The flag of a mujahid, and a poet's resister, the Algerians pledged allegiance to him in 1832 as an emir to resist the French colonizer.
His life passed through three basic stages, the first he spent in seeking knowledge and getting to know the conditions of the Arab countries on the pilgrimage route, the second he lived through jihad and resisting the enemy, and the third he spent as a captive in France and then as a fighter in Damascus.
Birth and upbringing
Emir Abdelkader was born in 1807 in the village of Qaytna in the Algerian state of Oran.
Study and training
he received his initial education in the zawiya, which was supervised by his father, Muhyi al-Din, Sheikh of the Shadhili Order, and then moved to the city of Oran, where he learned from a number of its scholars the origins of science, such as history, philosophy, mathematics, Arabic literature, astronomy, medicine, and so on.
Political Experience
His father Muhyiddin clashed with the Ottoman governor of Oran, so he put him under house arrest, and in 1825 he was allowed to perform the Hajj, so he went out and his son Abdelkader.
During that trip, Abd al-Qadir visited many Arab countries, starting with Tunisia, then Egypt, the Hijaz, reaching the Levant, Iraq, where he visited the tomb of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, the founder of the Qadiriyya Order, which includes the zawiya that was supervised by his father.
After that, he passed through the Hijaz, and on his return to Algeria, he crossed Egypt and Tripoli and settled in his village (Al-Qatna). The trip enabled Abdul Qadir and his father to move away from the control of the ruler of Oran, who was afraid of the ideological influence of Abdul Qadir and his father, Muhyiddin.
Two years after that, Algeria was subjected to the French occupation in the month of Muharram in 1246 corresponding to July 5, 1830, which is the most important stage in his life due to the dangerous developments that took place in him related to his confrontation with the French. After his father apologized for leading the popular resistance, he assumed its leadership.
He was pledged allegiance to jihad in Rajab 1248 corresponding to November 1832, and the general pledge of allegiance was obtained to him in Camp on Ramadan 17, 1248, corresponding to February 4, 1833.
He hastened to form his government, lay the foundations of the modern Algerian state, gather volunteers, form a strong army, and achieve 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 him his authority over the Algerian western region and the Chlef region, but colonialism did not abide by the terms of the treaty and violated it several times.
He again forced the French on May 30, 1837, to negotiate with him and sign the Treaty of Tafna, recognizing his sovereignty over the western and central parts of Algeria, which was signed by French General Peugeot.
The French repeatedly violated the armistice, and followed the scorched-earth policy by using brutal methods in the killing of children, women and the elderly, and the total burning of the cities and villages supporting it.
General Peugeot summarized this policy in a threat to the prince's men, "You will not plow the land, and if you plow it, you will not plant 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 forced him to wage guerrilla warfare (1844-1847).
With the French pressure continuing on him, he resorted to Morocco in the hope of supporting the Moroccan Sultan Moulay Abdel Rahman, but the pressures and threats of the French to occupy Morocco prevented this, so the prince was forced to declare his surrender in December 1847.
He was transferred to a prison in the city of Pau in the south of 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, from which he moved to Syria and settled in Damascus starting from 1855, where he taught in The Umayyad Mosque and before that in the Ashrafieh school and in the real school.
His 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 Sharp Lender", "The Autobiography", and "The Memory of the Wise", which was translated twice and was known as "Letter to the French", and "Al-Mawqif" in addition to other letters.
Death
Prince Abdul Qadir died in Damascus on May 26, 1883 at the age of 76, and was buried in the Salhiya neighborhood next to Sheikh Ibn Arabi in implementation of his will, and in 1965 his body was transferred to Algeria and buried in the upper cemetery.