Gülen Community and Fethullah Gülen's Reminder

Hadi Uluengin

Last week in this column I wrote that large masses whose common denominator is to adopt Fethullah Gülen’s spiritual leadership cannot be referred to as a 'cemaat' or religious community or brotherhood. (*)

I made this claim because the Gülen Movement’s pluralism in quantity and diversity in quality means that it must now be defined as a 'camia' or a social community. Generating differences is natural, and such is the case in every intensifying body. To cut a long story short, with the exception of loyalty to the charismatic figure who has been compelled to live in the US against his will, participants in this movement do not act in a monolithic manner. Nor are they part of any centrally organized hierarchy.

Despite the reality that this phenomenon of transition from a religious brotherhood to a community has most definitely occurred—a process of expansion and diversification—the 'other’s' perception of the Gülen Movement has not changed. By 'other' I refer to those large masses who are essentially from secular, urban, and Alevite circles, and who are allergic to the word 'tariqat,' or spiritual order, because of earlier conditioning. It is a fact that these circles consider the community in question to be a 'monster'—a monster who is all-powerful and able to do anything it wants. Imagine a 'monster' (which is a combination of) associations from other cultures: a monster organized in a Bolshevik central discipline, raised in a Catholic Jesuit elitism, equipped with a Protestant Calvinist mission, and kneaded in the secrecy of the Catholic Opus Dei or a secular Freemasonry. And whoever looks cross-eyed at this 'monster' or places an obstacle in its path is doomed to be immediately sent to Silivri Prison!