, althougha form of Turkish-Ottoman nationalism undoubtedly does play arole in this picture, as other scholars have noted (Yavuz b, ).One participant, responding to this line of thought, noted that she

does not believe Glen wants to spread Turkishness just for thesake of gaining power for Turkey, but rather in order to promoteSufi Islam as found during the Ottoman times as a model for othercommunities, because of its mystical emphasis, focus on love andpiety, promotion of dialogue and tolerance, and ability to synthesizewith modernity, all of which Glen believes would be of benefit toMuslims and all of humanity.Thus the Ottoman past is not trum-peted as uniquely glorious in a nationalistic way, but used as an ex-

ample from which Glen drew since he and other Turks were famil-iar with it, and because Ottoman Sufism reflects values he wished tohighlight as truly Islamic and humanitarian. Another follower addedthat since Atatrks era, the Ottoman past has been ignored, despiteits positive contribution as a model of peaceful coexistence betweengroups. Graham E. Fuller calls this a cultural lobotomy aimed at

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INTRODUCTION

erasing Ottoman history from Turkish memory (Fuller , ). Healso describes the Ottoman Empire as one of the most successfuland stable models of a multiethnic and multicultural empire of its

time (). Sociologist Helen Rose Ebaugh notes that Glen believesthat just as Turks played a pivotal and religious and cultural roleunder the Ottomans for centuries, Turkey is now poised to lead theMuslim world into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries with em-phasis on dialogue, science and education (Ebaugh , ). G-len, then, idealizes the Ottomans not for their muscle but becausethey lived in accordance with Islam (Yavuz b, ). This Islamis pious, intellectual, mystical, engaged in every area of life, and ex-

traordinarily focused on activity in the public realm: charity, inter-faith work, networking, and politics. The participant went on tomention that he believes Glen emphasizes Ottoman pride to instillconfidence in the Turkish community, so that members can feelmore self-assured when they go abroad. He also pointed out that hesees change occurring in the discourse on the importance of Turk-ishness, or the great Ottoman past, in the movement, amongstthose participants like himself that have gone abroad. Clearly, as

the group gains global prominence, its message will have to becomemore universal if it wants to attract peoples from other areas of theworld, and members are likely quite aware of this issue, and indeed Ihave noticed a greater emphasis on universality in recent years.

Several other goals may also be identified. Many Hizmetparticipants that I have met speak of wanting to have Muslims andIslam accepted by non-Muslims abroad, especially in the post-September th environment in which Islamophobia has become

well-rooted. Some also wish to promote positive images of Turkeyand the greater Anatolian region, as well as enhance the tarnishedimage of Islam. They speak of building bridges between communitiesthrough intercultural/interreligious dialogue, in order to promotepeace and understanding, and to counter stereotypical images ofMuslims and Middle Easterners. Indeed, education, interfaithdialogue, and charitable activities are emphasized by Glen asforming part of the individual Muslim duty of hizmet, or service.

Glen encourages participants to take part in hicret, (hijrah ormigration) in order to reach others more effectively, as the ProphetMuhammad did when he left Mecca for Medina, and as the earliestMuslims did when they went abroad to spread Islam. This hicretentails living abroad and being active promoting the movementsgoals, and indeed those participants that I have met in the US have

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spoken of carrying out hizmetwhile on hicret.Yet, other outcomes ofthese international activities, intentional or not, are to favorablyposition the Turkish immigrant communities abroad, and to create a

network of allies through its events, trips, and dinners, which ofcourse generate social capital that can be used to support themovements humanitarian goals. These events also enhance thevisibility of their activities, and clearly, the group would like to beknown. For those that will not be returning to Turkey because ofreligious persecution (women are not allowed to wear headscarves atTurkish universities and many Turkish secularists consider themovement to be a cult or worse), creating and maintaining a

friendly relationship with communities in the new host country is anunderstandable priority.

Issues of GenderA few comments on gender roles are merited here. The movementhas been accused of being male oriented (Lorasd , ).When in Turkey, I did notice some truth to that claim: some of theGlen-inspired schools I visited had many more male pupils than

females, and few females are in high ranking leadership positions inthe movement. While Glen has promoted womens education andparticipation in the public realm, he has also often emphasized theimportance of their domestic roles as socializing agents of children(Ebaugh , ). However, a point in the Abant PlatformDeclarations states that women should not be restricted bytraditions that are presented as religiously based (Fuller , ).While gender relations in this community certainly reflect the

patriarchal culture of Turkey and a socially conservative, family-values type of worldview, my concern is that to characterize themovement in this way serves to devalue and make invisible theenormous and active contribution of women followers, many ofwhom are utterly knocking themselves out to build bridgesbetween communities, carry out charitable work, and to create amore peaceful world in Glens vision. Indeed, many of the womenHizmet participants that I have met or interviewed in California have

or are working toward degrees in science, computer science, orengineering, which are male-dominated fields. In fact, some womenhave chosen to work outside of Turkey in these fields, in part,because they would not be able to work in Turkey while wearing aheadscarf. Others are working in a variety of sectors or taking atemporary break from their careers to raise small children. Often

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INTRODUCTION

Glen-inspired institutes where followers meet have a womenswing, where women meet comfortablyin a women-centeredspaceto discuss their own projects, organize events, or make items

to sell for fundraising purposes. One woman follower, familiar withcriticism regarding the lack of womens leadership, said that in factshe had been invited by local Glen leaders to participate at a higherlevel, but that because of her commitments to career and family shedid not feel comfortable taking on further responsibilities, althoughshe might in the future. As the movement itself is relatively young,those participants I have come across are under forty, many raisingvery young children without extended family to help, which makes

life quite busy for both men and women. Those I interviewed inCalifornia told me that gender roles are changing as the group settlesand adapts to the greater U.S. culture. Men help out their wives moreat home than they did in Turkey and events are often not gendersegregated. As the Hizmet communities settle in a variety ofinternational locations, local culture will doubtless influence andshape them in differing ways, especially for the subsequentgenerations.

Review of ChaptersThis volume contains eleven chapters, which are organized intothree sections, titled Interfaith Dialogues, Hizmet, Women andGender, and Schools around the World. In the first section, thefirst chapter is about the international appeal of the movement.Michael J. Fontenot and Karen A. Fontenot discuss the ways inwhich the movement offers a form of revitalized Islam that is

attuned with developed industrial societies. As noted by Fontenotand Fontenot, despite its origins, the movement has attractedextensive support outside of Turkey: in the United States, Canada,Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Here, theauthors shed light on the criticism of this phenomenon. The second,by Pim Valkenberg, looks at the interfaith activities of thismovement, and describes how followers understand their roles asbridge builders between Muslim communities and other religious

communities in the West. Valkenberg also looks at points ofcomparison between the movement and certain Catholic religiouscommunities. The third, by Heon C. Kim, analyzes Glenshumanism in dialogue with East Asian cultures, and suggests thatGlens dialogic vision of humanism may create an alternative pathfor humanity in the globalized age. The fourth, by Nancy Gallagher,

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discusses the impact of the Hizmet-sponsored trips to Turkey. Todate, more than Americans have traveled to Turkey at theinvitation of Hizmet institutes and have returned to support the

activities of the Turkish immigrant circles. While appreciative of theircarefully organized tours, trip participants have also offeredforthright criticisms of aspects of the movement.

In the second section, titled Hizmet, Women, and Gender, thefifth chapter, by Sophia Pandya, focuses on female followers of themovement in the United States. She looks at the ways in whichwomen understand their contributions and involvement in themovement, and also at ways in which carrying out their hicret in the

U.S. has reshaped communal gender norms for both men andwomen. Her informants told of the freedom from tensions in Turkeythey felt in the U.S., and about exploring new ways to be Muslimwomen. The sixth, by Fran Hassencahl, analyzes the depiction ofwomen in the English-language Fountainmagazine, which is aimed atinternational readers. Circulating in the U.S., Europe, and otherregions, this magazine is run by the Hizmet community. The seventhchapter, by Margaret Rausch, examines womens roles in Hizmet

activities in the U.S. She looks at the way in which leadership isunderstood in the movement to be connected to hizmet, or service,and that this form of service-oriented leadership furthers spiritualunderstanding. Both women and men take part in role-modeling as ameans of demonstrating their commitment to the Hizmetcommunity and to help lead others. April Najjaj writes the eighthchapter, in which she discusses ways Western scholars can talkabout women in Islam through a case study of movement. She

discovers commonalities in the ways in which men and womentransnationally navigate gender norms, as they renegotiate roles andpriorities to meet the transforming demands.

The third section is titled Schools around the World. Here, theninth chapter examines the funding and organization of Hizmetschools in Australia. eman Polat explores the reasons behind theopening of sixteen private Turkish schools in Australia. She exam-ines issues of funding and curriculum, and argues that the schools in

Australia are excelling in the arts and social sciences and offer uni-versal humanistic values. Despite suspicions that Glen-inspiredschools have often attracted, Australias system of public-privatefunding for schools has resulted in a successful neoliberal economiccollaboration. The tenth focuses on schools in Nigeria. Hasan Aydinand Stephen K. Lafer note the ways in which the Glen-inspired

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INTRODUCTION

Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NTIC) have become centraleducational institutions in Nigeria. Here they discuss the roles theseschools play in issues of sectarianism, class, and ethnic rivalries in

Nigeria. The eleventh, by Jeton Mehmeti, treats the role of educationin Kosovo. Mehmeti considers the phenomenon of student dormito-ries in Glen-inspired schools in Kosovo, where the movement hasoffered tutorial assistance, and organized interfaith and interculturaldialogues that are popular with parents and students of diverse back-ground.

Conclusion

Taken together, these essays explain how the international move-ment is organized, structured, and institutionalized in many parts ofthe world. Several of the essays address criticisms and evaluations ofthe movement and suggest new directions for further research. TheHizmet movements scope, methodology, and goals differ signifi-cantly from those of other Islamic revival movements, and indeed,the contributions of its participants have created networks of inter-faith groups, first-rate educational institutions, and spaces for inter-

cultural dialogue, as well as the celebration of many aspects of Turk-ish culture abroad. The impact of these activities is only now beingassessed. Jacob K. Olupona, distinguished scholar of indigenousAfrican religions, writes about the connections between globalizationand transnational immigrant communities, has noted that immigrantscan transform the local into a new cohesion that retains a non-Western memory within a Western environment (Oluponu , ).Wherever immigrant groups of Hizmet participants travel to perform

their serviceabroad, be it in the U.S., the Balkans, Yemen, or Africa,they will both shape their new local and be shaped by it. The fol-lowing chapters shed light on these transformations.

ReferencesAgai, Bekim. The Glen Movements Islamic Ethic of Education.

In Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Glen Movement. Edited

by M. Hakan Yavuz and John L. Esposito. Syracuse, NY: Syra-cuse University Press, .Aras, Bulent and Omer Caha. Fethullah Gulen and His Liberal

Turkish Islam Movement. In Revolutionaries and Reformers: Con-temporary Islamist Movements in the Middle East. Edited by Barry Ru-bin. Albany: State University of New York Press, .

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Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stan-ford: Stanford University Press, .

Aykol, Mustafa. The Context of the Glen Movement: The Excep-

tional Story of Turkish Islam. In Islam in the Age of Global Chal-lenges: Alternative Perspectives of the Glen Movement. Speaker Biog-raphies and Conference Proceedings. Washington D.C.: RumiForum, .

Ebaugh, Helen Rose. The Glen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of aCivic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam. Heidelberg: Springer,.

and Zachary Baskal. The Turkish Islamic Culture of Giving.

In The Glen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic MovementRooted in Moderate Islam. By Helen Rose Ebaugh. Heidelberg:Springer, .

Eisenstadt, Shmuel N. Fundamentalist Movements in the Frame-work of Multiple Modernities. In Between Europe and Islam: Shap-ing Modernity in a Transcultural Space. Edited by Almut Hfert andArmando Salvatore. Bruxelles: P.I.E.-Peter Lang, .

Fuller, Graham E. The New Turkish Republic.Washington D.C.: Unit-

ed States Institute of Peace Press, .Lorasd, Berrin Koyuncu. Globalization, Modernization, and De-mocratization in Turkey: The Fethullah Glen Movement. InRemaking Turkey: Globalization, Alternative Modernities, and Democra-cy. Edited by E. Fuat Keyman. Lanham: Lexington Books, .

Narli, Nilufer. The Rise of Islamist Movement in Turkey. In Revo-lutionaries and Reformers: Contemporary Islamist Movements in the MiddleEast. Edited by Barry Rubin. Albany: State University of New

York Press, .Olupona, Jacob K. Globalization and African Immigrant ReligiousCommunities. In Religion and Global Culture: New Terrain in theStudy of Religion and the Work of Charles H. Long. Edited by Jen-nifer I. M. Reid. New York: Lexington Books, .

Yavuz, M. Hakan and John L. Esposito. Introduction, Islam inTurkey: Retreat from the Secular Path? In Turkish Islam and theSecular State: The Glen Movement. Edited by M. Hakan Yavuz and

John L. Esposito. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, .Yavuz M. Hakan, Islam in the Public Sphere: The Case of the NurMovement. In Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The GlenMovement. Edited by M. Hakan Yavuz and John L. Esposito. Sy-racuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, a.

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INTRODUCTION

. The Glen Movement: The Turkish Puritans. In TurkishIslam and the Secular State: The Glen Movement. Edited by M.Hakan Yavuz and John L. Esposito. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse

University Press, b.

Notes

Many thanks to Dr. Nancy Gallagher for her assistance with this project.The Pacifica Institute has several branches in California. I am most famil-

iar with the Irvine branch. To see a list of branches and activities takingplace, see www.pacificainstitute.org.M. Hakan Yavuz notes the transformation from Nursis reading groups, ordershanes, to Glens house of light student dormitories, iik evler (Yavuzb,, -).Yavuzs historical stages are similar: his first stage he places between -, the second from-, and the third from until the present(Yavuzb,-).For more on the Glen, see Helen Rose Ebaugh, Fethullah Glen: HisLife, Beliefs and the Movement that he Inspires, in The Glen Movement: ASociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam (Heidelberg:

Springer,).Conversation, January , , Southern California. Informants will re-main anonymous for their own privacy.For more on the history of the emergence of revivalist groups, see Nilufer

Narli, The Rise of Islamist Movement in Turkey, in Revolutionaries andReformers: Contemporary Islamist Movements in the Middle East, edited by BarryRubin (Albany: State University of New York Press,). He writes: Is-lamism in Turkey has grown as a response to social, economic, and politicaldiscontent, the causes of which include foreign influences, urbanization,

modernization, and secularization (). I prefer the term Revivalism toIslamism to refer to the Glen movement because the latter commonlyrefers to an ideology promoting a Muslim state which this group does notpromote.For a longer discussion of secularism in the Turkish context, see Yavuz,

M. Hakan and John L. Esposito, Introduction, Islam in Turkey: Retreatfrom the Secular Path? In Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Glen Move-ment, edited by M. Hakan Yavuz and John L. Esposito (Syracuse, NY: Syra-cuse University Press, ), xv-xxiii.Conversation, Dec., , Southern California. Informants will remainanonymous for their own privacy. Conversation, January , , Southern California. Informants willremain anonymous for their own privacy.

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SECTION I

INTERFAITH DIALOGUES

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The Characteristics and Appeal of the

HizmetMovementMICHAELJ.FONTENOT &KARENA.FONTENOT

The Hizmet(service) movement associated with the Turkish theolo-gian M. Fethullah Glen is probably the most powerful Islamic re-form movement operating in the world today. Inspired by the exam-

ple of an earlier Muslim reformer, Bedizzaman Said Nursi (), and both generalized and further developed by Glens ownactivities, it aims to align Islamic thought with the requirements ofadvanced industrial societies. Promoting religiously inspired modern-ization, it offers a revitalized form of mysticism that is wedded simul-taneously to traditional Muslim practice and to the scientific andtechnical methods that have so clearly lifted the material level ofWestern society.

While business people and students form the core of the move-ment,Glen also appeals to a much wider audience within Turkey.He promotes a particularly sophisticated view of Turkish identity,claiming that it was forged in pre-Anatolian times, then shaped andhoned by the Ottomans into a multinational, multicultural civiliza-tion of extraordinary cosmopolitanism. That interpretation, whichsatisfies ethnic pride while avoiding a narrow nationalistic definition,resonates with many Turks. Furthermore, he has taken a very strong

stand against the use of terror (see Glen a); moderate Turkswho are unsympathetic to Islamic extremism and secular republican-ism find Glens positions very attractive.

The Hizmet movement has also attracted numerous non-Muslimsupporters. It is difficult to estimate how many people are involved,but supporters are active in the United States, Canada, Europe, Aus-tralia, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

As a revisionist religious movement, it has faced opposition

within Turkey from secularists and literalist Muslims since its verybeginnings in the s. But because of its rising influence outside ofas well as within Turkey, it has come under increased scrutiny andhas been subjected to increasing criticism by an array of new oppo-nents. Some see it as an imminent pan-Turanian and pan-Islamicthreat to the Turkish secular state, Israeli security and US interests;

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