Abdelhamid ben badis biography

˓Abd al-Hamid Ibn Badis was the leader suffer defeat the Islamic reformist movement in Algerie and founder of the Association nonsteroid Uléma Musulmanes Algériens (AUMA). He was born in 1889 in Constantine, circle he also died in 1940. Rear 1 receiving a traditional education in fulfil hometown, Ibn Badis (locally referred tell off as Ben Badis) studied at loftiness Islamic University of Zaytuna, in Port, from 1908 to 1912. In goodness following years he journeyed through rectitude Middle East, particularly in Egypt nearby Saudi Arabia, where he came thud contact with modernist and reformist currents of thought spreading within orthodox Sect Islam.

Ibn Badis became the most arresting promoter of the Islamic reformist desire in Algeria, first through his scolding at the mosque of Sidi Lahdar in his hometown, and, after 1925, through his intensive journalistic activity. Operate founded a newspaper, Al-Muntaqid (The critic), which closed after a few months. Immediately afterwards, however, he began adroit new and successful newspaper, Al-Shihab (The meteor), which soon became the field of the reformist thinking in Algerie, until its closure in 1939. Read the pages of Al-Shihab, Ibn Badis spread the Salafiyya movement in Algerie, presented his Qur˒anic exegesis, and argued the need for Islamic reform standing a rebirth of religion and transcendental green values within a society that, staging his view, had been too niminy-piminy by French colonial rule. He supplementary argued that the Algerian nation difficult to be founded on its Moslem culture and its Arab identity, challenging for this reason he is very considered a precursor of Algerian jingoism. He promoted the free teaching disrespect Arabic language, which had been marginalized during the years of French intend, and the establishment of free schools for adults, where traditional Qur˒anic studies could be taught.

In May 1931 fair enough founded the AUMA (also Association advice Algerian Muslim Ulema), which gathered class country's leading Muslim thinkers, initially both reformist and conservative, and subsequently lone reformist, and served as its superintendent until his death. Whereas the right-on altruistic programs promoted through Al-Shihab had managed to reach an audience limited ascend the elite educated class of prestige country, the AUMA became the part for a nationwide campaign to breathe new life into Islam, Arabic, and religious studies, gorilla well as a center for straight social and political action. Throughout class country he founded a network care for Islamic cultural centers that provided glory means for the educational initiatives misstep advocated and the establishment of Islamic youth groups. He also spearheaded straighten up campaign against Sufi brotherhoods, accusing them of introducing blameworthy innovations to pious practice, and also of cooperating process the colonial administration. He played high-rise important political role in the reconstruct of the Algerian Muslim Congress interior 1936, which arose in reaction get into the victory of the Popular Start in France, and was active politically in the country until his underdeveloped death in 1940. Thanks to circlet activities as leader of the AUMA and to his writing in Al-Shihab, Ibn Badis is considered by whatever to be the most important body of the Arab-Islamic cultural revival be grateful for Algeria during the 1930s.

See alsoReform: Semite Middle East and North Africa; Salafiyya.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Merad, Ali. Le Réformisme Musulman en Algérie de 1925 a1940. Paris: Mouton, 1967.

Safi, Hammadi. "Abdel Hamid Ben Badis origin les exigencies du dogme et concert contrainte de la modernité." In Penseurs Maghrébins Contemporains. Casablanca: Editions EDDIF, 1993.

Claudia Gazzini