14th “Friend” Awards for Service to Islam

Amir Abdulkâdir al-Jazâirî

Emir of Algiers Abd al-Qādir al-Jazā’īrī was born in 1807 in the village of Kaytana in Oran in western Algiers. His lineage is from the Prophet. Emir Abdulkadir’s father Muhyiddin Efendi, who was descended from our master Hasan, was a Kādiri sheikh. He received a deep-rooted education under the supervision of his father until the age of appeal and became a saint at a young age. He was also trained as a good horseman and sniper. When he was still young, he became famous for his power in religious sciences, his impressive oratory, his extensive knowledge of Islamic history, his courage, piety and virtue.

In 1825, during his pilgrimage with his father, he met Sheikh Shamil, a famous figure of his time. After completing his pilgrimage, he received the Naqshbandiyya ijazat from Mawlānā Ḥālid al-Baghdādī in Damascus and the Qādiriyya ijazat from Mahmūd al-Gaylanī in Baghdad, where he stayed for a while.

In 1830, he returned to Algeria as soon as he heard that his country was under French occupation. The tribes in the region rallied around his father, Sheikh Muhyiddîn, to confront the enemy, but he asked his son to take his place, citing his old age. In 1832, Emir Abdülkâdir, who was elected as “Amîr al-Mü’minîn”, started to fight against the French as the caliph of Sultan Abdurrahman of Morocco.

Emir Abdul Qadir said;

“We did not give ourselves permission to run the affairs of the state for ambition, pride, lust for power, or the interests of this mortal world; on the contrary – and Allah knows that this is the deepest part of my heart – we took upon ourselves the responsibility of running the state for the sake of Allah, to stop the shedding of Muslim blood by turning brother against brother, to defend the property of Muslims, and to ensure the tranquility in the country that faith and patriotism demand.”

With the Treaty of Tafna signed in 1837, he took control of a large part of the country and established a regular army with weapons brought from England.

By establishing humane regulations for prisoners of war, he earned the respect of even those who fought against him.

In his letter to King Louis Philippe, he said the following.

“Every Arab who has a Frenchman or a Christian as a prisoner is held responsible for the way he treats them. We made no distinction between prisoners and our own army in terms of food and shelter.”

When the French violated the Treaty of Tafna, he was forced to declare jihad again in 1939.

In 1840, the war spread throughout Algeria. Although Amîr Abdülkadir took refuge in Morocco with a small force, he surrendered in 1847 after the sultan’s forces were defeated by French troops. When Emir Abdul Qadir, who commanded some forty battles, surrendered, the following word came out of his lips:“Destiny!”

Despite the promise that he would be taken to Alexandria or Akkâ, he was held captive in France for five years.

When he was told by the king of France that he would be given a great gift in return for becoming one of his subjects, he replied: “If you offered me, in the name of the king, all the wealth of France and placed it on this robe of mine, I would not even think of becoming your vassal. I am your guest here. Throw me in jail if you like. But this shame will reach you, not me.”

In 1852 he was released by Napoleon III with these words.

“I wish to inform you that from now on you are free (…) in the recent past you were an enemy of France, but I give you credit for your courage, your character and your resilience under difficult circumstances. For these reasons, I have the honor to end your captivity, in full confidence in your promises.”

He then traveled to the Ottoman lands and settled in the mansion allocated to him by Sultan Abdülmecid in Bursa. After the great earthquake in 1855, he left and went to live in Damascus.

He personally intervened in the Druze rebellion that broke out in Jabal al-Lebanon and spread to Damascus, saving nearly fifteen thousand Christians from torture and death. His extraordinary efforts during this event were highly appreciated in the East and the West.

In his reply to a letter from Imam Shamil, the Sufi known as the “Hero of the Caucasus”, he said:

“What we did for Christians was a religious and humanitarian duty (…) we live in a time when few believers are truly just.

Therefore, fools think that rudeness, cruelty, injustice and intolerance are related to Islam… I hope that our Lord will give us enough patience. “

In another letter to Imam Shamil, he says: “The fact that we protect the Christian masses and provide them with security of life and property – to the extent of our means and efforts – is, as you well know, only out of our desire to fulfill what our divine faith and the responsibility of being human demands of us.”

Abdul Qadir was a brave, wise and pious administrator. He was also a good poet, a valuable intellectual. Although the number of works written by Amīr ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jazāirī, who adopted the Akbariyya school of Sufi thought, varies according to the sources:

– “Kitab al-Mawâqif fî ba’zı işârâti al-Qur’âni ile’l-esrâr wa’l ma’ârif”,

– “Zikra’l-âqîl wa tenbîhü’l-gâfil”, (He wrote this work on philosophical and mystical issues in Bursa).

– “Al-Mikrâdu al-hâdd li-kat’ı lisâni müntekıdi dîni al-Islâm bi’l bâtılı wa’l-ilhâd”,

– “Risāla fi’l-haqāʾiki’l-gaybiyye”,

– “Nüzhetü al-hâtır fî karîzi al-Amîr Abdülkâdir” and “Ta’lîkât”. They are considered as his main works.

Amir Abd al-Qadir during his visit to the Royal Printing House:

“This morning I witnessed the tremendous firing of cannons of war; now I am in front of cannons of thought. I have seen weapons capable of destroying the walls surrounding cities; now I see machines capable of fighting kings and overthrowing states without their even knowing it!”

He died in 1883 in Damascus and was buried in the mausoleum of Ibn al-‘Arabî, whom he said was his greatest influence in Sufism. After Algeria regained its independence, his body was taken from there and transferred to the martyrs’ section of the el-Aliye Cemetery on July 5, 1966.

http://sefikcan.net/emir-abdulkadir-el-cezairi.html