From Theory to Action

The Hizmet Movement (HM) is a global civil society organization inspired by the teachings of Muslim Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen. The Turkish term, hizmet, means “service,” and Gulen’s teachings and writings have come, in the past three decades, to focus with increasing intensity on the importance of working together across religious, ethnic, national, racial, and general lines, to improve the human condition across the world. HM has been one of the most prominent contemporary Islamic movements across the planet, with a significant impact not only on interfaith dialogue but on diverse fields such as education, media, business, and civil society. It has been characterized as a reformist movement that seeks to reconcile Islamic tradition with modernity, democracy, and the breadth of human experience. The movement continues to stress the importance of education and moral transformation as key components of its mission and activities. It has also been controversial. With Gulen’s emergence as a public figure, secularists in Turkiye became fearful that his ambition was to turn the country into another Iran, through his emphasis on Islamic values; and Islamists resented his reaching aggressively across denominational lines. Despite facing legal and political restrictions in its home country, which have evolved into intense levels of persecution by the current regime, the HM has expanded its network of schools, dialogue institutions, university associations, media outlets, and humanitarian organizations in different parts of the world, becoming a transnational movement with a global presence. The book offers a unique and cutting-edge contribution to scholarship, with relevance to theology, sociology, political science, educational philosophy, and the dynamic tension between ideas and actions.