May 26, 1883 - 2020 : As we honor today Emir Abdelkader’s memory and commemorate his continuing legacy, let’s remind how great & powerful his was. (Photography by Étienne Carjat in 1865.)

1- Abdelkader El Djezairi was born in Guetna ( Mascara) in 1808 when #Algeria was under Ottoman rule. His father, Sidi Muhieddin Al-Hassani, was the Muqaddam (facilitator) of a Zaouïa (religious brotherhood).

2- France ousted Ottomans from Algeria in 1830, after a diplomatic incident btw Dey of Algiers & French Consul. In order to drive back the invaders, Abdelkader became an “Emir” at 25 years old, becoming a political, military & religious leader; he fought French army for 17 years.

3- When he eventually surrendered, he was imprisoned in Ambroise in France, even though he had been promised that he would be exiled to an Arab country. He had always been able to reset the circumstances that were thrown at him, according to historians.

4- When Louis Napoléon Bonaparte came to power in 1848 he authorised the Emir Abdelkader to go to the Levant; his first stop was #Turkey followed by #Damascus ( #Syria), where he studied further and found a spiritual balance.

5- In Damascus, Emir Abdelkader became the protector of the Christian and Jewish communities when 12,000 of them were threatened by riots. He was a spiritual man and a very good strategist. His political skills came from Sufism and its intellectual discipline.

6- Many years before international humanitarian law was put into writing (1899), Emir Abdelkader had already drawn up a law concerning prisoners of war. They were to be treated humanely, regardless of their religion or nationality.

7- Abdelkader’s reputation reached to the heartland of #America, where in 1845 the town of #Elkader, #Iowa was named after him.

8- President Abraham #Lincoln wrote to Abdelkader personally to thank him for having intervened to save the lives of thousands of Christians during 1860 riots in Damascus. Abe Lincoln sent him a pair of Colt pistols & the French gave him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour.”

9- Abdelkader died in Damascus on 26 May 1883 & His body was recovered in 1965 and is now in the #El_Alia cemetery in #Algiers.

10-Leading figure in Algerian history, he was a pioneer and inspired what became the Algerian War of Independence in 1954.

#GodBlessTheSoulOfOurMartyrs
#LongLiveAlgeria