during this period, ʻabdu'l-bahá communicated with a number of different actors who were civilian, parliamentarians of the young turks, opposed to the reign of sultan abdul hamid ii, including namık kemal, ziya pasha and midhat pasha, in an attempt to disseminate baháʼí thought into their political ideology. he emphasized baháʼís "seek freedom and love liberty, hope for equality, are well-wishers of humanity and ready to sacrifice their lives to unite humanity" but on a more broad approach than the young turks. favorable relations included abdullah cevdet, one of the founders of the committee of union and progress, who would go on trial for defense of baháʼís in a periodical he founded. abdullah cevdet considered the baháʼí faith an intermediary step between islam and the ultimate abandonment of religious belief.