Abd El-Kader, beyond his simplistic image

Abd El-Kader was born in 1808 near Mascara in Algeria from a family of ‘Cherif’ origins (descended from the prophet Mohamed).  Whilst the religious education he received turned him into Muslim mystic and a Sufi theologian, circumstance made him a warrior.
Turned soldier to defend the Islam Lands, then becoming an Emir and later Sultan, today, he is celebrated as the founder of the Algerian nation.  Resisting French conquest, he waged a holy war against the French, although he also has the qualification of being called “the Friend of the French” by Europeans, as a result of his surrender.

 Imprisoned and freed by Napoleon III, he finished his days in Damascus, where he devoted himself to meditation and the writing of “le Livre des Haltes” (the Book of Pauses) as he worked on his own inner spiritual development.
Politician and mystic, warrior and wise man, Abd El-Kader was indeed a man of complexity. Was he a man of contradicton or the possessor of great richness of character? Dominique Pénot sheds light on the mystery of d'Abd El-Kader.