An Appraisal of Reformative Dimensions of Gülen Movement in Turkey

Abstract

The modern Islamic reformative movements have been studied in the west by the Orientalists according to different approaches. They evaluated these movements in the terms of pre-Modern, anti-Modern and post-Modern phenomena. They coin different titles to evaluate and differentiate them from others and classify them into rationalist, liberal, enlightened, traditionalist, conservative and fundamentalist movements. In this context, Gülen movement is a rationalistic, liberal and enlightened movement. Fethullah Gülen (b. 1938), an influential religious scholar, attempts to response the challenges of modernity and probes into the complex and divergent concepts and systems of modern western societies scientifically, striving to amalgamate Islamic wisdom with the modern concepts of the west, particularly aiming to avoid breach between Islam and modernity. The present research is an attempt to evaluate the significance of Gülen’s thought and how he views and integrates Western concepts of democracy, capitalism, women rights with Islam.