Biography, Context, and Substance in Interplay

Abstract

The chapter begins by identifying the specificity of the Turkish context in terms of particular balances of historical and contemporary forces in relation to which Gülen and Hizmet have had to position themselves. It shows how out of this, Gülen emerged as a distinctive scholar, teacher, and innovator, becoming differentiated from the inheritance of Said Nursi, while also drawing upon it. It discusses Gülen’s particular understanding of interplay between Islamic sources; his conscious engagement of those sources with historical and contemporary places and times; and his understanding of revelation in dynamic terms. Out of this interplay, Weller provides a range of examples of Gülen’s role as taboo-breaker in teaching and action with regard to the kind of secular-political taboos; national-cultural identity taboos; and religious boundary taboos that have otherwise had a strong and constraining hold on Turkish society.