This is the account of a certain situation in which Mohammad Amin undertook a particular course of action, out of his love for God, those who worship Him, and, indeed, all of mankind.
He experienced this incident when his brother, General Saleem Bey, went through some financial difficulties after he was wounded in battle and confined to his bed for many months.
So he asked Mohammad Amin to collect his accumulated salary by impersonating him and to use his, Saleem’s, military identity card in order to simplify the matter.
Mohammad Amin was only too happy to help his brother through this difficult period but something quite unexpected happened!
After the end of World War I, the countries allied against Germany incited Greece to attack Turkey which was Germany’s ally, and the bitter enemy of the Western allies. Those countries supported Greece by supplying arms and ammunition with the aim that Greece would bring down Turkey. Previously Greece was considered as one of the possessions of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and Turkey was taken aback by this unanticipated attack.
General Saleem Bey, Mohammad Amin’s brother, was the commander appointed to one of the forward Turkish military divisions in the vanguard of the Turkish Army. He fought valiantly, gained ground, and defended his position strongly. Unfortunately, however, he lost many men and his squad was almost destroyed, yet he managed to maintain his position before the enemy. He stayed the course though he was exposed to death several times, and even after he was wounded on the battle field, he still showed unmatched endurance, and his outstanding efforts surely helped to save Turkey from certain defeat as he fought off the first attack. In spite of all of that he was up against, he held the line until the Turkish backup forces arrived and pushed large columns of soldiers forwards into battle after he had halted the enemy’s advance.
The fresh, advancing Turkish reinforcements forced the Greek Army to withdraw in defeat. If it were not for his steadfastness and stubborn resistance, the outcome of this battle might well have ended differently and history would have a different story to tell: the Greeks may well have entered Turkey and occupied the capital city.
With his outstanding bravery in battle General Saleem led his men to a great victory that raised Turkey’s esteem in the eyes of the rest of the world and saved the last spark of its prestige amongst other countries after the collapse of its empire.
However, his courageous stance came at a high price to him personally: after this arduous ‘do or die’ battle, he had to spend six months of sick leave at home because of his injuries sustained during the war.
During this time Mohammad Amin was visiting his brother, the General, in Turkey. On one occasion Saleem Bey asked him if he would be so kind as to collect his salary. Saleem explained that there was an accrued amount which he needed as he was in debt, and gave his brother his identity card to facilitate the process.
Mohammad Amin went to collect Saleem’s salary using his brother’s military identity card and became involved in a very difficult situation, which was potentially dangerous as he was taken aback by the guard who addressed him saying: ‘General Saleem Bey! Welcome!’ All of a sudden, two doors were flung wide open in front of him and he was told that the sultan wanted to talk to him!
All at once he found himself standing face to face with the sultan whose very appearance was enough to put fear into the hearts of all those who saw him because of his grandeur and grave character, not to mention the fearful aspect of his impressive moustache!
How could he, Mohammad Amin, face him in a military capacity, pretending to be his brother the high ranking
General Saleem Bey, commander of a division of the Turkish army that had defeated the enemy? His position had suddenly become complicated!
Since the grand sultan was the actual ruler of the Turkish empire, our officer understood the potential seriousness of the situation, and knew full well that his position was not in the least bit simple: the grand sultan had assumed it was the indomitable commander himself, coming to collect his salary, as he, the sultan, had previously commanded the army’s accountants to inform him when General Saleem came for it.
But with his usual alacrity and clarity of thought that had helped him through many a difficult situation, he instantly formulated a plan: he dashed towards the grand sultan, saluted him in military fashion, and gave his brother’s name and military rank. To all intents and purposes he was now the general and commander who had saved the Turkish State!
Such a strong and positive introduction astonished the sultan and filled him with admiration, as (by our officer’s quickness of intellect and appropriate behaviour) he did not have the slightest reason to believe that the man before him was impersonating General Saleem Bey.
There, the grand sultan said to him: ‘You, my son, have given Turkey an overwhelming triumph and achieved a great honour for this country. Now, I want you to tell me all about the heroic battle you fought against the enemy.’
The major problem that arose here was that our officer had not yet heard any of the details from his brother, the general, and so he was now faced with an increasingly difficult situation but, “For those who see by Al’lah’s Light, He always prepares a way out.”[111]
Mohammad Amin thought to himself, ‘By God! I know nothing about the battle except a few tidbits of news, but I’ll just imagine what I would have done if I’d been the commander of the division and surprised by an attack.
‘I’ll start by describing an imaginary battle: how I outflanked the enemy and then launched an attack with my brigades of artillery and infantry, repelling their vehement attacks and several squads of their soldiers… of course, all of this is imaginary, and helped by my understanding of war and military tactics. So, whatever I tell him about my plan of action, he’ll be so astounded and startled at the expertise of my manoeuvres… how I staved off the possibility of any side attack… drove back an attack from the front and foiled all attempts of the enemy to outflank us… that he’ll believe it all to be true. I’ll then say how we used small groups of men to engage large numbers of the enemy forces in numerous minor diversions so their front line forces were dispersed, and that’s why the major attack was aborted until the regular squads of the Turkish Army arrived, and were able to destroy the enemy and drive them back.’
Having devised his ingenious plan Mohammad Amin continued to regale the sultan with so many imaginary details of the battle and his proficient defence tactics for more than an hour until the sultan felt as if he was actually experiencing the battle for himself as he listened intently, full of admiration for ‘General Saleem’ and his military strategy that had turned potential failure into victory.
After Mohammad Amin finished the description of the battle which was astounding and full of ingenious military tactics, the supreme ruler snapped back to the present, having been mesmerised and alarmed at what he had heard. He heaped praise upon the man before him and asked after his current state of health, wanting to know if he was making a rapid recovery.
Bravely and strongly, the General replied, ‘I’m perfectly fit to fight and go back into battle.’ Yet, on seeing his high level of morals, despite his many injuries, the supreme ruler said to him, ‘No… no…! You must rest until the end of the convalescence period as prescribed by your doctors, for they are very competent and you should take their advice. Truly you have given us outstanding personal service, that’s why we hold you in such high esteem.’
By these words, Mohammad Amin understood that the meeting was over and he was being dismissed from the presence of the sultan. He then took his leave of the supreme ruler by giving him a stiff military salute and hurried back to his brother’s house to report on all that had taken place.
As Mohammad Amin related to him every little detail about the audience with the grand sultan his brother’s face turned pale as he thought of the possible consequences of Amin’s actions: his immense fear seemed written clearly on his face. Yet Mohammad Amin resumed his speech saying,
‘Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be afraid of! My plan and role-play succeeded before the grand Sultan as I described to him all the details of the imaginary battle and the plans of attack, defence and retreat by one side or the other, and so on… that is, after I had sought Al’lah’s Help.’
Startled at what he had heard from his brother, Saleem Bey said, ‘By God! I didn’t carry out even one percent of the heroic performance and military genius you have related to me!’