A mujahid flag, and a poet's fighter, the Algerians pledged allegiance to him in 1832 as a prince to resist the French colonialist.
His life went through three basic stages, the first he spent in seeking knowledge and learning about the conditions of Arab countries on the road to Hajj, the second he lived through jihad and resisting the enemy, and he spent the third as a prisoner in France, then a fighter in Damascus.
Birth and upbringing
Prince Abdelkader was born in 1807 in the village of Qaitina, in the Algerian state of Oran.
Studying and training,
he received his initial education in the zawiya that was supervised by his father Mohi al-Din, Sheikh of the Shadhili order, and after that he moved to the city of Oran.
Political experience:
His father, Muhyiddin, clashed with the Ottoman ruler of Oran, placing him under house arrest, and in 1825 he was allowed to perform the Hajj, so he went out with his son Abdelkader.
During that trip, Abdul Qadir visited many Arab countries, starting from Tunisia, then Egypt, the Hijaz, and reaching the Levant and Iraq, in which he visited the tomb of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, founder of the Qadiriya order, which includes the zawiya that was supervised by his father.
After that, he passed by the Hijaz, and on his return to Algeria, he went to Egypt and Tripoli and settled in his village (Al-Qatana), and the trip enabled Abdelkader and his father to move away from the control of the governor of Oran, who was afraid of the ideological influence of Abdelkader and his father Mohiuddin.
Two years later, Algeria was subjected to the French occupation in the month of Muharram 1246, corresponding to July 5, 1830, which is the most important stage in his life due to the dangerous developments in his confrontation with the French, after his father apologized for leading the popular resistance, he took over its leadership.
He was sold on jihad on Rajab 1248 corresponding to November 1832, and the public pledge of allegiance took place in a camp on Ramadan 17 1248, corresponding to February 4, 1833.
He quickly formed his government and laid the foundations of the modern Algerian state, gathered volunteers, built a strong army, and achieved successes that forced the French army commander in Oran, "de Michel" to conclude his armistice agreement with him on February 26, 1834.
The agreement provides for a truce through which France recognized his authority over the Algerian region and the Chlef region, but colonialism did not abide by the terms of the treaty and violated it several times.
On May 30, 1837, he again forced the French to negotiate with him and to sign the Treaty of Tafna, which recognized his sovereignty over the western and central sides of Algeria, which was spent by the French general Peugeot.
The French repeatedly violated the armistice, and followed the scorched earth policy, using brutal methods of killing children, women and the elderly, and completely burning the cities and villages supporting it.
General Peugeot summarized that policy in a threat to the prince’s men: “You will not plow the land, and if you plow it you will not cultivate it, and if you plant it you will not reap it,” a policy that led to the fall of his cities and military centers, and forcing him to wage guerrilla war (1844-1847).
With the continued French pressure on him, he resorted to Morocco in the hope of supporting the Moroccan Sultan, Moulay Abdel Rahman, but the pressure of the French and their threat to occupy Morocco prevented this, so the prince was forced to announce his surrender in December 1847.
He was transferred to a prison in the city of "Pau" in southern France and then in Amboise in the Loire region, but Napoleon III later decided to release him, so he traveled to Turkey on December 2, 1852, and from there he moved to Syria and settled in Damascus beginning in 1855, where he taught in The Umayyad Mosque and before that in the school of Ashrafieh and in the real school.
Its homes embraced and protected more than 15,000 Christians after the events of sedition between Muslims and Christians in Damascus in 1860, a position that was universally praised.
Publications
Prince Abdul Qadir wrote a number of books such as "The Acute Lender", "The Autobiography", "The Memory of the Sane" which was translated twice and was known as "A Letter to the French", "The Attitudes", in addition to other letters.
Death
Prince Abdelkader died in Damascus on May 26, 1883, at the age of 76, and was buried in the Salihiya neighborhood, next to Sheikh Ibn Arabi, in implementation of his will, and in 1965 his body was transported to Algeria and buried in the upper cemetery.