A question for Daniel Pipes
Reader comment on item: Islamism 2.0

Submitted by Lazman (United States), Dec 7, 2009 at 14:52

I would like the D. Pipes to address whether Fethullah Gulen would also fit as an example of Islamist 2.0 or even a more advanced version.

Maybe he could also share his thoughts on the following: Why the US government supports Gulen's stay in the US; his activities in the US; why the government went so far as to support Gulen's permanent US residency as an "extraordinary scholar;" and why former government employees, including an ex-CIA agent, ex-CIA director, and a former ambassador, provided references for his residency application. Thank you in advance.

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Daniel Pipes replies:

Yes, Gülen fits the Islamism 2.0 pattern. He is so sophisticated, as you imply, that he may actually be 2.5.

Excellent question about his favored position in the United States, something apparently irregular that deserves close attention. Here is an excerpt from a recent Middle East Quarterly article about Gülen:

In 1998, Gülen departed for the United States, reportedly to receive medical treatment for diabetes. However, his absence also enabled Gülen to escape questioning on his indictment in 2000 for allegedly promoting insurrection in Turkey in a series of secretly-recorded sermons. Since his voluntary exile, Gülen has resided on a large, rural estate in eastern Pennsylvania, together with about 100 followers, who guard him and tend to his needs. These servants are educated men who wear suits and ties and do not look like traditional Islamists in cloaks and turbans. They follow their hocaefendi's orders and even refrain from marrying until age fifty per his instructions. When they do marry, their spouses are expected to dress in the Islamic manner, as dictated by Gülen himself, It is from his U.S. base that Gülen has built his fame and his transnational empire.