The flag of a fighter, and a poet of resistance, the Algerians pledged allegiance to him in 1832 as a prince to resist the French colonialists.
His life went through three basic stages, the first he spent seeking knowledge and learning about the conditions of the Arab countries on the way to Hajj, the second he lived in jihad and resistance to the enemy, and he spent the third as a prisoner in France and then a fighter in Damascus.
Birth and upbringing
Emir Abdelkader was born in 1807 in the village of Al-Qaytna, in the Algerian state of Oran.
Study and formation
He received his initial education in the zawiya, which was supervised by his father, Muhyiddin, the sheikh of the Shadhili order, and after that he moved to the city of Oran, where he learned from a number of its scholars the basics of science, such as history, philosophy, mathematics, Arabic literature, astronomy, medicine, and so on.
The political experience of
his father Muhyiddin collided with the Ottoman ruler of the city of Oran, so he placed him under house arrest, and in 1825 he was allowed to perform the Hajj, so he left with his son Abdul Qadir.
During that trip, Abd al-Qadir visited many Arab countries, starting with Tunisia, then Egypt, the Hijaz, and all the way to the Levant, then Iraq, where he visited the tomb of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, the founder of the Qadiriyya order, which includes the zawiya that his father was supervising.
After that, he passed through the Hijaz, and on his return to Algeria, he stopped by Egypt and Tripoli and settled in his village (Al-Qatna).
Two years after that, Algeria was subjected to French occupation in the month of Muharram 1246, corresponding to July 5, 1830, which is the most important stage in his life because of the serious developments he faced related to his confrontation with the French. After his father apologized for leading the popular resistance, he took over its leadership.
He pledged allegiance to jihad in Rajab 1248 corresponding to November 1832, and he obtained the general allegiance to him in a camp on Ramadan 17 1248, corresponding to February 4 1833.
He hastened to form his government and lay the foundations of the modern Algerian state, gather volunteers and build a strong army, achieving successes that forced the commander of the French army in Oran, "De Michel" to conclude an armistice agreement with him on February 26, 1834.
The agreement provides for an armistice through which France recognized his authority over the western 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 sign the Treaty of Tafna, which recognized his sovereignty over the western and central parts of Algeria, which was signed by the French General Peugeot.
The French repeated the breach of the armistice, and pursued a scorched earth policy using brutal methods in killing children, women and the elderly, and completely burning the cities and villages supporting it.
General Peugeot summed up that policy in a threat to the prince's men, "You will not plow the land, and if you plow it you will not sow it, and if you sow 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 continued French pressure on him, he resorted to Al-Aqsa Morocco in the hope of supporting the Moroccan Sultan Moulay Abd al-Rahman, but the pressure of the French and their threat to occupy Morocco prevented that, so the prince was forced to announce his surrender in December 1847.
He was transferred to a prison in the city of "Beau" in the south of France, 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 the city of Damascus beginning in 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 strife 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 “Al-Muqrad Al-Sharad”, “The Autobiography”, “The Memory of the Sane”, which was translated twice and was known as “A Message to the French”, and “Al-Mawaqif” 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 Salhia 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.