Dignity - Youth Voice: Issue III | Page 3

page 3 A Prince Among Barbarians Nazmul Hassan When French troops under General Bourmont landed on the shores of Algeria in 1830, the Muslims of North Africa were in a state of disarray. The war on the French side served as a ‘distraction’ for its populace; the empire was going through its own phase of instability as Charles X (the current King), abdicated in favor of Louis­ Philippe. Whatever was the weakness of the French, they were still the most powerful army in Europe, and the depleted Ottoman troops at Algiers stood little change against that grand killing machine. Soon, Algiers fell, and Oran followed, and the intentions of the French were made clear: this was a colonial project. As a result, the panicking Arab tribes of Algeria decided to unite under one man ­ a devout Marabout (religious leader) known as Muhi al­Din who, reluctantly became the leader of a great Jihad. Muhi al­Din soon saw the impracticality of his position ­ he was old and near death and the Jihad needed a strong, able man. Thus, he ceded his leadership to his stout son, a man with deep set eyes and a pensive air ­ himself a scholar of Islam and a master cavalier. The tribes fell in love. They named him Emir Al Mu’mineen ­ Prince of the Faithful. Throughout the next 15 years, Emir Abd el­ Kader would hold the French mission at bay through several stunning military victories (the Battle of Macta and others). He would unite the Muslim tribes, ‘civilize’ them in ways the French could have never done, do great deeds worthy of praise from Muslims and non­muslims alike, earn the love and reverence of his enemies, become the 19th century’s most celebrated humanitarian, craft his own Islamic state ­ lose it, then see himself be betrayed by his brothers in faith, then see all his works disappear right in front of his eyes. Yet throughout it all the Emir’s cool and collected character and the love of his dear mother kept him on his two feet. In 1847, the Emir’s Jihad would come to an end and a more relentless, spiritual Jihad would begin. Juggling with the fluctuating loyalties of the Arab tribes (many tribes abhorred his moralistic principles of war, such as not decapitating enemy soldiers after a battle), tired of the continual bloodshed, and eager to bring about stability in Algeria under French rule, he surrendered to General Lamorciere, under the condition that the French would allow him, and a small band of his followers a noble exile to Egypt ­ wherefrom he intended to perform the Hajj and pass the rest of his days in silent, religious contemplation. The French agreed, then proceeded to betray him. The French fleet took him and his entourage to Toulon, then moved him to Amboise castle. For nearly a decade, the French kept him more or less imprisoned. They stifled his free Arab spirit by forcing him to live in the sludge of Europe. Many of his family members became restless. Some died of heartbreak and depression, imprisoned in the cold, morose greenery of rural France. "[He] would become the 19th century's most celebrated humanitarian." continued on pg 6 ... A MUNA Youth Publication