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The Implications of Fundamentalism in Algeria
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Algeria has lived in civil strife for a great deal of time. Approximately 40,000 lives have been lost in the struggle between factions. Diplomatic attempts have to resolve the turmoil, foreign governments are now withholding financial aid to force peace.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Algeria has lived in civil strife for a great deal of time. Approximately 40,000 lives have been lost in the struggle between factions. Diplomatic attempts have to resolve the turmoil, foreign governments are now withholding financial aid to force peace.
Paper Introduction:
THE IMPLICATIONS OF FUNDAMENTALISM IN ALGERIA
INTRODUCTION
Algeria has become a profoundly Muslim country since Independence and the precipitate departure of the Europeans. Ninety-nine percent of all Algerian Muslims are Sunnis of the Malakite rite.(1) Thus any diversity is within the context of Sunni Islam itself. The principal dichotomy being between the puritanical and scripturalist Islam of the Ulama and the Charismatic Islam of the saints (mrabitin or marabouts), who are the descendants of the Prophet and the Sufi orders (Tuniq).
BACKGROUND
The Maraboutic Islam accounted for much of the resistance from 1830
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It was the Majlis that named the candidatesthat the party fielded in the 199 communal and regional elections. The primacy of the army has prevented the succession of Algeriangovernments from mobilizing the consent of the governed. Boumediene promptly announced elections for a president and areconstituted National assembly; he preempted many Islamic issues byintroducing a new constitution and holding a public debate on it. Thus at a FIS rallyin the Belcourt District on October 4 they demanded not only the release ofthe imprisoned leaders but also the installation of an Islamic republic andearly presidential elections. Ninety-nine percent of allAlgerian Muslims are Sunnis of the Malakite rite.(1) Thus any diversity iswithin the context of Sunni Islam itself. Feb. Arresting them was a dangerous move riskingan uncontrollable explosion. He alsooutflanked the Muslim by outlawing gambling, and introducing the Muslimweekend thus disarming the Islamist critique for a while. Abassi the politician clearly had supremacy; Abassi'ssupremacy came from the fact that he was a member of the revolutionarynationalist movement (the FLN) from before the war and thus could carry themantle of the independence struggle and the Islamists. Among those who would not submit were Shaykh Soltani and ShaykhShahnoun, both of whom gained political prominence in the 198 s. An Islamic state , according to the doctrine isone in which the executive is subordinate to the judiciary. Some violence wasinvolved in these incidents. Price control, foodsubsidy, welfare, and mass state education all became possible, and wereachieved at the expense of the private property and commerce after 1971. The eight FIS leaders remained in prison and could notbe candidates in the forthcoming election. Twentyyears later this group would provide much of the Islamic leadership.ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE Boumediene was fortunate. However thenumber of mosques built far outpaced the number of properly trained Imamsthe state could provide - additionally the government used these Imams asgovernment propaganda agents. Its vast organizational ability andimpressive capacity for mobilization soon escalated the confrontationsbetween the Islamists and the government. Soon, they quickly reached asupreme position within the Islamist movement. Hugh Roberts, pp. The liberal and modernistic opinion in society realized that theirinterests were best protected by the Algerian military establishment.Chadli, too, lost his support amongst the western governments as a bulwarkagainst fundamentalism. This wasused by the Islamists to great advantage. All of which strengthened the position of theFIS in June 199 elections. This body had five sub-levels each selected by theone above it in the hierarchy. The FIS continued to employ maximalist rhetoric. The government of a Muslim state must respect the principle ofijma by which the ruler consults with the consensus of community. (2) In particular, it attacked as heresy the belief of thecult of the saints, "that saints and the dead and other beings or objectscan through association with God partake of his sacredness." This view isconsidered to violate the belief in the indivisible oneness of God that isa fundamental tenet of Islam. Abassi responded the next day by saying that he represented theFIS and he mobilized FIS militants in Algiers, and denounced the threedissident Majlis as traitors. Thisconsensus is to be ascertained by the authorized spokesman, the Ulama. The judiciaryin turn operates within parameters defined by the Ulama. Le Monde, 1991.15. He made sure that party stewards ensured thatdiscipline was maintained. In fact, they became sopowerful that the religious leaders became little more than servants of thestate. When a splinter group of the PPA finally broke away to found theNational Liberation Front (FLN) in 1954 they defined the purpose of theirmovement as the "restoration of the sovereign, democratic and socialAlgerian state within the framework of Islamic principles." (3) Ben Badis'Association of the Reformist Ulama soon allied itself with the FLN and itssenior members were permanently represented within the FLN leadership.Thus this reformist Islam was the official Islam of the Algerian state atthe time of independence, and the Islam of mrabtin and other charismaticswere stigmatized. While anyone couldbuild a mosque only the Ministry of Religious affairs could appoint an Imamto lead the faithful at Friday prayers. In general the FIS attitude was one that they weredisposed to accept the new un-Islamic electoral laws, after which theycould contest them and thus win some seats at least to advance its cause(12). Ben Badis and his colleagues transformed thereligious field in Algeria and established the supremacy of a modernist,spiritualist, and puritanical Islam. However, at a special congress in Batna the FIS reaffirmed its loyaltyto Abassi and Ben Hadj by reelecting to them the presidency and the vice-presidency of the party's leadership. Mohammed Habri , 1981.4. The National assemblies under Ben Bellah, Boumediene andChadli were composed entirely of members of FLN and subordinate to thepresidency. Hachani was arrested onSeptember 17, but the siege was lifted on September 29. The strategic aim of the FIS was conquest of the political sphere soas to realize its ultimate purpose, "the establishment of an authenticIslamic society." (9) This reversed the agenda of the Islamist movement.At the national level the organization was led by the Majlis-El-Shura(Consultative Council). (5) This was a ready audience for the Islamist criticism of thewestern view of women and the insistence on the adoption of modest dressand segregation of sexes in public.THE POLITICAL REGIME The state has an executive branch that has unquestioned supremacy overthe legislative and the judiciary branches. The ministry also paid the Imam'ssalaries and issued guidelines for topics for Friday sermons. On July 7, whenMohammed Said, who was Abassi's chosen successor announced he was assumingthe leadership he too was arrested without pretext. An early presidential election would not be in Chadli'sinterest. But where diplomats are not heard, money may speak loudly; Algeriahas a $26 billion debt and is looking for world help once more. Thus their arrest was accompanied betweenJune 3 and July 1 by the arrest of thousands of Islamists including mostof the FIS senior cadres in Algiers. Burgat.9. The army that persuaded Chadli toresign after the electoral debacle in 1992. As the fighting growsbloodier the FIS control over the violent groups grows weaker.(16) Thisfighting needs to stop, and the politicians appear ready. Corruption, nepotism, and intrafactional obsessionshave eroded the state's moral authority and subverted its claim to embodythe Islamic ideal of just government. In May of 1991 thetwo decided to confront the Hamrouche government by calling a generalstrike in protest of the new electoral law. 158.Le Islamistes algerience face au povoir, Alissa Khelladi, (Algiers:Edotopms Alfa) 1992. THE IMPLICATIONS OF FUNDAMENTALISM IN ALGERIAINTRODUCTION Algeria has become a profoundly Muslim country since Independence andthe precipitate departure of the Europeans. Once theFrench consolidated their victory they incorporated many of the saintlyfamilies in the power structure as local notables and ensured their co-operation. K. (11) Other religious groups that existed were The Movement of the IslamicRenaissance led by Djaballah in Eastern Algeria and Hamas; this group waslead by Nanah, and based in the large town of Blida. However, he lacked voter appeal. The Maraobutic Islam became identified with the colonialists.They were to become a natural target on nationalistic as well astheological grounds during the independence struggle. This was an FLN that was not a political party but arevolutionary nationalist movement that evolved from a loose coalition ofguerrilla bands in 1954 to a complex state machine. To avoid being outflanked by the true radicals without incurring theviolence of insurrectionary or anticonstitutional intent Abassi evennegotiated with the government over which streets the FIS demonstratorsmight occupy (13). (4) After the early 198 s the urban poor were no longereffectively incorporated in the political program and were the primaryvictims of the austerity programs. Moreover, it is thisarmy that overthrew Ben Bella in 1965 and set up a Council of theRevolutions and Boumediene's presidency. The authorities meanwhilealternated concessions with further repression. In May of 1991 the FIS which had not challenged President Chadli'selection schedule demanded that early presidential elections and that theybe held at the same time as the legislative election. This allowed Ben Bella and later Boumediene to consolidate theirpolitical control over the religious leaders. Chadli Bendjedid, a senior colonelsucceeded Boumediene after his death. Ben, 1992.14. He also demandedthe freeing of Islamists arrested since June 4, and the dropping of legalproceedings against them (14). The army responded with a warning that it would do all necessary toensure security, Abassi told supporters at the Ibn Badis Mosque at Koul:"if the army does not return to its barracks the FIS would have the rightto call for a resumption the Jihad, as in November 1954." On June 3 , heand Ben Hadj were arrested on charges of "armed conspiracy against thesecurity of the state, which carried the death penalty. At the same time,the FIS launched a general strike and campaign of mass protests in Algerianstreets. p 178.Le Jeune Independent, , no 2, 17-23, April 199 .Le Monde, May 14 and 3 , 1991.Le Monde, 1989.16 Sepbtember 1989.Le refomiisme musulman en Algerie de 1925 a 194 Ali Merad, (Paris: La Haye- Mouton, 1967).Liberation, June 1, 1991.Proces des dirigeants de l'es-FIS, K. Shura is one of the key themes of Islamistmovement. This disrupted the organizationalcapacity of the FIS to react to its leaders incarceration (15). Similarly when Shayid Soltani diedunder house arrest on April 12, 1984 twenty-five thousand people attendedhis unannounced funeral. Outside the Arabisant intelligentsia, in the universities,Islamic propaganda against "socialism" found its first audience. He blamed theauthorities for the disorders and demanded an immediate lifting of thecurfew, the abrogation of the state of siege, and reinstatement ofemployees sacked for their part in the general strike. But the Algerian state is a creation of the historic FLN of 1954-1962liberation war. Appleby, University of Chicago press, 1994. 18, 1995.L'islamisme au Maghreb, Burgat. At the same time this state is the heir to arevolution that co-opted the earlier movement for Islamic reform. Chadli's critics thus became his spokesmen on hisbehalf and could not later drop him as a liability should the FLN lose. Abassi and Ben Hadj did enjoy majority support in the Majlis-al-Shuraand at the grass roots level. The reformers exercised a stronginfluence on the nationalist Parti du Peupel Algerien (PPA) of MessaliHadj. President Mitterand suggested the European Union mighthelp these proposals by hosting some sort of gathering. WhenChadli took over after the death of Boumediene oil prices had begun to falland a new economic reality had to be faced primarily in the form of reducedsubsidies, and a retreat from socialism and progressive liberalization ofthe economy. Le Jeune Independent, 199 .6. The government however felt no call tointervene. The principal dichotomy beingbetween the puritanical and scripturalist Islam of the Ulama and theCharismatic Islam of the saints (mrabitin or marabouts), who are thedescendants of the Prophet and the Sufi orders (Tuniq).BACKGROUND The Maraboutic Islam accounted for much of the resistance from 183 to187 which was the time of the colonization war with the French. Similarly violent incidents occurred in theclashes with the left wing. Anotherdefiant soul was Malek Bennabi who formed Al-Quiyam (The Values) in 1964.Boumediene's government tried to suppress this movement in 197 , but onlysucceeded in driving it underground until shortly after his death. This meant mobilizing public opinion, intimidatingindividuals for immodest dress and sexual behavior and urging people togive up prostitution and decadent cultural imports. Again, thegovernment even permitted fundamentalist sermons to be broadcast over statetelevision and permitted the formation of new Islamist-inspired unions withinformal ties to the FIS. It was the army that set upthe Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (PRGA) in 1958. Hachani while an able politician was more of a technocrat than aleader - he could be expected to hold the party together and rebuild itsorganization. There was no violence from May 26 until theearly hours of June 4th, when the riot police used force to clear thestreets by attacking demonstrators who had been fast asleep. They set a tone that was lively andcontroversial, and their sermons tended to particularly denouncedcorruption. The high oil prices that coincided with hispresidency allowed the establishment of state industries and creation ofemployment opportunities that provided the necessary support for the rapidurbanization and the migration from rural areas. Marty & R. The FIS obeyed thepluralist constitution of 1989 as far as it created the prospect of freeelections, but there were changes were in the discourse and propaganda. ENDNOTES1. Thus the state is heirto a national revolution determined to establish sovereignty and the unityof the Algerian nation. 428-49 .The Algerian Consfitution and the Restructuringos State-Cpitalism, Hugh Roberts, IDS Bulletin 18, (October 4, 1987).Cultures et Revolution, Etienne, L'Algerie, pp 135-136.on.The Economist. Hugh Roberts, 1994.2. Le Monde, 1989.1 . (8) This creation of a religious sphere outside the influence of thegovernment was the key element of Islamic strategy - the long term goalbeing the Islamic State. In December 1974,tracts were distributed in Algiers calling for a Constituent assembly andfor Shura, or consultation. It wasalso the army general staff, under Boumediene, that rebelled against thePRGA in 1962 and set up Ben Bella in power in 1962. The army then ordered unofficial signs of FIS town halls removed,fighting flared. Hugh Roberts, 1987.5. Italso allowed him to draw support from all brands of the Islamic messagewhile maintaining popular support. This religious movementitself was based primarily in the countryside whose social structures hadbest survived the colonial impact. On the other hand the massive bureaucracy was frustrating forentrepreneurs. Their actions were both a defiance ofthe state and a demonstration of power. The Islamists then held a prayer meeting withroughly five thousand supporters. Abassi and Ben Hadj had to be removed and provoked to act in amanner that would subject them to being arrested. Within the executive branch,political primacy belongs to the armed forces. However, the FLN andthe FIS were the key opponents in the election to come, and Badis'sprevious achievements in the FLN war of independence allowed Abbasi toclaim that the FIS was the true descendant of the revolutionary party. Mohamed Benyahia, 1988.7. BIBLIOGRAPHYA Trial of Strength, Hugh Roberts, 1991, pp 144-147.Accounting for fundamentalism, ed by Martin E. This decision was made by Abassi over the protests of many of hisown party leaders. The FIS continued to avoid seeking confrontation with the state whiledeveloping what opportunities were offered to develop its presence on thenational stage. The reform movement in the Middle East called for a purification ofIslam through a return to the fundamental doctrines as contained inscripture. This year the$4.5 billion up for discussion are from commercial banks, but Algeria alsohopes for another $1 billion from the IMF and it receives $1.1 billion ayear in export credits. At a meeting sponsored by a Italian Roman Catholic group thepoliticians joined in a call to an ending to all killing, release ofpolitical prisoners and the convening of a national conference leading tofree elections. In the early 198 s, Islamists engaged heavily in hisha, or thecensoring of morals. Samai-Ourmadane.11. When three dissident Majlis al-Shuras appeared on stateTV and explained their position that Abassi was a threat to both the FISand Islam. On November 2, 1982 a left wing student was killed at AlgiersUniversity. The army rejectedhim under the cover of insulted nationalism, but truly out of the fear thatFrance no longer believes the army can win the war. Forty-two Islamists receivedprison sentences.The FIS then returned to the electoral process by submitting a list ofcandidates on November 3. The FLN has never been more than a powerless facade. At the meeting in Rome, the FIS, the FLN, and other parties pledgedrespect for political pluralism, the alternation of power, the will of thepeople, and freedom for all religions. They set up a five-mancommission to govern the country, and the legislature was shut down from1965 to 1977. The question they expected to face was whether to join a coalitiongovernment or form the main constitutional opposition to this government.Instead the FIS found itself winning 188 of 213 seats that it wouldpractically be forced to form the government. These mosques were highly dependent on localworshippers for their remuneration. (1 ) True power, however, was in the hands of two men: Abassi Madani andShaykl Ali Ben Hadj, the Imam of the El Sunna mosque. By the early 198 s over twothousand unfinished mosques were functioning as mosques except they werebeyond government control, and therefore able ignore government guidelinesand give their own sermons. This is money to which strings can and should beattached - strings that can be pulled if necessary. The government offered the citizenry no protection against the strongarm methods of FIS activists practicing moral censorship. Practical leadership was provided byAbdelkar Hachani as the president of a newly created Provisional ExecutiveBureau. High unemployment, lack of futureprospects, a social crises of male sexuality all served to enhance thetension. Streetfighting resulted which lasted more than a day and in dozens dead. Roberts, 1991.12. The religioussphere is supreme, and innovative law making by definition ruled is out. Ali Merad, 1967.3. Any such attemptcould diminish the influence of the army and reduce their materialprivileges. Hachani was released from prison on October 29,and the party expected the FIS to get the largest block of votes. The generals turned deaf ears. He procured from the Majlis, and signed himself, acommunique denouncing the conspiracy against him. Moreover, any such attempt would automatically be vetoed bythe armed forces. However here the movement floundered even thoughthere was no apparent diminution in popular discontent.THE FIS or THE Islamique du Salut The FIS was founded in February 1989, and was a mutation of heIslamist movement in Algeria. (6) Thewar of independence was popularly seen as holy struggle freeing MuslimAlgeria from domination by a non-Muslim power. Their relationshipwas complementary, with Abassi as the political leader and Ben Hadj as thereligious leader. The Chadli regime promptly clamped down by arresting sometwenty-nine Islamists. Ultimately an agreement was reached with theGhozali government. Etienne, L'Algerie, Cultures et Revolution.8. (7) One peculiar feature in the law however was that as long as newmosques were unfinished the state claimed no authority over them . The army induced Chadli to step down and suspendedthe electoral process.CONCLUSION Since then Algeria has lived in an atmosphere of bloody civil strifethat has already claimed close to 4 , lives. Theissue of Shura provided the newly forming Islamic movement with supportfrom a broad base of society. Within weeks of the electionHachan was arrested, the FIS dissolved and the initiative passed to thosewho believed that armed struggle was the only way. p. In 1974 Shaykh Solatani in exile in Morocco published a tractattacking the regime's socialistic element as the expression of"destructive principles, imported from abroad leading to the degredation ofmorals" - especially in regard to the position of women. The FLN was thus informally governed bythe norms of the village or tribal assembly, and this is sill true today. Mohamed Benyahia, (Paris: Editions de L'Arcantere, 1988) pp 5 -51, 1988.Le Archives de la revolution Algerienne ed Mohammed Habri, (Paris, Les Editotions, Jeune Afriqe, 1981) pp 1 1-193.Le Front Islamique du Salut, Samai-Ourmadane. Chadli by announcing elections had made himself secure on thedemocratic flank and forced his critics within the government to appeal topopular audiences. The Economist, 1995. Liberation, 1991.16. Ben, (Algiers), 1992. Another ground for Islamic discontent was with Ministry of Religion.After independence many mosques were built in Algeria. Alissa Khelladi, 1992.13. Chadli's goal since his party could not win the assembly was to hopefor a hung parliament which would allow Chadli to maintain in power asmediator. Again two FISdemonstrations were banned on September 3 . A year agothe IMF awarded Algeria $1 billion on stand-by, and the Paris club ofgovernment creditors rescheduled loans worth $4.5 billions. p 162.La Conjouration au Pouvoir . Soon other parties were calling for early presidential elections andthreatening a one day general strike on the issue.
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