Masonry. Moreover, in addition to those books they have confiscated and held for three years the miraculous Qur'an, which is worth thousands of liras and in which the name of Allah is written in gold and which the Head of the Directorate holds in esteem and is trying to have printed. Because I am seriously ill from poison and unable to defend my rights, I am appointing Sungur as my deputy. I await from the justice-loving ministers of the new government that they halt the destruction caused by the former government and their past twenty years of tormenting me. I appoint Mustafa Sungur, one of my brothers, as my deputy.

In the name of the Nur students,

S a i d   N u r s i ∗∗∗

► (019) ◄

[A significant fact and a conversation of the university Nurjus with the Democrats.]

At the wish of the nation, the Democrats have secured the free expression of the marks of Islam; now, the sole means of gratifying both the country and the nation is to make the movement for Islamic unity a source of support for themselves. Formerly, the self-interested policies of the British, French, and Americans opposed and prevented this, but now they are in need of it. For communism, Masonry, atheism, and irreligion lead directly to anarchy, and it is only Islamic unity based on the truth of the Qur'an that may resist these awesomely destructive forces, And again it is only Islamic unity that may be a means of saving both humanity from this peril, and this country from foreign invasion and this nation from anarchy, Therefore, it is essential that the Democrats rely on this truth with all their strength and take a stand against the communist and Masonic currents.

By leaving free the call to prayer, they gained strength for themselves twenty times greater than their own power. They won the nation's love and made it indebted to them. ... With their support for Islamic unity, the Nurjus form a significant mass backing the Democrats. However, some extremist sections of the former party with Masonic and communist leanings are preparing to deal the Democrats two heavy blows. In the former [pre-Republican] period, they swiftly overturned the liberals (Ahrarlar) [^4] when

[^4]:This refers to the Party of Ottoman Liberals (Ahrar Fırkası), founded subsequently to the Constitutional Revolution of July 1908. See also, fn 107 above. [Tr.]