Mourners grieve Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish spiritual leader who died in US

Family, friends and followers of Fethullah Gülen are gathering Thursday to pay respects to the influential Turkish spiritual leader and Islamic scholar who died this week in self-exile in the United States.

Gülen, who inspired a global social movement while facing unproven allegations that he orchestrated a failed 2016 military coup against Turkey’s president, died Sunday at a Pennsylvania hospital. He was in his 80s.

A funeral prayer service was scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Sussex County, New Jersey. The Alliance for Shared Values, a New York-based group that promotes Gülen’s work in the U.S., said thousands of mourners were expected to attend.

After the service, Gülen is to be buried in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, on the grounds of the Chestnut Retreat Center, a sprawling, gated compound in the Pocono Mountains where he lived and worked for a quarter-century. A much smaller circle of family and close friends was expected at the burial.

“This is a solemn time of mourning, reflection, and prayer,” the group said in a statement. “Mr. Gülen’s legacy transcends the circumstances of his life. He stands as a remarkable religious and intellectual thinker whose impact will be felt for generations.”

Gülen had long been one of Turkey’s most important scholars, with millions of followers in his native country and around the world. He had lived in the United States since 1999, when he came to seek medical treatment.

His philosophy blended Sufism — a mystical form of Islam — with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. His acolytes built a loosely affiliated global network of charitable foundations, professional associations, businesses and schools in more than 100 countries, including 150