role in all the main actions of the Tripolitanian, Balkan, and First World Wars. When he became Minister of War, Sultan Resad made Enver Pasa its Commander-in-Chief; however, it remained independent of the State in its operations. Within its ranks were leading intellectual and religious figures, as well as figures from the military establishment and from all fields and walks of life. Mehmed Akif was a member, as was Abdurresid Ibrahim, both old and close associates of Bediuzzaman's. The realization of Islamic Unity continued to be one of the major areas of its activities. Cemal Kutay describes Bediuzzaman as one of its chief theorists and planners in this area, as well as being one its most active members. As one of its propaganda exercises for Islamic Unity, the Special Organization undertook the preparation and distribution of the Cihad Fetva, or religious ruling calling on all Muslims to unite in Holy War against the Entente Powers at the beginning of the First World War. Bediuzzaman played an active role in both its preparation and the distribution.

Cemal Kutay mentions that the person closest to Bediuzzaman in his ideas on Islamic Unity was the poet Mehmed Akif. When in Istanbul, they used frequently to forgather in the offices of the Sirat-i Mustakim, later renamed Sebilurresad. Mehmed Akif was the chief writer for the magazine, which was published by Esref Edip Fergan. Like the poet, Bediuzzaman made a fine brew of tea, and it was he who used to boil up the samovar whenever he visited the Sebilürresad. On one occasion, he translated the following lines of Akif's into Persian, Arabic, and Kurdish:

Your nation was Islam; this nationalism, what is it?

Ah, your nation, if only you had clung to it.

What's being Albanian? Has it a place in the Seriat?

Unbelief it is, advancing your people, not the rest!

What superiority has Arab over Turk,

Persian over Chinese, or Laz over Circassian or Kurd?