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Abdel-Hamid ibn Badis

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Ibn Badis
ابن باديس
Personal
Born4 December 1889
Constantine, Algeria
Died16 April 1940 (aged 50)
Constantine, Algeria
ReligionSunni Islam
NationalityAlgerian
JurisprudenceMaliki
CreedAthari
MovementSalafism[1][2][3]
Senior posting
Influenced by

Abd al-Hamid ibn Mustafa ibn al-Makki ibn Badis (Arabic: عبد الحميد بن مصطفى بن المكي بن باديس, romanized: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Musṭafā ibn al-Makkī ibn Bādīs), known simply as Ibn Badis, was an Algerian Islamic scholar and Salafi educator, exegete and figurehead of cultural nationalism.[6]

In 1931, Ibn Badis founded the Association of Algerian Muslim Ulema, which was a national grouping of many Islamic scholars in Algeria from many different and sometimes opposing perspectives and viewpoints. The Association would have later a great influence on Algerian Muslim politics up to the Algerian War of Independence. In the same period, it set up many institutions where thousands of Algerian children of Muslim parents were educated. The Association also published a monthly journal, the Al-Chihab and Souheil Ibn Badis contributed regularly to it between 1925 and his death in 1940. The journal informed its readers about the Association's ideas and thoughts on religious reform and spoke on other religious and political issues.[7][8][9][10]

Early life

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Ibn Badis was born in Constantine in 1889. His family were a prestigious family of ulama and notables that descended from the Zirid dynasty, 11th century rulers of Ifriqiya. Ibn Badis' grandfather al-Makki ibn Badis (d. 1889), was a qadi. His father, Muḥammad Mustafa (b. 1868), was an adjunct judge and a member the financial delegations [fr], the colonial parliament.[11] Ibn Badis grew up in a scholarly and religious household and as a result memorized the Quran at the age of thirteen.

He was still very young when he was placed under the tutorship of Hamdan Lounissi. Lounissi had a significant influence on the youth of Ibn Badis. Ibn Badis never forgot Lounissi's counsel. Lounissi remarked to him "learn knowledge for the sake of knowledge, not because of duty." Lounissi was a stalwart defender of the rights of the Muslim inhabitants of Constantine. Lounissi extracted from young Ibn Badis a promise to never enter into the service of France (the Colonial power in Algeria).

Ibn Badis was also influenced by the thoughts and outlook of the pan-Islamic reformers Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh. He was a regular reader of Sayyid Rashid Rida's monthly Al-Manar, and would publish the journal Al Shihab in Algeria, modelled on it. He is regarded as an heir to the thought of Rashid Rida and his reformist efforts were part of the wider Salafist and Wahhabi movements across North Africa.[12][13][14][15]

Pilgrimages and study

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Ibn Badis (on the left)

At the Zeitouna University

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In 1908, Ibn Badis, decided to begin his first trip in order to advance his learning. He traveled to Tunis and enrolled at the Zeitouna University, which was, at the time, a great center of learning and knowledge, particularly in the Islamic fields of studies.

At the Zeitouna University, Ibn Badis horizons widened. He learned a great deal of the Islamic Sciences and Arabic Language. He met many scholars who left an indelible mark on his personality and his knowledge of Islam. The teachings of Sheik Mohammed Al-Nakhli convinced him on the need to purge Muslim communities of deviant or incorrect religious practices such as the cult of saints. Sheik Muhammed Al-Taher Ben Achour influenced Ibn Badis in finding his appreciation of the splendor of the Arabic language. With Sheik Al-Bachir Safer, Ibn Badis developed an interest in contemporary and past problems of Muslim communities, including finding a response to Western colonialism and dealing with its socioeconomic after-effects.

In 1912, he was awarded a degree. He spent another year at the Zeituna University as a teacher.

Return to Algeria

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In 1913, Ibn Badis returned to Algeria and settled in Constantine. In the same city, he started teaching at al-jāmiʿ al-akhḍar (The Green mosque) in early 1914.[11]

In 1936, Ibn Badis played a role in the founding of the "Algerian Muslim Congress" (CMA). This congress was disbanded the following year in the summer of 1937 and shortly after Ibn Badis established and led another organization: the Association of Algerian Muslim Ulema.

In addition to working against deviations in the correct practice of Islam, Ibn Badis and his fellow members of the Association strove to save the Algerian culture from being eclipsed by French values and morals.[16] Ibn Badis and other Islamic scholars resisted the suppression of Algerian patriots; working as a journalist during those years he regularly denounced fascist propaganda and anti-Semitic intrigues of the French occupiers.

Ibn Badis was one of the most prominent Algerian Islamic scholars. With the aid of his contemporaries and associates he criticized Maraboutic practices and had a great influence in the creation of an Islamic conservative subsection of Algerian society.[16]

On 16 April 1940, Ibn Badis died after a long struggle with diabetes. He was buried in the presence of 8000 people, including 1000 women.[11]

His life was the subject of Ahmed Menour's 2019 novel For Both Their Sakes, I Lived.

References

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  1. ^ L. Esposito, John (1998). Islam : the straight path. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 193. ISBN 0-19-511234-2.
  2. ^ Lauziere, Henri (2008). THE EVOLUTION OF THE SALAFIYYA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THROUGH THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF TAQI AL-DIN AL-HILALI (thesis). Washington, DC: Georgetown University. p. 126. hdl:10822/558204.
  3. ^ Lanasri, Ahmed (1995). La littérature algérienne de l'entre-deux-guerres: genèse et fonctionnement (in French). Publisud. pp. 430–432. ISBN 978-2-86600-747-8.
  4. ^ Lauzière, Henri (2008). THE EVOLUTION OF THE SALAFIYYA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THROUGH THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF TAQI AL-DIN AL-HILALI. Washington, DC: Georgetown University. p. 136.
  5. ^ Green, Viaene, Abigail, Vincent; K. Bennison, Amira (2012). "Chapter 7: Muslim Internationalism between Empire and Nation-State". Religious Internationals in the Modern World: Globalization and Faith Communities since 1750. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-230-50746-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "?Abd Al-Hamid Ibn Badis (1889-1940) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  7. ^ salhi, zahia smail salhizahia smail (2011-01-01), Akyeampong, Emmanuel K.; Gates, Henry Louis (eds.), "ʿAbd, al-Hamid ben Badis", Dictionary of African Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5, archived from the original on 2022-05-17, retrieved 2022-05-17
  8. ^ "Sheikh ʿAbd al-Hamid Ben Badis | Algerian leader | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  9. ^ McDougall, James (2016-01-06), "Ben Bādīs", Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Brill, archived from the original on 2021-08-06, retrieved 2022-05-17
  10. ^ Abd al-Hamīd ibn Bādīs (1889-1940) : ideologist of Islamic reformism and leader of Algerian nationalism. McGill University. 1971. Archived from the original on 2022-05-17. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  11. ^ a b c McDougall, James (2016). "Ben Bādīs". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). E. J. Brill. Archived from the original on 2020-06-12.
  12. ^ L. Esposito, John (1998). Islam : the straight path. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 193. ISBN 0-19-511234-2.
  13. ^ Green, Viaene, Abigail, Vincent; K. Bennison, Amira (2012). "Chapter 7: Muslim Internationalism between Empire and Nation-State". Religious Internationals in the Modern World: Globalization and Faith Communities since 1750. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-230-50746-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Lauzière, Henri (2008). THE EVOLUTION OF THE SALAFIYYA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THROUGH THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF TAQI AL-DIN AL-HILALI. Washington, DC: Georgetown University. pp. 126, 136.
  15. ^ Lanasri, Ahmed (1995). La littérature algérienne de l'entre-deux-guerres: genèse et fonctionnement (in French). Publisud. pp. 430–432. ISBN 978-2-86600-747-8.
  16. ^ a b Islamism in Algeria: A struggle between hope and agony – Council on Foreign Relations Archived 2009-02-10 at the Wayback Machine at https://www.cfr.org/ Archived 2021-07-03 at the Wayback Machine


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