Emir Abd al-Kader: Hero & Saint of Islam

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Emir Abd al-Kader :
Hero and Saint of Islam,
*[A5] Paperback - 265 pages,
by Ahmed Bouyerdene,
Foreword by Eric Geoffroy,
Published by World Wisdom.

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Description :

This extraordinary biography of the Algerian warrior and Sufi saint, Shaykh Emir Abd el-Kader, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, (1807/8-1883), shows his dazzling spiritual qualities in the fight against the French colonial authorities.

The New York Times called the Emir “one of the few great men of the century,” while Abraham Lincoln and Pope Pius IX both commended the Emir for rescuing 15,000 Christians while in exile in Damascus. In 1846, the town of Elkader, Iowa was named in his honour.

Throughout the biography, which contains 10 beautiful illustrations, the author never lets us forget the Emir’s deepest nature: the saint and mystic whose greatness of soul and deep inner life is the true subject of this biography, and the source of the great piety, forbearance, and chivalry for which he was so justly famous and revered during his time.

Ahmed Bouyerdene was born in Algeria in 1967, but emigrated with his family to France when he was five; he has both Algerian and French nationality. Dr. Bouyerdene is an independent researcher in history and a specialist on the great Algerian leader Emir Abd el-Kader. Bouyerdene completed his PhD on the life of Abd el-Kader at the Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France, and has since published several books and articles on the Emir in his native French, including Abd el-Kader, l’harmonie des contraires (le Seuil, 2008, 2012) and Abd el-Kader par ses contemporains (Ibis Press, 2008).

Ahmed Bouyerdene has also attended conferences around the world to present papers on the intellectual and spiritual qualities of the Emir, and has been a consultant on various media projects on the Emir. The World Wisdom book Emir Abd el-Kader: Hero and Saint of Islam is his first work to be translated into English. Dr. Ahmed Bouyerdene lives in southern France.

Reviews:

“All the representatives of the Christian powers then residing in Damascus, without one single exception, had owed their lives to [Abd el-Kader]. Strange and unparalleled destiny! An Arab had thrown his guardian aegis over the outraged majesty of Europe. A descendant of the Prophet had sheltered and protected the Spouse of Christ.”_{—Charles H. Churchill, biographer of the Emir}.

“Groundbreaking, inspiring, and timely, this biography documents the life of the unsung hero of Algerian nationalism. Emir Abd el-Kader was a compassionate warrior and negotiator with the French, as well as a defender of religious minorities in the Ottoman Empire. Ahmed Bouyerdene’s scholarly yet accessible work is an eloquent testimony that religion can be a galvanizing force for the greater good, and a compulsory guide as we work toward building bridges between the Muslim world and the West.”_{—Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, author of What’s Right with Islam and}_{Moving the Mountain}.

“America owes even a more absolute debt to this illustrious son of the desert. For the Americans in Syria owe all that they have saved from the storm which so lately swept with fiery breath from the Lebanon to the Levant, not to the terror of the American name or the vigor of American policy, but to just such humane and fearless action as that of the exiled chieftain of Algiers [Abd el-Kader]. . . . Today the Christian world unites to honor in the dethroned Prince of Islam, the most unselfish of knightly warriors, risking limb and life to rescue his ancient foes, his conquerors and the conquerors of his race and his religion, from outrage and from death.”_{—The New York Times, October 20, 1860, reporting on the Emir’s rescue of over 10,000 Christians in Damascus, Syria}.