In this open-access monograph, Paul Weller explores how the movement known as Hizmet (meaning "service") is undergoing a period of transitions in Europe. Inspired by the teaching and practice of the Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gulen, Hizmet has been active in Europe (and other continents) for several decades. It has always been subject to some degree of contestation, which has intensified following the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, for which the current Turkish government holds Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet as responsible - a claim they strongly deny. In Turkey, thousands of people associated with Hizmet have been imprisoned. In Europe, pressures have been brought to bear on the movement and its activities. In charting a way forward, Hizmet finds itself in a significant transitional period, the nature and possible future trajectories of which are explored in this volume. The book is informed by a comprehensive literature review and a recent research project which includes primary research interviews with key Hizmet figures in Europe and beyond. It contends that to properly understand Hizmet in Europe, one has to situate it in its interactive engagement both with its diverse European national contexts and with Fethullah Gulen's teaching and practice.

M Fethullah Gulen gives his unique interpretation of Prophet Muhammad, based on a lifetime of personal study and struggle to live up to the ideal standards realised by one of the most fascinating figures ever to emerge in our midst.

As the Messenger of God, Muhammad stands at the heart of the Islamic religion, revered by Muslims throughout the world. The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad comprises a collection of essays by some of the most accomplished scholars in the field exploring the life and legacy of the Prophet. The book is divided into three sections, the first charting his biography and the milieu into which he was born, the revelation of the Qur'ān, and his role within the early Muslim community. The second part assesses his legacy as a law-maker, philosopher, and politician and, finally, in the third part, chapters examine how Muhammad has been remembered across history in biography, prose, poetry, and, most recently, in film and fiction. Essays are written to engage and inform students, teachers, and readers coming to the subject for the first time. They will come away with a deeper appreciation of the breadth of the Islamic tradition, of the centrality of the role of the Prophet in that tradition, and, indeed, of what it means to be a Muslim today.

Like many Native Americans, Ojibwe people esteem the wisdom, authority, and religious significance of old age, but this respect does not come easily or naturally. It is the fruit of hard work, rooted in narrative traditions, moral vision, and ritualized practices of decorum that are comparable in sophistication to those of Confucianism. Even as the dispossession and policies of assimilation have threatened Ojibwe peoplehood and have targeted the traditions and the elders who embody it, Ojibwe and other Anishinaabe communities have been resolute and resourceful in their disciplined respect for elders. Indeed, the challenges of colonization have served to accentuate eldership in new ways.

Using archival and ethnographic research, Michael D. McNally follows the making of Ojibwe eldership, showing that deference to older women and men is part of a fuller moral, aesthetic, and cosmological vision connected to the ongoing circle of life--a tradition of authority that has been crucial to surviving colonization. McNally argues that the tradition of authority and the authority of tradition frame a decidedly indigenous dialectic, eluding analytic frameworks of invented tradition and na?ve continuity. Demonstrating the rich possibilities of treating age as a category of analysis, McNally provocatively asserts that the elder belongs alongside the priest, prophet, sage, and other key figures in the study of religion.

William Bentley, pastor in Salem, Massachusetts from 1783 to his death in 1819, was unlike anyone else in America's founding generation, for he had come to unique conclusions about how best to maintain a traditional understanding of Christianity in a world ever changing by the forces of the Enlightenment.
Like some of his contemporaries, Bentley preached a liberal Christianity, with its benevolent God and salvation through moral living, but he-and in New England he alone-also preached a rational Christianity, one that offered new and radical claims about the power of God and the attributes of Jesus. Drawing on over a thousand of Bentley's sermons, J. Rixey Ruffin traces the evolution of Bentley's theology. Neither liberal nor deist, Bentley was instead what Ruffin calls a "Christian naturalist," a believer in the biblical God and in the essential Christian narrative but also in God's unwillingness to interfere in nature after the Resurrection. In adopting such a position, Bentley had pushed his faith as far as he could toward rationalism while still, he thought, calling it Christianity.
But this book is as much a social and political history of Salem in the early republic as it is an intellectual biography; it not only delineates Bentley's ideas, but perhaps more important, it unravels their social and political consequences. Using Bentley's remarkable diary and a vast archive of newspaper accounts, tax records, and electoral returns, Ruffin brings to life the sailors, widows, captains and merchants who lived with Bentley in the eastern parish of Salem.
A Paradise of Reason is a study of the intellectual and tangible effects of rational religion in mercantile Salem, oftheology and philosophy but also of ideology: of the social politics of race and class and gender, the ecclesiastical politics of establishment and dissent, the ideological politics of republicanism and classical liberalism, and the party politics of Federalism and Democratic-Republicanism. In bringing to light the fascinating life and thought of one of early New England's most interesting historical figures, Ruffin offers a fresh perspective on the formative negotiations between Christianity and the Enlightenment in the years of America's founding.

If you want to be the best, you have to have the right skillset. From decision making and motivating people to vision and inspiration, THE ULTIMATE LEADERSHIP BOOK is a dynamic collection of tools, techniques, and strategies for success. Discover the main themes and key ideas, and bring it all together with practical exercises. This is your complete course in leadership. ABOUT THE SERIES ULTIMATE books are for managers, leaders, and business executives who want to succeed at work. From marketing and sales to management and finance, each title gives comprehensive coverage of the essential business skills you need to get ahead in your career. Written in straightforward English, each book is designed to help you quickly master the subject, with fun quizzes embedded so that you can check how you're doing.

This volume is the first comparative study of the political tools employed by the Popes and the perception of the Papacy in different regions, so combining the perspectives of the Roman center and that of the churches on the periphery. The Roman view of the means by which it exerted its influence over the Church is set against the reaction of the various regions to them. In this way the discrepancy between Roman prototypes and actual interpretations from the mid-11th to the end of the 12th century is further enhanced by the differences revealed by contrasting regional sketches.

Christianity Today 2020 Book of the Year Award, Missions/Global Church Women have advanced God's mission throughout history and around the world. But women often face particular obstacles in ministry. What do we need to know about how women thrive? Mission researcher Mary Lederleitner interviewed and surveyed ninety-five respected women in mission leadership from thirty countries to gather their insights, expertise, and best practices. She unveils how women serve in distinctive ways and identifies key traits of faithful connected leaders. When women face opposition based on their gender, they employ various strategies to carry on with resilience and hope. Real-life stories and case studies shed light on dynamics that inhibit women and also give testimony to God's grace and empowerment in the midst of challenges. Women and men will find resources here for partnering together in effective ministry and mission. Organizations can help women flourish through advocacy, mentoring, and addressing structural issues. Wherever God has invited you to serve and lead, discover that you are not alone as you answer the call.