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Is it possible to fuse Islamic theology and political Islam with the discourses and practices of the Enlightenment? To what extent are Islam and democracy reconcilable in the current age of secularism? How does an Islamic social movement democratize and liberalize a predominantly Muslim country? How did a small piety-based movement in Turkey evolve into a transnational societal movement across the world, with the exception of the Islamic world? M. Hakan Yavuz deals with those questions through the examination of the Gülen Movement`s evolution in Turkey. He argues that the faith-based Gülen Movement exemplifies a quasi-protestant version of Islam in which secularism and Islamism inextricably intertwined. Gülen`s understanding of Islam does not contradict the premises of modernity and rather has potential to thicken the weak civic culture by promoting the ideas of toleration, pluralism, science, and political participation. According to Yavuz, the interaction between the Islamic discourses of the Gülen Movement and Turkey`s secular state structure results in paradoxical outcome: an Islamization of secular society and an internal secularization of Islamic thought. In this regard, the conditions under which the modernized interpretations and practices of Islam emerge do not signal an inevitable historical trend but rather an outcome of social, political and economic contingencies in Turkey. The success of the movement has been mainly from the institutional spaces that have been provided by the Turkey`s founding elites and the neo-liberal policies of Turgut Özal in the 1980s and early 90s.

The book is the first comprehensive and theoretical attempt that utilizes the works of the Western philosophers such as Jurgen Habermas and Max Weber to explain the theology of Fethullan Gülen, a theology which often includes heavy rhetoric grounded in Sufi traditions of Islam. To understand the complex dynamics of the Gülen Movement, Yavuz not only deals with the mobilization and institutionalization of the movement but also examines the interaction between Gülen`s thoughts on Islam and the forces of the modernity. Yavuz underscores that the Gülen Movement is not only an agent of contentious politics but also a repository of societal transformation and self-aggrandizement for its members, even though he has certain reservations on the power-seeking aspirations and communitarian structure of the movement within a patriarchal understanding that do not leave any breathing space for individuality and critical thinking.

The book consists of three parts: "Man", "Movement", and "Meaning". The first part explains the socio-political background of the movement through the personal story of Gülen and the political climate in Turkey when he emerged as a leader of a transnational religious movement. Gülen`s cognitive map and his intellectual background are addressed though three issues: the political, social and economic context in which he was raised; the socio-political climate in which he came out as a religious leader; and finally his theology on the meaning of the good life. Yavuz argues that the Gülen Movement is no longer a gradual progression of the Nurcu movement, but a more modernist and dynamic movement that focuses on modernity and sources of worldly power. Yet he criticizes Fethullah Gülen's theology on two grounds. First, Gülen never fully explains how Islam could enhance democracy and political participation; and second, Gülen`s emphasis on disciplining mind, body and conduct prevents the evolution of critical thinking among his followers.

The second part of the book deals with the Gülen movement by explaining the organizational structure of the movement, its education policies, its pietic activism in the market, and finally the relationship between Islamic ethics and the spirit of capitalism. Here Yavuz gives a balanced account about the achievements and failures of the movement. While the movement provides a transnational social network and resonant collective action framework to integrate the alienated social groups of Turkey into the mainstream politics, Yavuz underlies the fact that the movement turned into a "power network" that has become a source of mobility and profit, thus separating the movement from its theological underpinnings.

The third section aims to explain the debate between the modernity and Islam through the reciprocal relationship between the secular Kemalist state and the Gülen Movement. In this regard, chapter six deals with the articulation of Islamic discourses in the public sphere by examining the following question: how and to what extent can Islam in general and the Gülen Movement in particular contribute to economic development, democracy and the vibrancy of civil society in Turkey? The next chapter gets into a theological discussion about Gülen`s understanding of science and religion to elaborate whether ontological and epistemological presuppositions of Gülen`s interpretation of Islam are reconcilable with scientific knowledge. Chapter eight addresses the theological foundations of Gülen`s interfaith dialogue, and then questions the credibility of the inter-religious and intra-religious dialogue initiatives of the Gülen Movement. Chapter nine starts with the strategies and goals of the movement, including its coalition with the Justice and Development Party, and then traces the competing relationship between the Kemalist military circles and the Gülen Movement. Finally, chapter ten provides an overview of the critics of the movement by discussing them under four categories: Kemalist secularists, Alevis, Kurds, and Islamists. Yavuz argues that the Gülen Movement has yet to dispel the concerns of these circles because of the transformation of the movement into a power-seeking mechanism with patriarchal norms that seeks to create a conservative society based on Islamic values and is devoid of critical thinking.

Yavuz`s book is completely successful in explaining the origins and evolution of the Gülen Movement and has sharp insights into the tension between Islam and modernity. He blends the literature of Islamic theology, social movements, sociology and Western philosophy within an analytic framework to understand one of the most complex contemporary religio-social movements of the Muslim world. His scholarship is satisfactory for area specialists. However, even though Yavuz aptly explains how an Islamic movement turns into an agent of social transformation within the secular state establishment in Turkey, his explanation does not offer a full-fledged account of why the Gülen Movement has been adamant in penetrating state institutions for the sake of seeking power. In addition to that, the main weakness of the book is derived from his self-contradictory remarks on the nature of Gülen`s theology and the character of the movement. Although Yavuz remains skeptical about the Gülen Movement`s authoritarian policies in various chapters of the book, he does not reflect his criticisms in the introduction and the conclusion. Yavuz defines the Enlightenment "as a bundle of contradictory ideas and debates that are grounded in the faith in reason to bring about social, cultural, and political reforms that would promote democratic society and human rights"(p. 5). Then he argues that an Islamic Enlightenment in Turkey along with Bosnia, Malaysia and Tatarstan "are preconditioned on the use of critical reason to scrutinize the existing Islamic practices and ideas in order to bring about social and cultural reforms that would cultivate a more humane and open society" (p. 6). Despite his optimism in the introduction, Yavuz questions the credibility of the Gülen Movement`s commitments to rationality, plurality and tolerance in the following chapters. He argues that Gülen`s emphasis on disciplining mind, body and conduct prevents the evolution of critical thinking, and that Gülen seeks to create a conservative society by disciplining competing lifestyles through Islamic morality (p. 65). He also advises the movement to undertake a mission of reassurance about three issues in the near future: power sharing in state institutions, the recognition of the Alevis` communal and religious rights, and the need for progress on the Kurdish issue (p. 242). Yavuz`s concerns indicate that he doesn't fully agree with the notion that Fethullah Gülen and his movement have internalized the main premises of Enlightenment such as plurality, tolerance and individualism, yet he still characterizes the movement as an agent for an Islamic Enlightenment in Turkey.

Apart from certain reservations, the book opens up new research avenues for a comparative study on the evolution of Islamic social movements in the Caucasus, the Middle East, and the Balkans in the age of secularism and globalization. I recommend this book for those who are interested in not only the study of Islam in modern Turkey but also the larger debate over modernity and religion in the Muslim World.