This he used to ensure the prisoners' freedom to practise their religious duties. He won the right for them to perform the five daily prayers, which he led, and secured a room for use as a mosque. Also, as a commander he received a salary which he spent almost entirely on the mosque and things beneficial for the other prisoners. He was in a group of ninety or so officers, to whom he would give ders or religious instruction. Conditions were hard in the camp, and the winters long and dark and extremely cold. In this way he endeavoured to boost the prisoners' morale.

Mustafa Yalçın, whose description of Bediuzzaman at the Pasinler Front is quoted above, was already at the camp when one day to his amazement he saw that Bediuzzaman had been brought there. Among his recollections, he says:

On our arriving there, they said that some prisoners had arrived from the Eastern Front. We all gathered outside in the camp with interest. There were a lot of prisoners, but there were two they were bringing from the other side and keeping a close eye on. I looked and suddenly saw that these were Molla Said and one of his students, whom we called İznikli Osman. He was carrying something like a trunk; it had Ustad's books in it. He did not allow anyone other than Osman to be with him. Osman saw to his needs. He was wounded. He had been wounded in the leg. They treated it there. They put him in a dormitory.

It was terribly cold. You could not tell day from night. [In the summer] the sun did not set. And there as well, Molla Said Efendi was not idle at night; he used to go to other camps and read to them, although it was forbidden. He himself used to lead the prayers for us during the day. First of all they intervened and did not let us perform them. Then Ustad spoke to them and they allowed us a bit more freedom. They did not want too many of us to gather together at the same time. We used to call Bediuzzaman 'Head of Religious Affairs'. He used to explain religion to the Russian guards even. The Russian officers would harass those of them who listened. Molla Said Efendi always boosted our morale. "Do not worry", he used to say. "We shall be saved." I never knew him sleep at night there. He always read and took notes. He would say to us: "These will be Muslims, too, in the future, but they do not know it now." We were never frightened or distressed so long as he was with us.

Mustafa Yalçın went on to describe how one night he escaped along with a group of seventeen other prisoners. Bediuzzaman declined to join them, but among the group was a major who had been trained by him. He acted as their guide, finding the way "from everything from the stars to the moss on the trees." He continued: