The Efforts Of The French Occupation To Erase The Identity Of The Algerian People And The Role Of The Association Of Algerian Muslim Scholars In Resisting Them

Abstract

The French occupation spent one hundred and thirty-two years trying to distort the identity of the Algerian people. Illiteracy reached its peak as ignorance spread throughout the country, leaving the vast majority of the population unable to read or write. Poverty cast a shadow of humiliation and disgrace over the population, while various diseases proliferated in both cities and villages. This vicious cycle of ignorance, poverty and disease took a terrible toll on the minds and bodies of the Algerian people.

Reform advocates became deeply despondent about the prospect of revitalising the core elements of this nation. They began to believe that reform was a futile pursuit and an attempt at the impossible. This state of despair affected not only reformists and national movement leaders, but also visitors from Arab and Western countries.

Following decades of France’s exhausting efforts to detach the Algerian people from their identity and eliminate their core values, the Association of Algerian Muslim Scholars was established to resist these efforts. The nation’s fortunes changed, and rays of hope began to penetrate the hearts of the people. Remarkably successful in returning the Algerian people to their religion, language, and homeland, the association prevented them from losing all connection to these aspects.