Every year, on April 16th, Algeria celebrates the day of knowledge. The founder of the Algerian Islahist movement, Abdelhamid Ben Badis having prematurely died on that day.
Ben Badis and his friends have started something in Algeria. Their schools where they taught Arabic and Islam helped regenerate the Algerian Muslim identity in the Algerians’ minds, and the history lessons recreated some of the self-esteem the population had lost after one century of French occupation.
Let’s read these short excerpts from Ben Badis’s articles.
“The Algerian Nation is not France, cannot be France and doesn’t want to be France.” from Echihab, 1936.
“Islam has freed intelligence from all the beliefs which are based on authority. It gave intelligence its full sovereignty so it could decide of everything using its own judgement and wisdom.” from Echihab, 1931.
“In case of conflict between reason and tradition, reason must make the decision.” from Echihab, 1931.
“As Algerians, we aim at assembling the Algerian Nation, reviving the National feeling in its children, and instilling in them the will to educate themselves and be active, until they awaken as a Nation which deserves to live.” from Elmountaqid, 1925.
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