the Constitution about which you have heard," explained Bediuzzaman, "consists of true justice and consultation enjoined by the Shari'a. [^124]

[^124]:Nursi, Divan-ı Harb-i Örfî, 12.

He very often gives clear definitions of constitutionalism by contrasting it with despotism:

Despotism is oppression. It is dealing with others in an arbitrary fashion. It is compulsion relying on force. It is the opinion of one person. It provides extremely favourable ground for exploitation. It is the basis of tyranny. It annihilates humanity. It is despotism which reduces man to the most abject valleys of abasement, has caused the Islamic world to sink into abjection and degradation, which arouses animosity and malice, has poisoned Islam — and in fact sows its poison everywhere by contagion, and has caused endless conflict within Islam by giving rise to its deviant sects like the Mu'tazila, Jabriyya, and Murji'a. [^125]

[^125]:Nursi, "Münâzarat (Ott. edn.)," in Asar-ı Bedi'iyye, 406.

Constitutionalism, on the other hand, is "the manifestation of the Qur'anic verses 'And consult them in affairs [of public concern]' (3:159), and 'Whose rule is consultation among themselves' (42:38). It is the consultation enjoined by the Shari'a. This luminous body's life is truth, in place of force. Its heart is knowledge, its tongue, love. Its mind is the law, not an individual. Indeed, constitutionalism is the sovereignty of the nation." [^126] And again, "...the real meaning of constitutionalism is that power lies in the law." [^127]

[^126]:Nursi, "Münâzarat (Ott. edn.)," in Asar-ı Bedi'iyye, 407.

[^127]:Ibid., 415.

On another occasion Bediuzzaman stated: "I expounded and commented in detail on the authentic connection between the Shari'a and constitutionalism in numerous speeches. And I explained that tyrannous despotism has no connection with the Shari'a. For according to the meaning of the Hadith, 'A nation's ruler is its servant', the Shari'a came to the world in order to extirpate oppression and despotic tyranny... And I said that essentially, the true way of the Shari'a is the reality of constitutionalism in accordance with the Shari'a. That is to say, I accepted constitutionalism on proofs from the Shari'a." [^128] "I claimed that it is possible to deduce the truths of constitutionalism explicitly, implicitly, permissibly, from the Four Schools of Islamic Law." [^129]

[^128]:Nursi, Divan-ı Harb-i Örfî, 13.

[^129]:Ibid., 16.

A further argument was: "The consensus of the community constitutes a