Upcoming Book: Hizmet Means Service

University of California Press

Hizmet Means Service examines Hizmet, a Turkish-based but global movement dedicated to human service. Inspired by Fethullah Gülen, a Sufi Muslim mystic, scholar, and preacher, it is an international endeavor focused on education, business, interfaith dialogue, science, and efforts to promote tolerance and understanding. One of Hizmet’s main tenets is that religious believers can hold profound beliefs and commit spiritually inspired acts of service without discriminating against or alienating people of other faiths. Even as a ruling party in Turkey has set out to undercut the movement, its international influence continues to grow and attract followers who are devoted to service.

The scholars whose work appears in this book represent a variety of disciplines, faiths, and nations and offer a wide range of narratives, analyses, and critiques. This title moves beyond mere introduction, analyzing Hizmet and the manifestations of this interfaith movement.

Hizmet Means Service: Perspectives on an Alternative Path within Islam
Martin E. Marty* (Editor)

Paperback, 216 pages

ISBN: 9780520285187

October 2015

Contents
Acknowledgments Introduction (Martin E. Marty)
1) Hizmet among the Most Influential Religious Movements of Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish History (Carter Vaughn Findley)
2) Who Is Fethullah Gulen? An Overview of His Life (Marcia Hermansen)
3) The Institutions and Discourses of Hizmet Culture, and Their Discontents (Jeremy F. Walton)
4) The Role of Religion in the Gülen Movement (Zeki Saritoprak)
5) Building Bridges: Gülen Pontifex (Simon Robinson)
6) Ethics in the Theory and Practice of Hizmet (Radhi H. al-Mabuk)
7) Gulen as an Educator (Tom Gage)

Reviews

"These essays usefully distill the complex issues surrounding what is arguably the most compelling and at the same time puzzling exemplar of contemporary Islam's engagement with twenty-first century society. The contributors live up to their role in elucidation and analysis: Marty's introduction and R. Scott Appleby's lucid summation set the terms and syntax for an important conversation that must be ongoing."—Richard A. Rosengarten, the University of Chicago Divinity School

"Hizmet Means Service is a timely and important contribution to the literature on Islamic studies. Analyzing the Gülen movement in Turkey and globally, it covers a broad range of issues such as Muslim ethics, education, interfaith dialogue, and politics."—Ahmet T. Kuru, author of Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey.

Read Chapter 1 (PDF)

* Martin E. Marty is the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is the author of over fifty books, including most recently Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison: A Biography.

Retrieved from University of California Press, 27 July 2015, Monday