Does the Gülen Movement’s cultural understanding make it exclusivist?

Fethullah Gülen

The fact that most societies are complex and not homogenous – they contain people of different classes, ethnic groups, religious backgrounds, etc – means that it is possible to find elements and values that cultures and the people within them have in common. Because it actively seeks these common grounds, the Gülen Movement has participants from across all segments of Turkish society and has quickly become transnational. It now has supporters and participants from a great many ethnic groups, nations and of varied religious and philosophical views.

Within the Gülen Movement all of these people are able to inquire into and express their views on the relation between faith and reason, and on peaceful coexistence in liberal democracies with religious diversity, education and spirituality. It is clear then that the Gülen Movement is not in any way exclusivist.