Initiative and Decentralization'. These ideas, which involved a devolvement of power from the government to the various millets and religious and ethnic minorities, aroused extreme opposition.
Included in Bediuzzaman's first work, Nutuk, (Speech) published in 1910, is an open letter to Sabahaddin Bey entitled, "Reply to Prince Sabahaddin Bey's Good but Misunderstood Idea." [^151]
[^151]:Nursi, Asar-ı Bedi'iyye, 356.
In it Bediuzzaman points out that a federal system for the Ottoman Empire was theoretically acceptable but because the level of development of the different millets and groups varied greatly, it was not practicable at that time. "Life lies in unity", he wrote. It is interesting to note that at that time of mudslinging, intimidation, and political violence, Sabahaddin Bey himself commented on Bediuzzaman's "intellectual excellence", describing his manner of address as "the very model of polite discourse." [^152]
[^152]:Cemal Kutay, "Hakikat Pırlantıları," Köprü Magazine, No. 36, March 1980, 33.
Bediuzzaman likened "love of the nation" to the attraction between particles; just as the latter caused the formation of a mass, so did "love of the nation" result in the formation of a cohesive whole. It was through strengthening these bonds of unity and awareness and love of the nation that a harmony of progress could be achieved. He did not believe that national differences should be erased, on the contrary as we have seen, it was his view that the government should be working to raise all the elements of the Empire to the same level through programmes geared to "the intellectual capacity and national customs of each." This would result in healthy competition.
Quite correctly as it turned out, Bediuzzaman warned Sabahaddin Bey that the idea of decentralization and "its nephews" the political clubs and organizations of the various minorities, would lead to autonomy, and "rending the veil of Ottomanism and constitutionalism", to independence and an army of small states. He could not equate the breaking-up of the Empire, stirring up of discord, and destruction of the future with the patriotism and nobility of such a gifted and highly-educated person. As believers in God's Unity, they were charged with establishing unity and cultivating love of the nation. Islam was sufficient. Solutions should be sought within the framework of Islam. [^153]
[^153]:See also, Şahiner, Said Nursi, 114-115; Kutay, Bediüzzaman, 199-211; Kutay, Tarih Sohbetleri, iv, 224.
Reflecting the attitude of many of the CUP and their followers in this period, there was a general air of laxity, excess, and carelessness in matters