Huseyin Cahid campaigned for the cause of secularization, that is, the separation of religion from all state affairs. It was in answer to his broaching this vexed question in a leading article in the Tanin on medrese reform that Bediuzzaman wrote his open letter.
The gist of the letter was that, having failed to grasp the true nature of Islam, Huseyin Cahid had made the mistake of attempting to compare it with Christianity. Bediuzzaman quoted the maxim `There is no clergy in Islam' and explained that it was a basic tenet and not open to dispute. It was not possible to compare Christian sects and orders with Sufism, because Islam is a total order and system of living. The duties of worship which Islam imposes cannot be separated from the Serial, because the Seriat does not leave them as theoretical, but makes them the very order of life. Islam is the only religion the ordinances of which provide "eternal criteria" for its members in both the life of this world and the Hereafter. Bediuzzaman understands too that change is necessary and points out that the reinterpretation of the Serial is a duty that should not be restricted to non-particular matters, but also applied to particular ordinances based on custom and usage. He urges Huseyin Cahid to realize and appreciate the dynamic nature of the Serial, "which accepts the principle of change in judgments in the face of changing times."
Bediuzzaman concluded his open letter by advising Hüseyin Cahid to save himself the pointless trouble of examining imported goods such as secularism when there is "the magnificent entity and power" of the Seriat, "which provides for every aspect of the community's life, and came into existence only through the Qur'an, the perpetual miracle of the religion of Islam."

• "Europe is pregnant with Islam"

In the autumn of 1908, one of the leading members of the famous el-Ezher University in Cairo, and at one time Grand Mufti of Egypt, Seyh Muhammed Bahid visited Istanbul. The Istanbul ulema, who themselves had been unable to better