The influence of Ben Badis in the deep society, By Mohand Biri.

“The Algerian nation is not France, it cannot be France, it does not want to become France, it cannot become France how much it wants to, Algeria is a nation very far from France, in her language, in her manners and in her religion. Algeria does not want to merge in the French assimilation. It is a fatherland, (…) the Algerian fatherland.”
Sheikh Abdelhamid Ben Badis.

On April 16, 1940, Sheikh Abdelhamid Ben Badis, passed away after a long life invested in the inspiration of the Algerian people to free themselves from the dangers of cultural inertia, moral decline and assimilation to the Western world.

On this day, Algeria celebrates this man and his movement, the Ulemas, by dedicating April 16, “youm el ilm”, national day of science.
A celebration that commemorates the work of this great reformer and his companions, Sheikh Bashir Al Ibrahimi, Tayeb El Oqbi and the list is long.

The celebration of “youm el ilm” comes, this year, with the awakening or the burst of the Algerian people of its deep sleep, organized and planned by the circles of aggression and tyranny, since the beginning of the occupation of our homeland, in the summer of 1830, or even decades before this sinister year.

Despite the sprawling anchoring of corruption and Westernization, especially in the institutions of the administration, the media and the education, and despite the decline in the ranks of a large part of the nationalist movement, we have seen the Algerian youth raise slogans throughout the country that echo the Ulemas throughout the centuries.

“We are the sons of Badis and we are not the sons of Paris,”
“The Algerian people are Muslimfor long, and, to Arabity, they belong” they brandished, among other slogans designating the cultural anchoring of the Algerian people despite adversity.

At this times, when we are preparing to leave this life, because the age is gaining us, we look forward with affection and comfort to the young generation who is entering with courage in the fields of the national struggle with all the intellectual and scientific challenges that this assumes to preserve the independence and freedom of Algeria.

We recall, then in memory, some poetic verses planted in our hearts by our illustrious educators throughout our youth. These are verses from the well-known poem, “Algerian Muslim People”, which was bequeathed to us as a precept of the symbol of our modern civilization, by Sheikh Ibn Badis.

“O youth,
You are our source,
by whom dawn comes

Take to life its arms, its lightning,
Take the word and fear nothing,

Raise the light of the just and the merciful,
Fight against the usurper and the execrable,

Rip off the roots of evil and treachery,
Because that’s where our misfortunes lie. “

M.B.

The image of Sheikh Abdelhamid Benbadis above the head of Houari Boumediene shows the recognition of the late president to the pioneer of cultural renaissance in Algeria.

For all those who are wondering about the disappearance of the Association of Ulema after independence, it should be recalled that the Association was active while the country was under occupation.

With the recovery of national independence all members of the association have assumed positions of responsibility in the state, including Sheikh Abderrahman Shiban, Ahmed Hamani, Ahmed Hussein and dozens of others, led by Dr. Taleb Ibrahimi himself, in addition to the young Osman Saadi association, Saad Eddin Nouiouat as well as Mouloud Kacem and others.