example, subsequent to the French Revolution, the ideas of liberty, equality, justice, and the rule of law had been universally accepted as preferable to despotism and arbitrary rule; the trend towards representative government was inevitable and unavoidable, in the Ottoman Empire as well as in Europe. Bediuzzaman accepted the trend, and through pointing out that these luminous concepts are not the exclusive property of the West as the Europeans would have it, but are fundamental to Islam, showed the way towards developing a truly Islamic form of government. This demonstrating that consultation, equality before the law, justice, freedom, and brotherhood are enjoined by Islam and were practiced by the Prophet Muhammed and his immediate successors, and that despotism is contrary to Islam, is not apologetics nor some belated and dubious claim to them as is often portrayed, but is a genuine statement of fact, and is, furthermore, a recognition of the dynamic nature of the Seriat
Bediuzzaman's success in spreading these ideas in Salonica caused him to be looked on very favorably by the Committee of Union and Progress, and in regard to this, the Commander of the Third Army, then stationed in Salonica, Field Marshal Ibrahim Pasa, summoned him in order to meet him. Undaunted by the Pasa’s rank and the sensitivity of the issues, Bediuzzaman put forwards his ideas with his usual fearlessness in the interview. The Pasa must have been persuaded of them to a degree anyway for he afterwards asked Kazim Nami, his political advisor: "Did you know this Bediuzzaman before? He is extremely knowledgeable in every subject... his ideas are different just like his dress..." The meeting caused quite a sensation and reports of it appeared in the Young Turk newspapers published in Paris. They praised Bediuzzaman as a hope for Freedom and Justice in the area of religion and learning.
Another figure of some fame, or notoriety, got to hear of Bediuzzaman and his activities, and that was Emanuel Karaso, later the Jewish deputy for Salonica, and Grand Master of the Macedonia Risorta Masons' Lodge. No doubt wanting to find a way of influencing such a talent and using it for his own purposes, he sought a meeting with Bediuzzaman. Bediuzzaman agreed, but the Grand