answers to a number of the hitherto insoluble problems of the time, and their only recourse was to declare him mad. And fourthly, he has for fifteen years been pursuing Islamic Freedom, that is, "the Freedom which is in accordance with the Shari'a", and now that it is close to being realized he is prevented from seeing what is going on, how should he not be angry? And he adds: "And it is only one in a thousand who is not afflicted by this temporary madness."

He then goes onto expand these points and explain them in greater detail, stressing that he is not prepared to sacrifice any of his sacred aims and principles, which are for the common good, for his own personal benefit or so that he should be better accepted.

Firstly, his aim was for the strengthening and progress of the Ottoman Empire through the development and progress — educational, material, and cultural — of its component parts. By retaining the dress of his native region and professing his love for it, he wanted to stress in the Empire's capital the importance of provincial development, and create demand for local industries. And by declaring that he had offered allegiance to Sultan Selim, that is, Yavuz Selim, known in the West as Selim the Grim (1512-1520), Bediuzzaman was stating that he was dedicated to the same aim as Selim, that is, unity. Reforms aimed at the development of the provinces would serve to strengthen the unity of the Empire, thereby strengthening Islamic Unity.

Secondly, Bediuzzaman had aroused opposition through his practice of debating with the 'ulema. He now explains to the doctor that by doing so he wanted to offer a practical example for a solution to the stagnation in the medreses. He was recommending more active participation in the process of study on the part of the students. A second reason he gives for their backwardness is that the instrumental sciences [grammar, syntax, logic] had been emphasized in place of the sacred sciences [Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), Hadith, theology (kalâm), and the like]. Thus, firstly, Bediuzzaman is stressing the need for lively debate and the role of competition in revitalizing the medreses, and secondly, the importance of the fundamental sacred sciences. He then goes on to emphasize the need for specialization. It was through taking one science as a basis and in addition only studying further subjects in so far as they would complement the main subject, that the students could study in sufficient depth and penetrate the subject as required.

In the Third Point, Bediuzzaman examines the reasons for the divergence and differences between the various branches of the educational system, which he states are a major cause of the backwardness of Islamic civilization, which constitutes true civilization, in relation to modern