1908, Vahdetî used it to answer the attacks on the Shari'a and Islamic traditions and morality made by the newspapers supporting the CUP. As Vahdetî himself put it, the Volkan was "very small but active", "moderation" was its "way", "however, when truth and right are attacked, it is not possible for the Volkan not to erupt." [^177] Nevertheless, it supported the Constitution and the rule of law, and its aim was to promote the interests of Muslims, and to further the cause of Islam and the Qur'an in the face of the daily increasing despotism and unlawfulness of the CUP and their supporters.

[^177]:Ibid., Volkan, Noel, 1; No.4, 20.

The apprehension expressed by Bediuzzaman on hearing that "certain people" had founded a society called the Muhammadan Union mentioned above refers to his anxiety that a society bearing the name of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) should become involved in politics or be limited to one group, rather than referring to Derviş Vahdetî. Nevertheless, however much he shared the views expressed by the newspaper it is probably fair to say that he wished Derviş Vahdetî to adhere to the moderation which was its way. For Bediuzzaman was severely critical of the divisive role of the press in that period and on several occasions published articles pointing out how the newspapers should conduct themselves. At the end of two long articles of the fifteen of his that appeared in the Volkan, Bediuzzaman wrote a brief reminder to Vahdetî advising him of his responsibility to act moderately as Islam requires:

My Brother, Derviş Vahdetî Bey!

Writers should be mannerly. And their manners should be moulded by the manners of Islam. Let the sense of religion in the conscience order the Press Regulations, for this Islamic revolution has shown that what rules in all consciences is Islamic zeal, the light of lights. Also, it has been understood that the Muhammadan Union includes all the people of Islam. There is no one outside it. [^178]

[^178]:Nursi, "Lemean-ı Hakikat ve İzale-i Şübehat," in Asar-ı Bedi'iyye, 394; Şahiner, Said Nursi, 118.

Articles written by Bediuzzaman appeared in most of the leading newspapers of the day, including İkdam, Serbestî, Mizan, Misbah, and the Şark ve Kürdistan Gazetesi, not only in the Volkan. He defended the same ideas in all of them. [^179] Since, along the Mizan and other papers, the Volkan had taken up an open position against the CUP, it was itself, and the Muhammadan Union, for which it spoke, the objects of much criticism. In his arti-

[^179]:Ibid., 118.