The movement of Fethullah Gulen

This is a book about the Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, and about the civil movement he inspired in Turkey, and in various parts of the world. Gulen traveled across Turkey during the sixties, seventies, and eighties; as a preacher in mosques and public places, and wrote hundreds of articles and books presenting his ideas. Gradually, many Turks from all backgrounds engaged with his ideas about education, modernization, positive relations with the West, and interfaith dialogue, through establishing schools where good education, especially in natural and technical sciences, is supported by a commitment to Islamic values as defined by him. With the fall of the Soviet Union, his ideas spread, and his services extended to the Muslim republics that gained independence from the Soviets, then to Eastern Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. Today, the movement inspired by Gulen owns more than a thousand schools in one hundred countries covering five continents. It is a civil movement rooted in what the author calls "moderate Islam"; committed to educating the youth, fostering interfaith and intercultural dialogue, helping the needy, and contributing to building world peace.