April 18, 2010

Muslim radical lives in the Poconos -- but it's not what you think

Dan Berrett

For more than a decade, one of the world's most influential and controversial Muslim leaders has been convalescing on 26 acres in the Pocono Mountains.

In Ross Township — not far from the Blue Ridge flea market, a giant corn maze dubbed Mazezilla and a go-kart speedway — you will find a small metal sign bearing the name of the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center.

It is here that Fethullah Gülen, 68, lives.

Fethullah Gulen
Gülen is an ailing Turkish cleric whose vision of an Islam that embraces science, education and interfaith dialogue has earned him millions of followers — and the suspicion of many in Turkey's secular establishment.

To his supporters, Gülen is the face of a more contemporary and tolerant Islam. But his critics perceive Gülen's benign face as a mask — one disguising an Islamist wolf in a moderate sheep's clothing.