Mr. Kacmaz (pronounced KATCH-maz) is part of a group of Turkish educators who have come to this battleground (Pakistan) with an entirely different vision of Islam. Theirs is moderate and flexible, comfortably coexisting with the West while remaining distinct from it. Like Muslim Peace Corps volunteers, they promote this approach in schools, which are now established in more than 80 countries, Muslim and Christian.
The schools, which also operate in Christian countries like Russia, are not for Muslims alone, and one of their stated aims is to promote interfaith understanding. Mr. Gulen met the previous pope, as well as Jewish and Orthodox Christian leaders, and teachers in the schools say they stress multiculturalism and universal values.
“We are all humans,” said Mr. Kacmaz, the principal. “In Islam, every human being is very important.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/asia/04islam.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/arts/music/28coac.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/arts/music/04chin.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/arts/music/03nevi.html—–