some pretext, he passed by a second time, and again Bediuzzaman did not stir. He passed by a third time, and stopped, then the following exchange ensued:

“Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, I know. You are Nicola Nicolayavich, the Czar’s uncle and Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasian Front.”

“So why do you insult me?”

“Forgive me, but I have not insulted you. I merely doing what my beliefs demand.”

“What do your beliefs demand?”

“I am a Muslim scholar. I have belief in my heart. Someone with belief in his heart is superior to one without belief. If I had risen to my feet, I would have been disrespectful to my beliefs. I did not stand up for that reason.”

“In that case, by saying that I am without belief, you are insulting both my person, and the army to which I belong, and my nation, and the Czar. A military court will be set up at once and you shall be interrogated.”

On this command, a military court was set up. The Turkish, German, and Austrian officers in the headquarters all pleaded with Bediuzzaman to apologize to the Commander-in-Chief. He replied like this:

“I want to travel to the realm of the hereafter, to the presence of God’s Messenger (PBUH), and I have to have a passport. I can’t act contrarily to my beliefs.”

No one could open their mouths in the face of this, and awaited the results. The interrogation ceased, and they passed a sentence of execution for insulting the Russian Czar and army. Bediuzzaman said cheerfully to the officer leading the squad that came to carry out the sentence: “Allow me fifteen minutes to perform my duties.” He took the ablutions, then while performing two rak‘ats of prayers, Nicola Nicolayavich appeared. He said:

“Forgive me! I supposed you acted as you did to insult me, so I had you tried according to the law. But now I realize that you were