September 20, 2011

Basic Dynamics of the Gulen Movement - 1

Enes Ergene

Analyzing the internal dynamics of a movement is important for two reasons. First, it allows others to perceive the structure by which the movement is organized. Second, it prevents others from falling into the trap of overlooking the totality of the movement, as they focus on partial analyses. I use dynamics here to mean the key concepts of the movement. Intellectual and social attitudes of a movement are shaped by the movement's dynamics. Social science analyses that study a movement proceed on safer grounds if they are aware of that movement's dynamics, and they do not fall into frequent fallacies. Understanding a movement's dynamics allows us to pinpoint who is making an objective analysis, and who forges a "pirated" analysis without any knowledge. For instance, a person who strives to comply with the basic dynamics of Islamic Sufi practice by being humble in his or her relations with others (tawadhu), or regarding himself as inferior to others (mahwiyat), would surely appear as a shy person. An observer, who is unaware of any Sufi and ascetic dynamics, might interpret this humble attitude as hypocritical or clandestine. If an analysis does not account for this movement's Muslim Sufi dynamics and experiences, can we really call this analysis "scientific"?