fields and based on the principle of Consultation, to tackle the problems facing not only the Ottoman Empire, but the Islamic World as well.

Having stated that the Sultanate and Caliphate were inseparable, and that the Office of Grand Vizier represented the former and the Office of Sheikh-ul-Islam the latter, he pointed out that in modern, complex society and in the face of the myriad problems facing the Islamic World, it was beyond the capacity of a single individual to perform the duty of Sheikh-ul-Islam effectively. A voice of such strength and authority was required at that time that it could only be supplied by a Learned Council such as one described above. He suggested that with the addition of further Ulama (Scholars), both Ottoman and from other parts of the Islamic World, an up-graded Assembly of Islamic Scholars (Dar al Hikmat-al Islamiya) could form its basis.

"We are not living in the Old Times. In old times, the Ruler was a single person. The Mufti (the official expounder of the Holy Law) of that Ruler was also an individual person. He was able to correct and modify His (the Sultan’s) Opinions.

Now the present is the time of community. The Ruler should be a Collective Personality which arose from the spirit of the community, a little specialist, a little deaf (not influenced easily) and resistant, and the Councils represent that Spirit...