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participation.
61
Affinity’s Victorian counterpart, the Australian Intercultural Society
(AIS), carries out similar functions in Melbourne.
62
A recent initiative,
in conjunction with the Australian Catholic University (ACU), has been
the establishment of the Fethullah Gülen Chair in the Study of Islam and
Muslim-Catholic Relations. According to the AIS November 2007 news-
letter, this is the first of its type and will act as a “prototype” and “assist
second and third generation Muslims with learning Islam correctly from
its true sources, increase academic research in the field of interfaith dia-
logue, and provide a means for community related activities and take the
important message of dialogue to the wider Australian community.”
Both Affinity and AIS are influenced by the “community of Gülen,”
which has been defined as a “neo-Nur” movement. One of the major
influences in Fethullah Gülen’s philosophy was the Kurdish holy man
Said Nursi, who resisted the Kemalist modernization and secularization
process in Turkey in the 1920s and sought a way to deal with modernity
within Islam. After coming into conflict with authorities in the 1920s,
Nursi committed his philosophy to seeking to “build a pious and modern
Muslim personality, one which is tolerant but firm about the core values
of Islam.” After Nursi’s death in 1960, his writings became the focus of
study groups, or Dershanes, which sought to build communities and de-
velop the Nur (meaning “light”) networks.
63
The most influential Nur
network is Gülen’s neo-Nur group. Gülen, who owns a media network
and runs hospitals, schools, and universities in Turkey and abroad, has
116 · Suzanne D. Rutland
stressed the importance of building educational networks.
64
Gülen draws
on European enlightenment concepts and supports democracy and in-
terfaith dialogue, having met with both Christian and Jewish leaders. He
has tried to develop a new, moderate vision for contemporary Islam, and
he is opposed to both Iranian revolutionary Islam and Saudi Wahhabism.
The initiative of creating a chair in Islamic studies by the Australian
Catholic University and AIS has its complexities. In his scholarly book on
Islamic political identity in Turkey, M. Hakan Yavuz argues that Gülen is
not a liberal, because he “gives priority to the community and the state
over individual rights,” and while he speaks in favor of gender equality,
women have been excluded from higher positions in his movement in
Turkey.
65
In June 1999 the Turkish regime attacked him for being a threat
to the secular state, and he took refuge in the United States, where he now
lives. Gülen is seen by some as a controversial figure, and one Catholic
scholar, Father Paul Stenhouse, has argued the need for prudence on be-
half of the Australian Catholic University in terms of this new Melbourne
chair named after him. He claims that Nursi’s declared goal is “Islamic
supremacy” and that Gülen “wants to re-institute the Caliphate and es-
tablish an Islamic State in Turkey: an Islamic State that will extend from
the Balkans.”
66
Thus it can be seen that under the Howard government, social poli-
cies became more conservative, particularly in response to the growing
militancy of radical Islam, both within Australia and abroad. At the same
time, the government has tried to sponsor dialogue and to seek ways to
improve intercommunity relations in Australia. Included in these efforts
are support for Muslim groups that promote dialogue, such as Affinity,
and efforts to teach about Islam at the university level.
As noted, most of these efforts toward dialogue and understanding
are due to the work of NGOs, who do not seek or want government as-
sistance or guidance.
67
However, the challenge of successfully integrating
the recent Muslim immigration into Australian society and of creating
harmonious relations between the faiths is too great to be left to indi-
vidual NGOs, each with its own agenda and limited finances. This inte-
gration requires a much more pro-active government approach, as only
government agencies can provide the level of funding required and an
overall vision for the country.
Jews and Muslims “Downunder”: Emerging Dialogue and Challenges · 117
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