The book provides information and analysis about a Turkish student community in different locations in Europe, especially in Vienna and Sarajevo. Graduates of Turkish Imam-Hatip High Schools, public schools that offer a combination of a religious and scientific curriculum, choose Europe for their university education because they were excluded from universities in Turkey by secular elites of the country. This book tries to explore the story of European Imam-Hatip graduates with references to Turkish modernization. With an extensive historical background of Turkish modernization, religious conservatism and Imam-Hatip High Schools in Turkey; the relationship between Turkish conservatives and Imam-Hatip Schools, the role of these schools in the social upward mobilization of religiously conservatives, the conservative modernization that took place with the help of Imam-Hatip Schools are just some questions of the book that were asked for exploring and analyzing European Imam-Hatip graduates.|From Symbolic Exile to Physical Exile tells the story of Imam-Hatip graduates and their knowledge migration to Europe. Since these pious Muslims were prevented from entering Turkish universities by a secular elite fearful of losing its control of state and society, many of them have sent their best and brightest to European (and American) universities. They have thus formed a potential counter-elite, preparing themselves for leading roles in Turkey on their return. Until now, the existence of this transnational Imam Hatip network has gone unnoticed in academic studies. Caglar fills this gap by tracing the development and expansion of the Imam-Hatip Schools, institutions that offer a combination of a religious and scientific curriculum. Through interviews with numerous students and alumni, Caglar maps transnational branches of this influential network in Vienna, Sarajevo, the Netherlands and Germany. This research therefore is an important contribution to the study of Turkish transnational religious movements.
