Download Intellectual Traditions, Islamic Reform and Nationalism in the Mzab

Intellectual Traditions, Islamic Reform and Nationalism in the Mzab
In academic scholarship, Islam is associated with and represented by its
two main sects, Sunnism and Shiism. The third one, Ibadism, is seldom
mentioned. Scattered as small minorities between Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Oman
and East Africa, Ibadis’ contributions to the history of Islam in the Mediterranean
region, the Sahara, the Indian Ocean and East Africa have been overlooked and
sidelined. Highlighting some of those contributions serves to showcase the
richness of Ibadi history and the nature of intellectual activities undertaken by
members of that community. More significantly, it points to the complex links and
networks tying the West with the East of the Arabic-speaking world (MaghribMashriq), and the Sahara with the Mediterranean and beyond.
This paper sheds light on some of those links and connections that
governed and shaped the West/East (Maghrib/Mashriq) relationships, including
relationships between Ibadis and non-Ibadis. It focuses on the Ibadis of the Mzab
Valley in Algeria and their connections in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries to Egypt, Istanbul, and to Tunisia. It pays special attention to the role of
the religious Islahi (reformist) movement in creating new modes of interaction
and engagement between Mzab and other regions. Mapping those links reveals
the deep impact such links had on shaping the intellectual and political life of all
the communities involved.
Ibadism and the Islah Movement
Ibadis belong to the Khariji legacy in Islam. The Kharijis or khawarij
were a secessionist movement that protested Caliph Ali’s decision to accept
arbitration following the battle of Siffin (657 A .D .) against his rival Muawiya.
They split from Ali’s army and formed an opposition to both Ali and Muawiya.
That opposition later extended to the Umayyads and the Abbasids.
Violence carried out by the Kharijites as well as the one they were
subjected to divided the movement between militants and those who refused to
legitimize the killing of other Muslims. Among the latter were the Ibadis who
succeeded in securing an Ibadi imamate in Oman and establishing another in
North Africa, called the Rustumid dynasty, eventually destroyed by the Fatimids
in 909. As a result, Ibadis in North Africa, most of them Berbers from the Zanata
tribes, were dispersed and they retained their presence in Nfusa Mountains in
Tripolitania and on Jerba Island in Tunisia, and later, in the 11th century, started
to establish a safe haven in the Mzab Valley in Algeria.i
Throughout Islamic history, Sunnis considered Ibadis as Kharijis who
caused the disunity of the Muslim community. Ibadis, in turn, thought of Sunnis
as submissive to political corruption and as deviant from the straight path. Each
sect conceived the Muslim umma without the other, claiming exclusive right to its
religious and historical sanctity.
That started to change in the late 19th century. An unprecedented
development was taking place, with reformers arguing for the abolition of the
sectarian identities of the umma. The Ibadi identity was gradually integrating, if
not occasionally melting, with the Sunni one. As John Wilkinson has observed,
“the Ibadis’ experience of the [European] imperial powers was putting them on a
common footing with the rest of the [Muslim] world and leading to some effort to
find common ground between them.”ii Those efforts were led by Ibadi scholars
from North Africa, Oman, and Zanzibar who confronted European imperialism
and colonialism by supporting calls for Muslim unity and sectarian
rapprochement. The result was the emergence of a movement within Ibadism
seeking a reconciliatory position with other Muslim sects, especially with the
majority sect of Sunnism.
The borders of belonging for the Ibadi communities were now expanding
to include not only the traditional Ibadi strongholds of Oman, Zanzibar, and North
Africa but the entire Arabic-speaking world. Cairo, Damascus, Tunis, and Algiers
were becoming as significant as Muscat, Zanzibar, and Mzab. Increasingly,
Ibadis sustained or were sustained by those cities’ networks of reformist
scholars, intellectuals, and political activists, who were redrawing the map of the
Muslim umma less along sectarian lines and more around a reformist Islam, and
increasingly, Pan-Arabism.iii
Those reformers adhered to the religious modernism of Muhammad
Abduh and Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. They promoted Islamic unity as the remedy
for many of the ailments of the Muslim umma and as a weapon to fight
colonialism. In order to realize Muslim unity, modernist reformers downplayed the
differences between Muslim sects and called for the abolition of the madhahib
(legal schools), which they regarded as obstacles in the way of this desired unity.
The Salaf, the early generation and forerunners of the Muslim umma ,
represented the prototype and exemplary community, free from blind imitation,
divisive sectarianism, and the constraints of the legal schools. The utopian era of
the Salaf, hence the appellation Salafis, thus symbolized, among other things,
greater unity within Muslim communities, political strength, and intellectual
vitality.
The Mzab in the Realm of Islah
Modern reformist thought made its way to Mzab Valley by the late 19th
century, around the same time the Mzab was annexed by the French in 1882.
The annexation caused resentment, opposition and alarms among Mzabis. The
change in the status of the Mzab altered not only Mzabis’ positions towards the
French but also their position towards other Muslims. The annexation of the
Mzab prepared the ground for Mzabis to engage with anti-colonial and panIslamist movements as they became more aware of and concerned about the
colonial realities, seeking ways to confront and resist them. But it was mostly
pan-Islamism and the idea of a Muslim unity that appealed to Mzab’s prominent
scholars at the time, including the famous and prolific scholar Muhammad
Atfiyyash (d. 1914) whose students would dominate the political and intellectual
scene of the Mzab in the next half a century. Atfiyyash believed that European
colonialism was enough of a threat to Muslims and to their faith that it warranted
the unity and solidarity of all Muslims and the transcendence of their sectarian
differences.
It was probably in Mecca that Atfiyyash was either introduced to or learnt
more about Muhammad Abduh and his reformist movement and he seemed to
have been very impressed by Abduh, and according to al-Manar of Rashid Rida,
he admired Abduh and Rida’s commentary on the Quran known as Tafsir alManar.iv In his book In Lam Taʿrif al-Ibadiyya, Afiyyash claimed that Abduh, with
whom he had been corresponding had paid a visit to Tunisia in an attempt to
meet Atfiyyash. Abduh instructed the residents of the Zaytuna University in Tunis
to refer to Atfiyyash in legal matters. According to Atfiyyash, Abduh added: “We
ask him [Atfiyyash] from Egypt. You are closer to him than we are.”v
Atfiyyash had also contacts with the Ottoman Sultan Abd al-Hamid II from
whom he received a number of decorations. When Sulayman al-Baruni, the Ibadi
from Nafusa Mountains, was arrested and charged with activities against the
Hamidien regime, Atfiyyash wrote a letter to Abd al-Hamid urging him to release
al-Baruni, indicating that the latter was his student in the Mzab whom Atfiyyash
had recommended to be an aid to the Sultan and that he had been unjustly
accused and imprisoned. He reassured Abd al-Hamid II that al-Baruni was
innocent of any wrongdoings against the Sultan and his government. vi It is not
clear what impact Atfiyyash’s letters had on the decision to release al-Baruni but
the correspondence between him and Abd al-Hamid II testifies to the integration
of Mzab and its reformist ulama in Ottoman pan-Islamist networks and to Ibadi
support for ideas of unity and cooperation among Muslims and solidarity with the
Ottoman government in order to face colonial threats.
Atfiyyash’s students outside Mzab used to send him newspapers to keep
him updated about the current affairs of the Muslim world. When Italy invaded
Tripoli in 1911, he led a campaign of support and collected money and arms for
the Ottoman army defending Tripolitania. He used to interrupt his classes in
order to pray for the victory of Tripolitanians and all Muslims.vii This anguish over
the affairs of Muslims was revealed in one of his replies to an Omani
correspondent. Atfiyyash explained to his correspondent that he could not
elaborate on his answer to the questions posed due to his preoccupation with the
calamities that had befallen Muslims, especially those in Tripolitania and
Morocco.viii
However, modernist reformism only became a more dominant ideology in
Mzab and among the Mzabi diaspora with the next generation of Mzabi scholars
and activists, many of whom were Atfiyyash’s pupils. Those included Ibrahim
Atfiyyash, Ibrahim Abu al-Yaqzan, Muhammad al-Thamini, Umar al-Anq, and
Ibrahim Bayyud, all of whom played a key role in shaping Ibadi intellectual life in
Mzab during the first half of the 20th century. Their full endorsement of the Islahi
movement was mostly due to a cosmopolitan experience outside of the Mzab in
vibrant cities such as Algiers, Tunis, and Cairo and to their affiliation with those
cities’ intellectual and political networks.
Tunis and Political Radicalization
Tunis, however, occupied a prominent place in the political and intellectual
formation of that Ibadi generation. It was in Tunisia that the Mzabis became more
involved in religious reform movements and were exposed to the allure of anticolonial nationalist politics. Ibadis within this Islah movement did not concur with
their non-Ibadi counterparts on unity only but also on other fundamental points
within the broader Islah movement such as the need to eliminate innovations
(bida`) and the necessity of acquiring a modern education. And it is the latter that
introduced in the early 20th century a new layer to the Ibadi/Sunni
rapprochement.
In order to gain access to this highly desired modern education –
unavailable in the school curricula in Algeria- Mzabi reformers started a student
mission to Tunis in order to take advantage of the rich educational environment
provided by Tunis’ educational institutions such as al-Zaytuna and alKhalduniyya. Al-Zaytuna was known historically for its prestigious religious
education but al-Khalduniyya was introduced in 1896 to complement al-Zaytuna’s
curriculum with a modern one, offering an ideal solution for Muslims seeking both
types of education.
The first student mission from the Mzab arrived in 1914 and was headed
by Ibrahim Abu al-Yaqzan and Umar al-Ong. Other missions resumed after
World War I. All those heading the Mzabi student missions were advocates of
Islah and knew or got to know each other well, forming a well-knit group defined
primarily by its mission of Islah. The mission to Tunisia had been opposed by
Mzabi anti-reform ulama, who argued
against the need for modern education that included foreign languages and
nonreligious subjects, as did the anti-reform movement among Sunnis.ix This
debate among Sunnis had already been waged on the pages of the Arabic press,
including in Tunisia. Supported by the editors of Tunisian newspapers such as alIqdam, al-Ittihad, Lisan al-Shaab, and al-Umma, Mzabi reformers residing in
Tunisia were provided with a platform to respond to their detractors and to launch
an attack on the anti-reform movement in Mzab. Thus, the battle of Mzabi
reformers against their opponents, though waged from Tunis, stretched into
Mzab through the medium of the press. The vibrant Tunisian press was the
Mzabis’ window into the broader world of politics and kept them informed of and
engaged in current debates. It also provided them with the platform to enter that
world, be linked to its intellectuals and activists, and voice their opinions and
concerns.
But Algerians in Tunisia, and Mzabis more specifically, gained more than
a modern education. It is also within the halls of al-Zaytuna and al-Khalduniyya
and in the alleys of Tunis that a generation of Mzabis was radicalized as their
presence there coincided with new developments in Mzab and Tunisia that
further galvanized the nationalist movements in both countries.
In 1912, the French government in Algeria expanded the draft system to
include les indigènes. While the decision then did not apply to the inhabitants of
the Mzab, it did apply to Mzabis living and working in the civil territories. Mzabis
protested fiercely, arguing that their conscription would limit or end the financial
assistance they sent to their families. They also argued that serving in the French
army contradicted with their faith and their traditions.x In 1918, the draft system
expanded into the military territories of Algeria, including the Mzab. More
petitions, pleads and objections ensued. However, the debate among Mzabis
about the economic, political and religious impact of this decision would gradually
but steadily pull Mzabis into the heart of anti-colonial politics.
As for Tunisia, the Peace Conference in 1919 and Woodrow Wilson’s
principles of self-determination offered hope for independence, advocated by the
Young Tunisians’ (Jeunes Tunisiens) movement. Abd al-Aziz al-Tha‘alibi, a
national leader, submitted along with his colleague Ahmad al-Saqqa a petition to
the Conference demanding the right for self-determination. Dismissed and
disappointed, the nationalist movement decided not to push for independence,
still perceived unattainable, but to call for constitutional reforms. The Free
Constitutional Party (al-Hizb al-Dusturi al-Hurr) was created in 1920 and was led
by al-Tha‘alibi upon his return from France to Tunisia in 1921 and until his
departure in 1923. The Party, though representing the Tunisian bourgeoisie,
became the focal point of Tunisian politics.
Al-Dustur, defining its struggle against the French as a North African one
functioned as a pan-Maghribi vehicle of political activism, integrating Algerians in
its ranks and providing them with the platform and the tools to conduct antiFrench propaganda and activities. Mzabis represented about 32% of all
Algerians affiliated with al-Dustur.xi They were among its primary, if not the
primary, donors, leading the French to conclude that without the moral and
financial support of Mzabis, the Tunisian nationalist movement could not have
sustained itself.xii
The involvement of Mzabis in Tunisian politics, especially with al-Dustur,
did not go unnoticed by the French who were concerned about the relationship
between Mzabis in particular and Tunisian nationalists, and consequently, put
Mzabis in Tunisia under surveillance, monitoring their writings, activities and
mobility, and assessing the repercussions of their involvement in and exposure to
Tunisian politics on Algeria. This also led to increasing surveillance of Mzabis in
the Mzab valley and in the Tell. Commenting on Mzabis’ involvement in antiFrench activities, the French noted that “not only do they provide money for this
[anti French] propaganda, but they also prepare the new generation with new
ideas by sending the children of prominent families to study and be indoctrinated
in Tunis.”xiii The French counted more than 50 Mzabi students in November 1920
and listed the names of 23 Mzabi donors, among others. Seized papers showed
the amounts of money collected for different purposes, including funding
campaigns promoting independence.
How Mzabis related to the Ottomans was an ongoing concern for the
French who alarmingly noted the jubilation of Mzabis upon hearing the news of
the Turkish victory over the Greeks. Celebrating the Turkish victory was
associated with their hope of it ultimately bringing their independence.xiv A
monthly report filed in June 1922 reminded the French authorities that the Mzab
was hostile to the French and was a center of resistance to them. It included a
reminder that Mzabis during World War I were celebrating every French defeat
and that the Young Tunisians relied on Mzab for financial assistance.xv
Ibrahim Atfiyyash: Tunis, Egypt and the Algerian watan
A main connection between Tunisian activists and those in Mzab was
Ibrahim Atfiyyash, also known as Abu Ishaq and born in 1886 in Beni Isgen in
Mzab. He received his early education at the hands of his uncle, the renowned
Ibadi scholar Muhammad Atfiyyash. Abu Ishaq went to Tunisia in 1917 to study
at al-Zaytuna, where he was tutored by Tunisian reformist scholars such as alTahir bin Ashur and Muhammad al-Nakhli. He later joined Ibrahim Abu al-Yaqzan
and Muhammad al-Thamini as co-supervisors for the Mzabi student mission and
was drawn into the activities of the al-Dustur. Due to these political activities, the
French exiled him in 1923. He went to Cairo, where he later became an editor at
the National Library and Archives and, in the 1950s, was chosen by the imam of
Oman, Ghalib bin Ali, to represent Oman at the Arab League and the United
Nations.xvi
Upon his arrival in Cairo, Aftiyyash received the immediate attention of
Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib who proved to be a very good resource for Atfiyyash.
Born in Damascus in July 1886, al-Khatib was a product of the vibrant Syrian
intellectual environment dominated by towering figures such as Tahir al-Jazairi,
Muhammad Kurd Ali, and Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar. Their influence on alKhatib was evident in his advocacy for Arab nationalist causes; from Istanbul, he
cofounded Jamiyyat al-Nahda al-Arabiyya (the Association of Arab
Renaissance) and al-Muntada al-Adabi (the Literary Club) in 1909. During that
time, he met Rashid Rida and was drawn further into the Salafi version of
Arabism and Arab nationalism. In 1920, he settled in Cairo, where he established
the Salafiyya Press and the two magazines al-Zahra’ and al-Fath. Al-Fath
carried the banner of religious reformism after al-Manar of Rashid Rida had
disappeared in 1936 and had a wide circulation in the Arab world and beyond. It
was a weekly newspaper edited by al-Khatib, who proved to be a highly skilled
pamphleteer and ideologue, using his journalistic talents to promote the cause of
Arabism and Islam and to propagate Arab unity within the framework of Islam.
Al-Khatib’s Salafiyya Press published Atfiyyash’s refutation of Mzabi antireformers, al-Di`aya ila Sabil al-Mu’minin, which was written in defense of the
student mission to Tunisia and of religious reformism.xvii It is not clear how this
quick connection with al-Khatib was made. It could have been through the
Maghribi diaspora in Cairo or through al-Thaalibi, who landed in Cairo at the
same time Atfiyyash did. Al-Khatib also published articles by Atfiyyash in his
magazines al-Zahra and al-Fath and helped him establish his own monthly
news magazine, al-Minhaj (1924–27), one of the earliest Maghribi papers to
appear in the Mashriq. One of its objectives was to educate readers about
current events in Algeria and to expose and discuss French policies there. It
published on a variety of topics in the Muslim world, including Kemalism in
Turkey and the issue of the abolition of the caliphate, but focused primarily on
developments in the Arab world. It also covered topics of particular concern to
Muslim reformers, such as the benefit of modern science to Muslims. In addition
to Egypt, it circulated in North Africa and among Arab communities in East Africa,
linking Ibadis to Sunnis and members of the North African diaspora in the
Mashriq to their homeland. Al-Minhaj ’s constant criticism of French policies
ultimately resulted in a ban that prevented its circulation in French colonies,
including Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. It was also banned in Palestine and
Tripolitania.xviii Atfiyyash was also a close friend of Rachid Rida, Hasan al-Banna
and Sayyid Qutb. The latter used to pay visits to Atfiyyash at the National Library
in Cairo, where he worked as an editor.
Atfiyyash’s career in Egypt and his collaboration with al-Khatib within the
framework of Arabism and religious reform illustrate the success of both religious
reform propagating Muslim unity and Arabism to narrow the gap between Ibadis
and Sunnis and to facilitate the integration of Maghribi exiles in Mashriqi
intellectual and political circles. But those had a stronger impact on how the
berber Ibadis of the Mzab were renegotiating and redefining their identity. For
example, Atfiyyash published in al-Zahra’ of al-Khatib in 1924 an article that
would have a lasting impact on modern Ibadi thought. In that article, Atfiyyash
denies any relationship between Ibadis and Kharijis and portrays Ibadis as
similar to Sunnis.xix He reconstructs the history of Ibadism in order to find
common ground with Sunnis and completely eliminates any differences between
the two sects.
However, this Salafi discourse is even more significant in the Algerian
context than the Egyptian one. The idea of Algeria as a nation, as a watan, was
only possible if the two communities could unite. Atfiyyash was not writing in a
vacuum; he was taking part in a discourse developing in Algeria that was
reconstructing the Berber image to fit into an emerging national image of Algeria
as a nation. For that purpose, Atfiyyash sought reconciliation not only between
Ibadis and Sunnis but also between Berbers and Arabs. Thus, in another series
published in al-Fath, Atfiyyash recounts a history of Berbers before and during
the Islamic era. Atfiyyash comments that of all the nations who had conquered
North Africa, Arabs were the ones with whom Berbers had the most harmonious
relationship. The merger between the two created one nation bonded by one
religion, one ethical system, one Quran, one qibla, and one prophet. French
colonialism, missionaries, and terrorism, he adds, will never succeed in dividing
Arabs and Berbers. On the contrary, such attacks will make the bond stronger.xx
Therefore, the Atfiyyash influenced by religious reform and Arabism created a
united Muslim nation out of two sectarian groups, Ibadis and Sunnis, and a
united Algerian nation out of two ethnic groups, Arabs and Berbers.
Abu al-Yaqzan in Mzab: Arab Nationalism and the Algerian Nation
The impact of those trans-border connections can also be seen in the
career of Abu al-Yaqzan, born in 1888 in Guerrara, Mzab. His political
radicalization was set off in 1911 with the war in Tripolitania against the Italian
invasion. This was also, according to him, the spark that ignited his passion to
read the Arabic press, a glimpse of which he used to get through the volumes
that circulated in the Mzab.xxi He arrived in Tunis in 1914 as a supervisor of the
Mzabi student mission and was impressed by the vibrant Tunisian press. He was
further politicized by the founding of al-Dustur, and became involved in its
activities “from head to toe.”xxii
He contributed 18 submissions in the Tunisian newspaper al-Munir alone
between July 1920 and November 1921, in addition to others. He, and other
Mzabis, used the Tunisian press for a counter-offensive to discredit the
arguments of Mzabi conservatives whose assault on the student missions
succeeded in convincing some parents to bring their sons back to the Mzab.xxiii
In the face of this conservative campaign, Abu al-Yaqzan decided to
launch his own newspaper to propagate the ideas of Islah. After much shuttling
between Tunisia and Algeria, consulting Mzabis on both sides, he launched in
1926 the newspaper Wadi Mizab, which was printed in Tunisia and distributed in
Algeria. It was only in 1931, and also partly thanks to the assistance, again, of alKhatib in Cairo, that Abu al-Yaqzan established his own printing press, al-Matbaa
al-Arabiyya in Algiers.
Wadi Mizab was censored by the French authorities, prompting Abu alYaqzan to publish it under different titles, only to be censored again, due to what
the French labeled as the newspapers’ inflammatory content.xxiv Surveillance of
Abu al-Yaqzan continued as did monitoring the content of his newspapers that
French officers often translated and commented on, with recommendations on
actions and measures to be taken by the French authorities against the
newspapers.xxv
Like Atfiyyash, and even at a much larger scale, Abu al-Yaqzan redrew
the borders of his community’s identity, As a Muslim reformer advocating Muslim
unity, he was also committed to Arab unity and to unity of all Algerians. For him,
Arabism was an element of faith, being part and parcel of his Muslim identity, and
Arab unity was a fundamental pillar of Muslim unity and the struggle against
colonialism. Abu al-Yaqzan elaborated on Arab unity most of all in his newspaper
al-Umma (1933–38), described as “the echo of the East and of Islam in the Arab
Maghrib, having the roar of Palestine, the rise of Syria, the awakening of Egypt,
the life of the Hijaz, the ambition of Iraq, the wailing of Tripoli, the cry of Tunisia,
and the pleas of Morocco.”xxvi
Although Arab unity was essential to Abu al-Yaqzan’s thought, it was
mostly the unity of Algerians and the definition of Algerian nationalism that
preoccupied him. His newspapers should be considered a primary source for the
study of Algerian nationalist thought, one that emerged out of a Salafi tradition
that paved the way for reconciliation among the different ethnic and sectarian
groups.
One of the main goals of his press, Abu al-Yaqzan explained, was to bring
the north and the south of Algeria closer to one another, a reference to Malikis
and Ibadis, respectively. He believed that his press was able to create harmony
and understanding between the two communities, which were now overcoming
their mutual hostility and uniting under the umbrella of an Arab-Islamic
brotherhood.xxvii In the first volume of Wadi Mizab, Abu al-Yaqzan calls on all
Algerians to unite: “Islam is your father and Algeria is your mother.”xxviii He
describes the Algerian nation as “one historical city, walled by Islam.”xxix He
condemns the existence of sectarian, ethnic, and regional identities in Algeria.
“Stop saying this is Maliki, this is Hanafi, this is Ibadi, this is Tijani, this is Qadiri,
this is Arab, this is Kabyle,”xxx he writes, calling for the unity of all elements of the
Algerian society. This, according to him, is possible because Algerians, both
Arab and Berber, are united by the watan (Algeria) and by the Arabic language, a
language of the Berbers as well, being the language of their religion, Islam.xxxi
Conclusion
The links between Mzab and trans-border movements of religious reform
and nationalism provides us with an opportunity to rewrite history from a few
angles. It shows the far reaching impact the religious reformist movement of Islah
had on sectarian relations, in this case the Ibadi-Sunni ones. It also reveals links
between this reformist thought seeking unity and nationalist thought in ways
historians have not considered before. As a minority Muslim sect historically
shunned by Sunni religious establishments as ‘unorthodox’, Ibadism’s
association with and recognition by the Islahi movement was essential to the
definition and promotion of the reformist Islam calling for unity. Muslim unity,
however, was part and parcel of a nationalist thought that was defining Algeria as
a Muslim and Arab nation. Mzabis, as Ibadis and Berbers, contributed to this
definition by assuming a role within the Islahi and anti-colonial movement.
Moreover, Mzabis’ activism in 1920s Tunisia further highlights the significance of
the Maghrib/Mashriq encounters in the Mediterranean. In our case, those
encounters restore some balance to a historiography that tends to tilt towards an
Algeria-France connection.
i
For a succinctly solid discussion of the connections between Kharijism and Ibadism and of the
Ibadi imamate, see Adam Gaiser, Muslims, Scholars, Soldiers: The Origin and Elaboration of the
Ibadi Imamate Traditions (Oxford University Press, 2010).
iiii
John C. Wilkinson, The Imamate Tradition of Oman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1987), 243.
iii
For more details, see Amal Ghazal, “The Other Frontiers of Arab Nationalism: Ibadis, Berbers,
and the Arabist-Salafi Press in the Interwar Period,” Journal of Middle East Studies 42(2010):
105-122.
iv
Al-Manar, 2(1899), 110
v
Muhammad Aṭfiyyash, In Lam Tarif_al-Ibadiyya yaUqba ya Jazairi, (n. p, n.d), 13.
vi
Muhammad Atfiyyash, “Rasail wa Ajwibat al-Qutb”, Jam‘iyyat al-Shaykh Abi Ishaq Ibrahim
Atfiyyash li Khidmat al-Turath, Ghardaia, Algeria, TMs (Digital copy).
vii
Muhammad Ali Dabbuz, Nahdat al-Jazair al-Haditha wa Thawratuha al-Mubaraka (al-Matba‘a
al-Ta`awuniyya, 1965), 332-33.
viii
Muhammad bin Yusuf Atfiyyash, Kashf al-Karb (Muscat: Wizarat al-turath al-qawmi wa-lthaqafa, 1985), Vol. 2, 207.
ix
For more details, see Salah Bendrissou, Implantation des Mozabites dans l’Algérois entre les
Deux Guerres (PhD diss., Institut Maghreb-Europe, Université Paris VIII Vincennes Saint Denis,
1999), Vol.1.
x
The different petitions and constant arguments made by Mzabis are collected in dossier no. 29H
17 at Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer (ANOM), Aix-en-Provence, France.
xi
Haggui, “Les Algériens en Tunisie,” 152.
xii
Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes (CADN), 2Mi 241, Bobine # 1236, 536-537,
January 29, 1923.
xiii
ANOM,*9 H 82 “Rapport de monsieur le commissaire de police de Laghouat en date du 8
Novembre 1920,” no. 2771.
xiv
ANOM, *9 H 82, “Rapport Mensuel,” no. 2384, April 1921.
xv
ANOM, *9 H 82 “Propagande anti-Française Laghouat,” June 1922. This jubilation at the news
of Turkish victory and independence was shared across North Africa. See, See Odile Moreau,
“Echoes of national liberation: Turkey viewed from the maghrib in the 1920s”, Journal of North
African Studies 8:1 (2003), 59-71.
xvi
Muhammad Nasir, Al-Shaykh Ibrahim Atfiyyash fi Jihadihi al-Islami (Muscat: Maktabat alDamiri, 1992), 19, 59.
xvii
Ishaq Ibrahim Atfiyyash, Al-Diaya ila Sabil al-Muminin (Cairo: al-Matba–a al-Salafiyya, 1923).
xviii
Private correspondence between Atfiyyash and Abu al-Yaqzan. Nasir, Al-Shaykh Ibrahim
Atfiyyash, 138.
xix
Ibrahim Abu Ishaq, “Safha min al-Tarikh: Kayfa Imtazat al-Ibadiyya –an al-Khawarij,” AlZahra’, 14 October 1924,
186–89.
xx
Al-Fath, 13 April 1939, 649, 16–17.
xxi
Muhammad Salih Nasir, ed., Tarikh Suhuf Abi al-Yaqzan: bi Qalam Abi al-Yaqzan Ibrahim Issa
(1888-1973) (n.p, 2003), 11-12.
xxii
Ibid., 12.
xxiii
Nasir, Tarikh Suhuf Abu al-Yaqzan, 13.
xxiv
The accusation of being subversive and inflammatory was repetitive. See, for instance,
ANOM, 9 H 57, “Politique Indigène/ Presse subversive,” April 3, 1935.
xxv
See mostly ANOM 15 H 18 and 9 H 57.
xxvi
Nasir, Tarikh Suhuf Abu al-Yaqzan, 273.
xxvii
Ibid., 116.
xxviii
Wadi Mizab, 1 October 1926, 1.
xxix
Ibid.
xxx
Wadi Mizab, 1 April 1927, 1.
xxxi
Ibid.