I have observed that they have a social life, and work together diligently and conscientiously, and I want to help them as a reward for their republicanism. [^34]

[^34]:While being tried for hostility towards the Republic in Criminal Court in 1935, Bediuzzaman was asked his opinion of republicanism. He replied: "As my biography which you have in your hands proves, I was a religious republican before any of you, with the exception of the President of the Court, was born", and related the above story of the ants. He went on to say that each of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs had been both Caliph (that is, successor to the Prophet) and President of the Republic, and that this had not been some meaningless title; they had been presidents of a religious republic in which true justice and freedom prevailed, See, Tarihçe, 39.

Although it was not until subsequently to this, in Mardin as we shall see, that Said stated that he was first "awakened politically", it is clear from this story of the ants that he had already at this stage acquired the beliefs in this regard that he would adhere to throughout his life. Since these are described below and in detail in a later chapter, suffice it to say here that the basis of his political ideas, based on Islamic practice as is clear the footnote below, was a system based on the principles of freedom, justice, consultation, and the rule of law.

It was also while he was in Tillo that Molla Said had the dream in response to which he first started to work among the tribes as a conciliator and man of religion generally. He dreamt that Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani appeared to him and ordered him to go to Mustafa Pasha, the head of the Miran tribe [^35] "and summon him to the way of guidance." He was to desist from oppression, perform the obligatory prayers, and enjoin what was lawful. Otherwise Said was to kill him. [^36]

[^35]:See, Şahiner, Son Şahitler, iv, 198-201.

[^36]:Tarihçe, 39.

This was a challenging task for Molla Said, who can still have been little more than sixteen years old. For the Miran tribe was powerful and numerous, and despite being a commander in one of the Hamidiye regiments, [^37] its chief, Mustafa Pasha — entitled Pasha because of this appointment — engaged in brigandage and oppression generally. Nevertheless, Said immediately gathered together his belongings and made his way south to the area of Jizre on the Tigris. Said's relations with the tyrannical chief there illustrate one of his most striking and enduring characteristics, namely his courage and absolute lack of fear, especially in the face of

[^37]:The Hamidiye militia, or cavalry, had been set up by Sultan Abdulhamid Il in 1891 as a force against Russian encroachments, as a means of controlling the Kurdish and Turcoman tribes of which it was composed, and also to combat Armenian terrorism in eastern Anatolia. It was commanded by both tribal chiefs and regular officers. See, Shaw and Shaw, History, ii, 246.