Book Translation : Algeria by Ahmed Tewfik El Madani

The “book of Algeria” by Ahmed Tawfiq Al-Madani presents to a certain degree a detailed tour between many fields and stations in the history of Algeria. Henceforth, the writer started this knowledgeable piece of work by identifying the most substantial reasons that prompted him to elaborate this work, which were mainly related to the ignorance of Algerian youths, of that era of time and a hundred years after the occupation, of the history, nature, systems, laws, origins of the population, moral condition, as well as economic power of their country. Yet, he does not really blame them for their ignorance which was caused intentionally by the occupation. Thus, the writer committed himself to elaborating his book in order to introduce and teach Algerian youths, especially about their homeland, in which they live, and the land on which their fathers and grandfathers grew. In addition to that, He collected in this book – according to him - what every Algerian Muslim should know about his country Algeria, and included in it the result of what his research in this field had brought him, with the aim of making it a reason for increasing the love of Algerian youths for their homeland and urging them to serve and adhere to it, and to preserve their Arab Algerian identity, and helping them embracing the slogan: “Islam is my religion, Arabic is my language, Algeria is my homeland.”

As a result, He divided his book into fourteen sections. As for the first section, it was entitled: “the summary of the history of Algeria, from the oldest times to the French occupation.” Hence, it included sixteen chapters. And he proceeded from the first chapter, which revolves around the era of 1000 years BC and bears the title “The Berbers and the Canaanite Communities”, by demonstrating the origin of the inhabitants of Algeria, i.e. the first to set foot on the land of North Africa and colonize it, and who are they. Then, He attributed the Berbers to communities that all came from Asia, penetrating Egypt and Libya, and go back in their origin to “Arumah Mazigh bin Canaan bin Sam bin Noah.” They bear submission to a sultan, and they only submit to force and reluctantly, and their only system is the system of the family and the tribe, and perhaps - he goes on - they lived in a matrilineal society, as the Tuareg tribes do today (i.e., in the period of writing the book) in the desert country, where authority of the father is not recognized. In addition to that, they were also pagans of religion, and shepherds of livestock who wore robes made of animals’ skins and wool, and ate their meat and what they grew on their land, which was full of huge and predatory animals. Later on, he continued to talk about the Canaanite contribution to the construction of Cartagena in his second chapter, tagged with: “Cartagena rule”, during the period 480 BC, which began with the arrival of Princess “Alisha Dido” from the Canaanite country from the city of Tyre, accompanied by a retinue of the elite, and then she founded with the help of the Canaanites, residents of the Tunisian coasts, the city of "Carthage". This city expanded its borders through friendly commercial transactions, because it possessed only an army of mercenaries, and this matter, by the way, contributed to its weakening later on. The Carthaginians worshiped Baal, thanit, and malak, and were distinguished by the art of architecture, until the Romans oppressed them and brought down their civilization. the Berbers had a role in repelling the injustice of Carthage, and they clashed in the war with the Romans. And about this war of theirs - that is, the Berbers and the Romans - the third chapter was created, which was entitled: "The Romans and the Berbers", and their war was a hit-and-run war during which some Berber leaders emerged, such as: "Masinissa, Jugurtha, Yuba I and others...". Traces of the Roman presence on the land of Algeria remained to this day, manifested through the system of baths, markets, food, and clothing. Then, in this first section, and in its fourth chapter, entitled: “The Vandals,” he discussed upon the Vandal presence in the region, beginning with the attack of eighty thousand of them under the leadership of their chiefs, “Jansariq” in the year 429. Thus, they destroyed everything the Romans left behind. With all this happening, the Berbers were pleased with what the Vandals had done in terms of killing and abusing the Romans who colonized the region. But after the death of the King of the Vandals, "Jansiriq" in the year 477, the power of the Vandals declined until they lost their authority over the Romans in the year 533. With this, he came to talk about the Roman presence in the fifth chapter entitled: "The Romans", beginning with the dispatch of the Emperor of Byzantium, the capital of the Roman Empire Eastern, "Blizar" accompanied by a huge fleet of Romans to end the Vandal authority, and committed in the Vandals what committed the Vandals in the Romans. The era of the Romans was darker than the era of the Vandals, then the authority of the Romans deteriorated. And the region remained floundering in wars until Islam came. This matter, he tackles in his sixth chapter entitled: “The Islamic Conquest”. with the advent of the first Arab conquerors in the year 667, twenty thousand under the leadership of Abdullah Ibn Saad, alongside Abdullah Ibn Al-Zubayr, were gathered to face “Batriq” the governor of Sbeitla, the capital of Carthage, who also gathered one hundred and twenty thousand Romans to fight back. but the Muslim Arabs were victorious and seized Sbeitla. The battles of Muslims continued with the pagans and Christians in the entire country of Morocco until they occupied it. After which, the Arab governors continued to rotate on power until the Berberic Islamic state was established. As for the seventh chapter, he devoted it to tackling the matter of the Rustamid state and called it: “The Rustamid state of Tihart,” in which he touched on the circumstances of its establishment, the identity of its founder, its borders, the form of its architecture, and its relations with the countries nearby, until its decline, as it lasted 136 years, and it was ruled consecutively by six imams. The first of them was Abdul Rahman bin Rustom, and the last of them was Al-Yaqzan. Then follows the eighth chapter, tagged with: “The Aghlabit Administration”, which dealt with the subject of the Aghlabit state that was established by the Banu al-Aghlab, and which lasted from 184 AH to 303 AH, and its capital, Qairouan, which became one of the greatest Islamic cities, extended from Bejaia, on the Mediterranean shore to the desert, and it was one of the most flourishing civilizations known to the country of Algeria. The ninth chapter, entitled “The Fatimid Administration,” dealt with the period of The Fatimid state decline; As it grew old, Abu Abdullah Al-Shi’i, the leader of the Kutama, seized the opportunity, attacked it, and destroyed it in the incident of Al-Arbes. For the first time in history, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco came together under one state and one administration. The tenth chapter entitled “The City of Msila.” came very briefly in terms of demonstrating the city of Muhammadiyah, which is Msila. The latter was founded by Ibn Ubaid Allah al-Mahdi, and it became a major Islamic capital with an extensive urbanization and a lofty city, until it was destroyed by Belkin bin Ziri bin Munad in the year 362, and built the city of "Bani Mazghna Algeria". And after that, the eleventh chapter, which bore the title: “The Great State of Bani Hammad,” and dealt, of course, with the circumstances of the establishment of the state, the general features that characterized the period of its rule, and the expansion of its geographical area, which included by the way almost all of Algeria. In fact, it lasted about 271 years, during which nine rulers came to power. And it ended with Abd al-Mu’min ibn Ali war, who ended the rule of its last king in the year 547. Then the twelfth chapter was entitled: “The Administration of the Almohads”. The Almohad state was founded in Al-Sous Al-Aqsa by Al-Mahdi Muhammad bin Tumart and his successor Abd Al-Mu’min bin Ali Al-Koumi, who led it with the strength of faith and determination. so, in general the days of the Almohads in Algeria, despite their elimination of the Hammadids, were days of comfort and reassurance, and their rule over Algeria lasted for seventy years. The thirteenth chapter is tagged with: “The state of Bani Zayyan,” which was founded by the Bani Abd al-Wad tribe, and Jabir bin Yusuf established the state of Bani Abd al-Wad in the year 672. And the great Yaghmurasen declared its independence from the authority of the Almohads, in Tlemcen, in the year 633. Then, the state retreated little by little due to the weakness of those who took over it and the large number of conflicts and disputes over its lands and authority. And the fourteenth chapter, tagged with: “The Spaniards, the Turks, and the Zayanis”, talked about how the Spaniards followed the Muslims to their homeland and occupied mersa el kbir’ and then the Oran marina in 1509, as well as the atrocity of what the Spanish and Portuguese pirates did to the Muslims, until the Ottomans intervened after they established their foothold in the East. They built a majestic fleet, and Arouj and Khair al-Din who became famous among them, volunteered to transport Muslims from Andalusia to the coasts of Morocco. Algeria became then under the dependence of the Turks, and under the rule of Baylarbay Khairuddin. And the state of Bani Zayan ended under the weight of war after ruling three hundred and two years. And the fifth chapter: entitled: "Ottoman Turkish Algeria", in which he mentioned how the Turks established a military kingdom in the country, and how they began to bring the whole country under their authority, and they did not find much resistance, so the matter was completed for them shortly. Piracy in Algeria was a national industry that had its own law, unlike its Spanish and Portuguese counterparts, so the marine of the countries that had consuls in Algeria was not attacked in exchange for paying a known amount annually to the Pasha. Nevertheless, the wars intensified between the navy of European countries and the fleet of Algeria, and often ended with the defeat of the navy of European countries. The city of Algiers also gained great wealth from the spoils of the naval invasions. The last chapter in the first section is the sixteenth chapter, entitled: “Relations with France,” and it included a comprehensive detail about the relationship between Algeria and France, before the occupation in the military and economic fields, and how the British entered a party to the conflict.

The second section of the book is entitled: "A Summary of the History of Algeria, from the French Occupation till Today," and its components are divided into five chapters. As for the first chapter, he named it “The French-Algerian Dispute and the Occupation,” in which he presented a detailed account of the Algerian-French relations, and the beginning of the conflicts, until the occupation, namely the verbal abuses and the arguments of the French representatives against the ruler of Algeria, which contributed to the worsening of the situation between the two parties, and it all ended with the French forces subjugating some Algerian regions and the beginning of the plan to occupy Algeria. The second chapter is devoted to talking about El amir Abdul kader and his achievements, and is titled: “The State of El amir Abdul kader Al Hashemi”, and presents the situation in the region after the fall of the capital, and the conditions of allegiance to El amir Abdul kader, then his resistance against the occupation, the borders of the lands under his authority, and the most important general features that characterized his reign. Then comes the third chapter entitled: “Administration and Colonialism from 1830 to 1870”, to define the form of the French’s dealings with the Arabs in particular, as they had no such experience before that. Nevertheless, the idea of colonialism began to crystallize and take a real dimension on the ground. The impact of the French revolutions on the occupation, especially the revolution of 1848, contributed to the expansion of settlement. With all this, the division of Algeria and its subjugation to the actual authority of France began. The fourth chapter continues in more detail about the events of France's colonization of Algeria in a later period, and is titled: "Administration and Colonialism from 1870 to 1914," so he drafted in it the general constitution that divided Algeria's land into civil land and military land, and this first section was a bit shorter in comparison with the second section. The Algerian administration was headed by the general governor, with an independent financial budget placed in the hands of the Algerian Supreme Council. Then the wars (France and Germany), the famine of 1867, diseases and resistance continued to drain the Algerians' strength. In the same context and in a subsequent period, the fifth and final chapter of the second section enumerates the most important events that characterized the period from 1914 to 1931 of the occupation of Algeria, entitled: “Administration and Colonialism from 1914 to 1931.” As the flags of the First World War approached, The French colonial law enacted the recruitment of Muslims in this country starting in 1912, which prompted many Muslim families to migrate to the middle east. Although the great war ended with France’s victory, the Algerians paid a heavy price. Then the French authorities began enacting their laws to tighten their grip on the land and the population.

At this stage, the book takes the reader to the fields of literature and science. Thus, the title of the third section is: “A summary of the literary and scientific situation in the country of Algeria, from ancient times to the present day.” It includes an extrapolation of the scientific and literary situation in specific periods of time. The first period extends from "The Ancient times to the Islamic Conquest", and presents the most important scientific and literary additions to the various civilizations that passed through the region of Algeria, leading to the Islamic conquest. The later was also distinguished by several periods, each of which coincided with the rule of one group over the other, or the participation of two groups in governance. Then the writer presented scientific and literary feature, and listed the most important figures who adorned the intellectual scene in the period between the Rustamids and the Aghlabids, the days of the Fatimid authority, in the state of Bani Hammad, the state of the Almohads, the era of the Zayani city, the era of the Turkish state, the era of occupation, and finally what he called the last era, or the era of the Arab renaissance in Algeria, which during which a large number of Algerian writers, authors and scholars excelled.

In its fourth part, he delves into the field of demographic studies, devoting it to the study of the population groups of the region under the title: “The Residents of Algeria.” He started with the Berber element, then talked about the region to which they came to in North Africa, their origins, lineages, and their tribes, then he moved on to talk about their traditions and morals, and described their generosity, their intense, valiant courage, steadfastness, their endless love for freedom and the land, the strength of their faith and their attachment to Islam after they were pagans. Then he stated a number of their customs, especially those related to marriage, and recorded an important observation, which is that despite all the aforementioned mentions, there is a modern generation of them, especially from the region of Jarjura, who embarked on Stay away from the Islamic religion. After that, he moved to another region, the Mzab Valley region, where he showed its social system, its system of governance and legislation, custom, and societal structure (the system of clans, leadership, community...). Then he identified the berberian tribes and their habitats in the Algerian country: the tribes of the prefecture of Constantine, the prefecture if Algiers, and the prefecture of Oran. He also talked about the Arabized Berbers and their areas of presence, and concluded this section by providing an overview of their conditions and affairs until the day the book was written.

The fifth section was devoted to talking about the Arabs and called it: "The Arab Element in Algeria", who traced their origins back to the Arabs who came as immigrants during the days of the Hammadid Sanhaji state, and the fact that the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustansir wanted to get rid of the Arabs who had been flocking from their island to Egypt since its conquest by pushing them to the Maghreb in retaliation one of the Sanhaja princes. As a result of this act, the presence of Islam and Arabic in these countries was consolidated. He divided his presentation in this section into two studies. As for the first, he made it a census of the various Arab tribes and their clans in the region, and the second research, in mentioning their areas of presence, that is, their geographical distribution and their current condition. Also, he did not neglect to mention the other Islamic elements of the Turks who remained after the demise of their state and the Negroes who came from southern Africa.

In the sixth part, he mentioned the other population groups in Algeria other than the Berbers and Arabs, and called it: "The Other Elements in Algeria." And he began to enumerate starting by the Jews who were the oldest non-Muslim element in this country, although they were attached to the French element later after the law of October 24, 1780, and divided them into two parts, the displaced from Palestine, and the displaced Berbers who embraced the Mosaic religion, then he went on to talk about the period of their displacement and stability in the region , their most important activities, the areas they settled in, and how they lined up with the occupation and joined the ranks of the French. He also presented an extrapolation of their situation during the writing of the book, their ranks within the layers of Algerian society and their integration within, and their religion. Among the Jews were those who moved to the category of the French. The latter included two groups, the first group pertaining to the original French immigrants from France, the second group pertaining to Italian, Spanish, and Maltese minorities, and the status of each unit within the social fabric and its role. He also referred to the emergence of another new category, the French-Algerian category, and its position within the system. Furthermore, he did not neglect to list its most important psychological and ideological characteristics and its role in consolidating the occupation. At the end of this section, he concluded by talking about the category of foreigners, which is almost equal in number to the category of the French, about their origins, and their role within the societal structure as well. And within the seventh section, entitled: “the general natural Geography of the country of Algeria”, there is a general study on the geography of the region in three researches: As for the first one, it is entitled “A General Geographical View”, and it contains a presentation of the features of the region: from the height and types of mountains, its hills and coasts and their extension, its high plateaus and their location, its lakes ,swamps, the breadth of their desert, the volume of rainfall and their seasons, their valleys with an inventory of the most important and their locations, its climate that differs from one region to another, its forest cover and its extension and the areas it includes, and concludes with the baths. Mineral nature and where it is located. To move directly to the presentation of " A Detailed Geography of Prefectures and Attachments". Algeria of that period was divided administratively into two parts: the first is the northern section, i.e. the civil land, and includes the prefecture of Constantine, the prefecture of Algiers and the prefecture of Oran, and the southern section, i.e. the military region and includes the region of Toqart, Ghardaia, and Ain Safra. This is followed by the extensions of the desert to the land of Algeria, which is called the oases region. And from this the writer proceeds to the third research, which he called: "A general census of the population of Algeria", which actually includes an official general census issued on March 08, 1931, and confines the number of residents in each prefecture and region, the general increase rate in a period of five years, and the percentage of population density per kilometer, the population of Muslims and Christians, and the population of major cities.

Up to the eighth section, which he denominated: “The most important Cities and Villages in the Algerian Country”, and devoted it to talking about the prominent cities and villages in the Algerian country, and their prominence is due to their scientific, cultural, historical and economic radiation, so he mentioned the area, whether it is a city or a village, defined its location and administrative affiliation, and provided a brief presentation of It. Some of them were located in the north and others were located in the desert.

Then the ninth section, which he entitled: “The central government and public administrations in Algeria.” More details were mentioned about the division of Algeria into two parts – as mentioned above – a northern, civil section, in which there are three prefectures: Constantine, Algiers, and Oran. And a southern military section that includes: Toqart, Ghardaia, Ain Safra, and Al-Wahat - and this was shown through four researches. As for the first research, it was entitled: "The Government and its Administration", and in it the talk is limited to the right to legislate in Algeria and its administrations, where five roles followed on legislation in Algeria: the first role for the year from 1830 to the year 1834, and the military commander-in-chief was the decision-maker in power, The second role was from 1834 to the year 1848, and stipulated that the right to legislate is reserved for the king alone in French territory in North Africa, the third round from the year 1848 to the year 1852 gave the right to legislate in Algeria to Senate and issued the decisions in the name of “Senatus Consuat”, the fourth round from the year 1770 to 1931, the French parliament become the legislator in Algeria. Then he went on to talk about the general mandate and its roles and how it was negotiated, as he talked about the general governor, who has the central authority in Algeria, and the government council that is like the Council of Ministers, and he determined the various departments in Algeria and the authority that follows it. Then he moved on to the second research, which he called: "Management of Employment", in which he stated all employment that fall under the civil and military divisions, with their areas, and the authority that follows them, in addition to detailing their departments and tasks separately. The third research, as its title suggests: "Municipal Regions", identified the number and types of existing municipalities, their locations, their various administrations, their officials, the budgets allocated to them, and the authority to which they belong. This section concludes with the fourth research, entitled: “Management of the lands of the south”, where the military section originated, defining the authority to which it follows, and who is in charge of the budget and financing, and its management according to the prefectures in it.

The tenth section, entitled “Elected Councils in the Algerian Country”, in the Algerian country at that time there were many elected councils, some of which worked with special interests, such as group councils and municipal councils, some worked with the interests of the district, such as workers’ councils, and some of them concerned with the Algerian situation and the management of its budget, such as the parliaments of representatives Finance, including the life and work of the people, such as the councils of agricultural and commercial chambers. Thus, in this section the reader will find a detailed description of these councils, their systems, the history of their establishment and their work.

The eleventh section, entitled "General Education in Algeria", leads us to the field of education, and in it the writer confirms at the outset that Algeria at that time was not devoid of education, although the illiteracy rate reached 95%, but what was available back then neither met its need nor the requirements degree of its progress. Then he set off to provide a case presentation on the different stages of education available, including vocational education, the period of its establishment, the percentage of Algerian students in it, the laws that govern it, the language or languages of teaching in it, and whether it satisfy the needs of the Algerian Arab Muslim student.

the twelfth section, entitled “The Judicial and Justice System in Algeria”, in the field of judiciary and justice, and this section has three researches. one for presenting legislations, official bodies, their tasks and specializations, and the individuals working in them such as judges, lawyers and translators. one, entitled: "Injunctive Judiciary", gave specific details about laws called the laws of Indigina. The last one was titled: “Islamic Judiciary.” It delt with judiciary in accordance with Islamic law. The author indicated that this type had limited authority and recourse to its laws and defined its types, and the category that recognized it.

The thirteenth section, entitled: “The Status of Muslims in Algeria,” questioned the legal status of a Muslim and his nationality under occupation. To find that the Algerian is considered legally French, but his duty was heavier than the French, and his rights were none existing. He suffered from discrimination and abuse in employment, even though they represented the majority of the labor force. The writer mentioned also the miserable health conditions experienced by the majority of Algerians as a result of poverty, destitution, misery, and poor health care. the status of women and their education, which were also denied rights. Even music and acting, which until the time of writing the book, had recorded a significant decline compared to other Arab countries. Even the press suffered from restrictions and oppression, and it was often unable to communicate the Algerian's cry to the world, although a respectable number of newspapers were published. The share of the zawaya and religious teachings of all kinds mentioned from different regions of the country in terms of injustice and oppression was the share of the same predecessors, despite their history and the service they provided to the Algerian Islamic community. Despite all this, the modern renaissance - the writer confirms – had known its way to Algeria and included all social, political, economic and scientific fields.

The last section of the book, which is the fourteenth section, entitled: “The General Economic Situation”, delt with six studies, the first one is a group of statistics in different economic fields, state property, and types of crops with production volume. Then the second research counted the percentage of livestock, their types, and their owners from different categories. As well as marine fishing and the size of its production, and indicated that the most beneficiaries of it were the Europeans, the Spaniards and Italians, due to the ignorance of Muslims about the sea and marine wealth. Then the third topic counted the volume of production of minerals and the number of mines. Whereas, the fourth research presented an extrapolation of the status of the industry, the size of production in it, its diversity, and the categories in which it operated. As with the fourth research, the fifth research also provided a reading of the status of trade, the categories in which it operated, the size of its revenues, and the materials traded in. The sixth research was concerned with roads and transportation, and presented an enumeration of their number, types and extension.

The writer concluded this book by clearing his conscience and fulfilling his promise to teach young people about their homeland, its history, its sciences, its situation, its architecture, its laws, and the injustice that it suffered under the weight of the occupation. He also included a set of recommendations, the most important of which is that the Algerian youth should not depend on others in their renaissance, that they be sincere in their service to their country, and that they preserve their identity. He expressed his hope for a better tomorrow, which will be adopted by the young men from Algeria, crowned with freedom and independence.