Cosmopolitan theology: Fethullah Gülen and the making of a ‘Golden Generation’

Abstract

Global conditions, under which an increasing number of Muslims in the world currently live, do not just generate idioms of purity often adduced to global Islam, but also new and diverse forms of sociability and notions of global citizenship. This article addresses, as an example in case, Hizmet, one of the fastest growing contemporary Islamic movements. Hizmet and its founder Fethullah Gülen propagate a global Islamic doctrine with explicitly cosmopolitan underpinnings. However, there seems to be a contradiction between the cosmopolitan inclusiveness and universality of Gülen's global message, and strong internal hierarchical structures and the disciplining modes of teaching and training that are applied by the movement to teach the doctrine. I will argue that there is no contradiction between these two aspects when we focus on the central position of ‘hermeneutics of the self’ and civic responsibility in Gülen's theology.

Keywords:

• Fethullah Gülen
• Islam
• global citizenship
• Turkey
• Islamic movement
• teaching

Notes

1. For a discussion of Appiah's views, see Hoesterey (2012).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thijl Sunier

THIJL SUNIER is Professor of Cultural Anthropology in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at VU University.