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Description"Abd el-Kader stood not much over five feet tall and wiry, exceptionally strong for his size, and had an iron constitution. His pale skin, prominent forehead and aquiline nose were framed by a thin black beard. His dark gray eyes seemed to change color according to the light, which may explain why Abd el-Kader has been described as having, alternatively, blue, black, green and hazel colored eyes. His capacity to adapt his personality to his different roles impressed those who spent time with him: dutiful son, holy man, scholar, orator, resourceful warrior, diplomat, scourge of the tribes, administrator and judge. Above all, he was a spiritual leader. The true colors this ascetic young Muslim monk marched under were the colors of obedience, an obedient servant of God."
-John W. Kiser in Commander of the Faithful: The Life and Times of Emir Abd El-Kader "His clothes were no different than the most common Arab. He is pale and resembles portraits one sees of Jesus Christ. His eyes are dark, his forehead prominent, and has a large mouth with crooked, white teeth. His entire physiognomy is that of a monk. Except at first greeting, he keeps his eyes lowered. His clothes are dirty and worn. It is clear he affects a rigorous simplicity." -General Bugeaud of Abd el-Kader upon their meeting to agree upon the treaty of Tafna which effectively granted el-Kader control of two-thirds of Algeria. "His physiognomy is fluid and, despite his famous self-control, his face reflects the emotions that are stirring within. When he prays he is an ascetic; when he commands, he is a sovereign; when he talks of war, he is a soldier. When he talks with his friends about matters other than statecraft or religion, he is good humored and open, with an inclination toward self-deprecation. When he talks of his father, it is never without tears in his beautiful eyes" -Leon "Omar" Roches, close friend and secretary to Abd el-Kader |
Biography
A marabout is a holy man, and certain tribes have been known to represent these special classes of Arabian aristocracy. It was into a distinguished marabout family living in the remote Turkish territory of Oran, in what was known as the Regency of Algiers, that Abd el-Kader was born in either September 1808 or May 1807. His family was a member of the Beni Hachem tribe, and also were descended from the Prophet Muhammad through the Prophet's grandson Hassan.
His father was Muhi al-Din, the respected head of the Kadiriyya brotherhood. Its influence stretched throughout North Africa thanks to Muhi al-Din's reputation for learning, piety, and wisdom - qualities that justified his name, 'The Enlivener of Religion'. His mother was Lalla Zohra, second of Muhi al-Din's three wives. People called her 'Lalla', a title of respect owed to her reputation for generosity, learning and piety. Lalla Zohra was Abd el-Kader's first teacher, instructing him in reading and writing, and also in religion. She taught him how to perform the rituals of ablution and prayer, but also taught him the dangers of mechanical ritualism. He had to pray with his heart and not only his lips.
When Abd el-Kader reached eight years of age, he entered the male-dominated world of his father who became his teacher. Muhi al-Din instructed his son in the Sunna (or traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad, as well as in the Quranic exegesis of great religious scholars. Abd el-Kader became an authorized commentator of the Quran and of the hadith by the age of 13, and at this time he became known to his family by the honorary title of Si Kada. For further education, Abd el-Kader was sent to live with a scholar and friend of his father, Ahmed Ben Tahar in a small fishing village outside of Oran. Ben Tahar instructed el-Kader in mathematics, geography, astronomy, philosophy, and history. Which added to the moral and religious foundation laid by his parents. During this time, he also learned about plant pharmacology and veterinary medicine as well as adab (manners or etiquette) and horsemanship. At the age of 14, Abd el-Kader was sent to Oran to learn poetry, rhetoric, and recitation of the Quran from Ahmed Ben Khodja, a respected scholar. Here, he was exposed to great diversity as well as temptations, distractions, and corruption. When he finally returned home to Guetna in 1823, Abd el-Kader had developed a strong dislike for the ruling Turks.
At this time, the 15-year-old Abd el-Kader was married to the 13-year-old daughter of his uncle in a match which was arranged by his mother. Her name was Kheira, she was "beautiful, well-educated, intelligent, and from a noble family - their own". During the wedding celebration, an old, blind storyteller crafted a story of the marriage:
His father was Muhi al-Din, the respected head of the Kadiriyya brotherhood. Its influence stretched throughout North Africa thanks to Muhi al-Din's reputation for learning, piety, and wisdom - qualities that justified his name, 'The Enlivener of Religion'. His mother was Lalla Zohra, second of Muhi al-Din's three wives. People called her 'Lalla', a title of respect owed to her reputation for generosity, learning and piety. Lalla Zohra was Abd el-Kader's first teacher, instructing him in reading and writing, and also in religion. She taught him how to perform the rituals of ablution and prayer, but also taught him the dangers of mechanical ritualism. He had to pray with his heart and not only his lips.
When Abd el-Kader reached eight years of age, he entered the male-dominated world of his father who became his teacher. Muhi al-Din instructed his son in the Sunna (or traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad, as well as in the Quranic exegesis of great religious scholars. Abd el-Kader became an authorized commentator of the Quran and of the hadith by the age of 13, and at this time he became known to his family by the honorary title of Si Kada. For further education, Abd el-Kader was sent to live with a scholar and friend of his father, Ahmed Ben Tahar in a small fishing village outside of Oran. Ben Tahar instructed el-Kader in mathematics, geography, astronomy, philosophy, and history. Which added to the moral and religious foundation laid by his parents. During this time, he also learned about plant pharmacology and veterinary medicine as well as adab (manners or etiquette) and horsemanship. At the age of 14, Abd el-Kader was sent to Oran to learn poetry, rhetoric, and recitation of the Quran from Ahmed Ben Khodja, a respected scholar. Here, he was exposed to great diversity as well as temptations, distractions, and corruption. When he finally returned home to Guetna in 1823, Abd el-Kader had developed a strong dislike for the ruling Turks.
At this time, the 15-year-old Abd el-Kader was married to the 13-year-old daughter of his uncle in a match which was arranged by his mother. Her name was Kheira, she was "beautiful, well-educated, intelligent, and from a noble family - their own". During the wedding celebration, an old, blind storyteller crafted a story of the marriage:
“Their first encounter occurred when Si Kada's father sends his favorite son to visit his brother, a marabout in the neighboring Gharabas tribe, to negotiate some business matter. Along the way, Abd el-Kader observes two women by a river. One is a beautiful young girl, the other, an older woman - her mother or her servant perhaps. The young girl looks up and pierces the heart of the young man with her large, black eyes. At his uncle's camp that evening, Abd el-Kader receives a clandestine visit from the older lady. She comes as an intermediary for the young girl he had seen that day. With a finger to her lips, she gives him three flowers. They were picked by her mistress from the river bed following their earlier encounter. Her name is Lalla Kheira and each flower is a symbol. One is white, like her body; the second is pink, the color of pleasure, and the third is brown, the color of night and of mystery. She would wait for him by the spring, near the river.
The rendezvous takes place, the servant stands off at a discreet distance. Kheira approaches, modestly at first, her haik still covering her face. The handsome young man takes her hand. Trembling with passion, they embrace, her hands around his neck. Suddenly, Kheira hears a tree branch rustle and sees the hem of a white burnoose. She freezes and cries, "We are lost. We have been seen!"
"Go back to your companion," Abd el-Kader replies with a mysterious smile. "Don't worry."
Abd el-Kader looks into the woods and sees that a member of his uncle's Gharabas tribe had been secretly observing them. Knife in hand, Abd el-Kader chases after him until the voyeur leaps into the river, the compromised paramour in hot pursuit. A struggle takes place in the river. Abd el-Kader emerges triumphantly."
Between the years of 1825 and 1828, Abd el-Kader travelled with his father from their home to Mecca to complete the ritual pilgrimage, and also for Abd el-Kader to continue his education in the company of great scholars whom they would meet along the way. This journey, which should have taken two years, was extended to three when the pair were held by a Turkish official under close guard for a year in Morocco after the group of pilgrims accompanying them grew into the thousands and was deemed a threat.
Upon their release and completion of their pilgrimage, they made a final stop at the tomb of al-Jilani, the patron saint of their Kadiriyya brotherhood. It was at this time that Muhi al-Din asked Abd el-Kader to begin leading the discussions with local scholars and hosts, and was also when Muhi al-Din had a dream foretelling the rise of his son to the role of sultan. Muhi al-Din and Abd el-Kader returned home to Guetna in 1828, only two years prior to the French invasion at Algiers.
Following the French invasion in 1830, the power vacuum left by the departure of the Turks was filled once again by the Arabian aristocratic class of marabouts, and Muhi al-Din was called upon the lead the struggle, or jihad, against the French. In November of 1832, the leaders of the tribes asked Muhi al-Din to officially be their sultan and to unify the struggle against the invader. When the chiefs of the seven tribes living around the plain of Ghriss came to Muhi al-Din with their petition, he slyly agreed: "You know, I am a man of peace. I have given my life to God. The task you are asking of me requires bloodletting and brutal force. But if you insist, I accept to be your sultan. My first decision is to abdicate in favor of my son, Abd el-Kader. He is young, intelligent, just and capable of continuing the struggle. He will do it better than me. I am too old and not suited for this job. Help him, so that he may be a father to the youngest of you, a son to the older, and a brother to his equals." Abd el-Kader soon refused the title of sultan, and wanted to be called simply emir, or commander. Later, he became known as Emir al-Muminin, Commander of the Faithful.
In his governance, Emir Abd el-Kader set out to create a unitary state with a permanent administration, a system of justice and finance, enforced by a regular army. He desired to reform the Arabs around Islam and a society which emphasized equity and justice achieved through knowledge and an intelligent application of the divine law. The French invaded with the intention to colonize Algeria, but in order to attract colonizers, the area needed to be made at least relatively safe. It was later made clear that this would only be possible if the entire country were dominated and Abd el-Kader's power broken.
In the first eight years of French occupation, Abd el-Kader was victorious in the majority of his military campaigns, and a series of treaties with French officials gave him a great amount of power in the region as well as great authority amongst the Arab tribes. Peace with the French was temporarily achieved following the Treaty of Tafna in 1837, but this peace was broken and war was declared when the French violated the treaty and were attacked by Abd el-Kader's forces in 1839. This time, the French response was one of annihilation, and they adopted a scorched-earth policy, moving through Algeria destroying villages and burning crops. By 1842, the tide had shifted out of Abd el-Kader's favor, and by 1847 he was forced to surrender. At this time he and his family were taken to France and kept in captivity until 1852, when they were released and allowed to settle in Bursa (modern-day Turkey) on the condition that Abd el-Kader never again agitate conditions in Algeria. In 1855 Abd el-Kader and his family moved to Damascus where he devoted himself to writing and to the study of theology and philosophy.
In July of 1860, a conflict arose in Damascus in which the local Druze population attacked the Christians quarter, killing over 3,000 people. During the violence, Abd el-Kader rescued large numbers of Christians by sheltering them in his house. This event earned him further international recognition, as well as the award of the French Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur. He also received the Grand Cross of the Redeemer from Greece, the Order of the Medjidie, First Class from Turkey, and the Order of Pius IX from the Vatican, as well as a gold-inlaid shotgun from Great Britain and a pair of inlaid pistols from Abraham Lincoln.
Abd el-Kader died in Damascus on May 26, 1883 and was buried near the great Sufi Ibn Arabi.
Upon their release and completion of their pilgrimage, they made a final stop at the tomb of al-Jilani, the patron saint of their Kadiriyya brotherhood. It was at this time that Muhi al-Din asked Abd el-Kader to begin leading the discussions with local scholars and hosts, and was also when Muhi al-Din had a dream foretelling the rise of his son to the role of sultan. Muhi al-Din and Abd el-Kader returned home to Guetna in 1828, only two years prior to the French invasion at Algiers.
Following the French invasion in 1830, the power vacuum left by the departure of the Turks was filled once again by the Arabian aristocratic class of marabouts, and Muhi al-Din was called upon the lead the struggle, or jihad, against the French. In November of 1832, the leaders of the tribes asked Muhi al-Din to officially be their sultan and to unify the struggle against the invader. When the chiefs of the seven tribes living around the plain of Ghriss came to Muhi al-Din with their petition, he slyly agreed: "You know, I am a man of peace. I have given my life to God. The task you are asking of me requires bloodletting and brutal force. But if you insist, I accept to be your sultan. My first decision is to abdicate in favor of my son, Abd el-Kader. He is young, intelligent, just and capable of continuing the struggle. He will do it better than me. I am too old and not suited for this job. Help him, so that he may be a father to the youngest of you, a son to the older, and a brother to his equals." Abd el-Kader soon refused the title of sultan, and wanted to be called simply emir, or commander. Later, he became known as Emir al-Muminin, Commander of the Faithful.
In his governance, Emir Abd el-Kader set out to create a unitary state with a permanent administration, a system of justice and finance, enforced by a regular army. He desired to reform the Arabs around Islam and a society which emphasized equity and justice achieved through knowledge and an intelligent application of the divine law. The French invaded with the intention to colonize Algeria, but in order to attract colonizers, the area needed to be made at least relatively safe. It was later made clear that this would only be possible if the entire country were dominated and Abd el-Kader's power broken.
In the first eight years of French occupation, Abd el-Kader was victorious in the majority of his military campaigns, and a series of treaties with French officials gave him a great amount of power in the region as well as great authority amongst the Arab tribes. Peace with the French was temporarily achieved following the Treaty of Tafna in 1837, but this peace was broken and war was declared when the French violated the treaty and were attacked by Abd el-Kader's forces in 1839. This time, the French response was one of annihilation, and they adopted a scorched-earth policy, moving through Algeria destroying villages and burning crops. By 1842, the tide had shifted out of Abd el-Kader's favor, and by 1847 he was forced to surrender. At this time he and his family were taken to France and kept in captivity until 1852, when they were released and allowed to settle in Bursa (modern-day Turkey) on the condition that Abd el-Kader never again agitate conditions in Algeria. In 1855 Abd el-Kader and his family moved to Damascus where he devoted himself to writing and to the study of theology and philosophy.
In July of 1860, a conflict arose in Damascus in which the local Druze population attacked the Christians quarter, killing over 3,000 people. During the violence, Abd el-Kader rescued large numbers of Christians by sheltering them in his house. This event earned him further international recognition, as well as the award of the French Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur. He also received the Grand Cross of the Redeemer from Greece, the Order of the Medjidie, First Class from Turkey, and the Order of Pius IX from the Vatican, as well as a gold-inlaid shotgun from Great Britain and a pair of inlaid pistols from Abraham Lincoln.
Abd el-Kader died in Damascus on May 26, 1883 and was buried near the great Sufi Ibn Arabi.
Information in this biography has been drawn from:
- John W. Kiser, Commander of the Faithful, the Life and Times of Emir Abd El-Kader: A Story of True Jihad, Monkfish Book Publishing Company, 2008
- Ahmed Bouyerdene, Emir Abd el-Kader: Hero and Saint of Islam, trans. Gustavo Polit, World Wisdom 2012
Selected writings
"You are in my thoughts, my beloved, when the wings of fate throw me into battle, when hands severed by the sword fly into the air…The memory of your love fills my soul and my chest is about to burst…"
-Abd el-Kader, in a poem to his wife Kheira.
"...If you think God is what the different communities believe — the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, polytheists and others — He is that, but also more. If you think and believe what the prophets, saints and angels profess — He is that, but He is still more. None of His creatures worships Him in His entirety. No one is an infidel in all the ways relating to God. No one knows all God’s facets. Each of His creatures worships and knows Him in a certain way and is ignorant of Him in others. Error does not exist in this world except in a relative manner."
Exerpt from Abd el-Kader's Spiritual Writings
"Praise be to God alone and blessings from on high to the Prophet Mohammed after whom there is no other prophet. To the tribes and to their sheiks, notables, and ulemas, may God enlighten you, guide and direct your counsels and give success to your deeds and actions.
The citizens of the discricts of Mascara, the Eastern and Western Plain of Ghriss, and their neighbors and allies, the Beni Chokran, the El Bordhas, the Beni Abbas, the Yacubies, the Beni Amer, the Beni Medjaher, and others have elected me unanimously and appointed me to govern their country. They pledged themselves to obey me in success and in distress, in prosperity and adversity, and to consecrate themselves and their sons and their properties to the great and holy cause of defending our faith and our soil.
We have, therefore, assumed this heavy responsibility, hoping it may be the means for uniting the Muslim community and of preventing dissensions among them and of affording general security to all the inhabitants of the land, of putting an end to lawlessness, and of driving back the enemy who has invaded our country in order to subjugate us.
As a condition of our acceptance, we have imposed on those who have delegated to s the supreme governing power the duty to conform all their actions to the precepts and teachings of the book of God and of administering justice in their various spheres according to the law of the Prophet, to wit: loyally and impartially to the strong and to the weak, to the nobles and the poor. This condition has been accepted by them.
We hereby invite you to partake in this pledge, or compact, between ourselves and these tribes. Hasten, therefore, to show your allegiance and obedience, and may God help you to prosper in this world and the next. My great goal is to reform and to do good to the extent that good lies within me. My trust is in God, and from Him and Him only do I expect reward and success.
By the order of the Defender of our Religion, our sovereign and Commander of the Faithful, Abd el-Kader ibn Muhi al-Din. May God grant him victory. Amen.
Mascara, November 22, 1832"
-Abd el-Kader, Proclamation of Authority following selection as Emir
-Abd el-Kader, in a poem to his wife Kheira.
"...If you think God is what the different communities believe — the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, polytheists and others — He is that, but also more. If you think and believe what the prophets, saints and angels profess — He is that, but He is still more. None of His creatures worships Him in His entirety. No one is an infidel in all the ways relating to God. No one knows all God’s facets. Each of His creatures worships and knows Him in a certain way and is ignorant of Him in others. Error does not exist in this world except in a relative manner."
Exerpt from Abd el-Kader's Spiritual Writings
"Praise be to God alone and blessings from on high to the Prophet Mohammed after whom there is no other prophet. To the tribes and to their sheiks, notables, and ulemas, may God enlighten you, guide and direct your counsels and give success to your deeds and actions.
The citizens of the discricts of Mascara, the Eastern and Western Plain of Ghriss, and their neighbors and allies, the Beni Chokran, the El Bordhas, the Beni Abbas, the Yacubies, the Beni Amer, the Beni Medjaher, and others have elected me unanimously and appointed me to govern their country. They pledged themselves to obey me in success and in distress, in prosperity and adversity, and to consecrate themselves and their sons and their properties to the great and holy cause of defending our faith and our soil.
We have, therefore, assumed this heavy responsibility, hoping it may be the means for uniting the Muslim community and of preventing dissensions among them and of affording general security to all the inhabitants of the land, of putting an end to lawlessness, and of driving back the enemy who has invaded our country in order to subjugate us.
As a condition of our acceptance, we have imposed on those who have delegated to s the supreme governing power the duty to conform all their actions to the precepts and teachings of the book of God and of administering justice in their various spheres according to the law of the Prophet, to wit: loyally and impartially to the strong and to the weak, to the nobles and the poor. This condition has been accepted by them.
We hereby invite you to partake in this pledge, or compact, between ourselves and these tribes. Hasten, therefore, to show your allegiance and obedience, and may God help you to prosper in this world and the next. My great goal is to reform and to do good to the extent that good lies within me. My trust is in God, and from Him and Him only do I expect reward and success.
By the order of the Defender of our Religion, our sovereign and Commander of the Faithful, Abd el-Kader ibn Muhi al-Din. May God grant him victory. Amen.
Mascara, November 22, 1832"
-Abd el-Kader, Proclamation of Authority following selection as Emir
Impact on others
"For over forty years, Emir Abd el-Kader was a world figure, admired from the Great Plains to Moscow to Damascus. People of all stations sought him out: first as a wily adversary of a French occupation, later as an unbending prisoner and finally, in honorable exile where he reached the summit of his fame after he saved the lives of thousands of Christians during a rampage in Damascus. The emir’s story is about many things, but mainly it is about struggle: struggle against French invaders, struggle with Arabs who rejected his leadership, struggle with humiliation and depression in French prisons and struggle to live as a good Muslim throughout his tribulations."
-John W. Kiser in Commander of the Faithful: The Life and Times of Emir Abd El-Kader
"…by his prestige, his faith, his eloquence, his past victories, this man has become a living symbol of an idea that moves the masses deeply. He represents a great danger so long as he remains in the country."
-General Leon Christophe Juchault de Lamoriciere, general of the French Army of Africa
"His genius lay in his profound knowledge of the ideas, needs, and prejudices of his people and in his capacity to take them into account when calculating the consequences of his actions."
-Danish Captain Dinesen
"Such is the history of the man for whom our town is named. A scholar, a philosopher, a lover of liberty; a champion of his religion, a born leader of men, a great soldier, a capable administrator, a persuasive orator, a chivalrous opponent; the selection was well made, and with those pioneers of seventy years ago, we do honor The Sheik."
-Class of 1915, Elkader High School, Elkader, Iowa
-John W. Kiser in Commander of the Faithful: The Life and Times of Emir Abd El-Kader
"…by his prestige, his faith, his eloquence, his past victories, this man has become a living symbol of an idea that moves the masses deeply. He represents a great danger so long as he remains in the country."
-General Leon Christophe Juchault de Lamoriciere, general of the French Army of Africa
"His genius lay in his profound knowledge of the ideas, needs, and prejudices of his people and in his capacity to take them into account when calculating the consequences of his actions."
-Danish Captain Dinesen
"Such is the history of the man for whom our town is named. A scholar, a philosopher, a lover of liberty; a champion of his religion, a born leader of men, a great soldier, a capable administrator, a persuasive orator, a chivalrous opponent; the selection was well made, and with those pioneers of seventy years ago, we do honor The Sheik."
-Class of 1915, Elkader High School, Elkader, Iowa
Fun facts |
For further reading |
Abd el-Kader was named for the 11th century scholar Muhi al-Din Abd el-Kader al-Jilani who was born in Persia, but who studied in Baghdad. He preached a simple, universal message that attracted not only Muslims but also Jews and Christians. Al-Jilani was rumored to have lived for twelve months on water only; he practiced levitation and could make himself invisible; flies never settled on his face; he could be in seventy-one places at one time, which is perhaps how he came to father forty-nine children, the last at the age of eighty-five; he had a special talent for curing epilepsy, such that the disease became unknown in Baghdad. Muhi al-Din's father, Mustafa, had adopted the doctrines of Al-Jilani and constructed a school in his honor and dedicated it to the study of his teachings.
The town of Elkader in Iowa in the United States is named after Abd el-kader. The town's founders Timothy Davis, John Thompson and Chester Sage were impressed by his fight against French colonial power and decided to pick his name as the name for their new settlement in 1846. In 2013, the American film director Oliver Stone announced the pending production of a filmed biopic called The Emir Abd el-Kader, to be directed by Charles Burnett. |
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Interview with John Kiser |
Short Biopic About Emir Abdelkader el-Jazairi |
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Account of an interview with Abd el-Kader published in the Albany Journal |
News clip about Elkader, Iowa |
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