from Ankara on the subject and finally arranged the raid. On 18 July 1932, then, gendarmes were concealed in various dark corners of the mosque, and on the Arabic words being uttered, sprang into view with bayonets fixed surrounding Bediuzzaman and his small congregation of innocent villagers. Four of these were then arrested and marched off to Egridir. They were however later released after questioning and being ill-treated. Bediuzzaman described the affair like this:
"The aggression of the heretics behind the scenes recently has taken on a most ugly form; they have assaulted the people of belief in a most tyrannical and irreligious manner. During the private and unofficial worship of myself and one or two friends in the mosque I myself repaired for my own use, they intervened in the call to prayer and kamet. `Why are you saying the kamet and call to prayer secretly in Arabic?', they demanded." He then went on to make a verbal attack, not on "those lacking conscience" who planned the raid, whom he said were not worth addressing, but on "the heretics and innovators" who were the instigators of these moves in the name of Turkish nationalism, "the heads of the committees who, following the path of pharaoh, are playing in arbitrary and tyrannical fashion with the nation's destiny."
Tevfik Tigli, the teacher, said of Cemal Can that he made every effort to have Bediuzzaman moved from Barla. And he too took it on himself to pester and harass him. In fact, both sharing the pettiness and desire to domineer characteristic of minor officials, they mostly combined their efforts to that end. However, as very often happened with those whose intention was to harm Bediuzzaman, the Chief District Official received a blow from the Almighty: totally unexpectedly, he was arrested in connection with some quite different matter and was sent to prison for two and half years.
In regard to the changes to the call to prayer, Bediuzzaman supported his adamant opposition to `Turkifying' the practices of Islam with various reasoned arguments. Particularly in regard to the Qur'an, when the authorities announced it was to be translated in the early thirties, he wrote various letters and treatises arguing the