In the Arabic addendum to the Damascus Sermon, the unassailable moral heroism born of belief in God was described by means of a truly subtle comparison. Here we shall set forth a summary of it and explain it.

Close to the beginning of the Second Constitutional Period (1908-1918), I joined Sultan Reşad’s tour of Rumelia (18)on behalf of the Eastern Provinces. In our carriage of the train a discussion started with two friends who taught in the new secular schools and were wellversed in science. They asked me: “Which is more necessary and should be stronger, religious zeal or national zeal?” To which I replied:

With us Muslims religion and nationhood are united, although there is a theoretical, apparent and incidental difference between them. Indeed, religion is the life and spirit of the nation. When they are seen as different and separate from each other, religious zeal encompasses both the common people and upper classes, whereas national zeal is felt by one person out of a hundred, that is, a person who is ready to sacrifice his