What makes the ideas of an Islamic scholar from the heartland of eastern Anatoliarelevant to more than 150 countries across the world? To some, it is theauthenticity, dedication, activism, sincerity, and solidarity of the participantsin what Fethullah Gülen, the inspiring figure behind the movement, has calledthe “volunteers movement” or simply hizmet (service). This global movementprovides...Read More

Fanaticism is derived from the Latin word fanum, which refers to sacred placesof worship such as temples or other consecrated sites. The complete term fanaticusmeans “to be put into raging enthusiasm by a deity.”2 In the modernsense, a fanatic is simply an individual who goes to an extreme, is overly zealousor unreasonably enthusiastic regarding an...Read More

The polyvalent Qur’anic text lends itself to multiple interpretations, dependingupon one’s presuppositions and premises. In fact, Q. 3:7 distinguishesbetween muḥkam (explicit, categorical) and mutashābih (metaphorical, allegorical,symbolic) verses. As such, this device provides a way for reinterpretingverses that outwardly appear to be problematic – be it in the area ofgender equality, minority rights, religious freedom, or...Read More

Teaching Arabs, Writing Self traces Evelyn Shakir’s evolution from a buddingstudent of canon English literature who was desperately trying to “becomewhite” to her epiphany that stories from her own working-class immigrantneighborhood might be of equal worth. There, she found her unique niche bybecoming an author and scholar of Arab-American literature who helped gainrecognition for this...Read More