Islam and the Métropole: A Case Study of Religion and Rhetoric in Algeria

286 Pages·2009·3.02 MB·English

by  Ben Hardman

Islam and the Métropole
SERIES VII
THEOLOGY AND RELIGION

VOL. 276

PETER LANG
New York ! Washington, D.C./Baltimore ! Bern
Frankfurt am Main ! Berlin ! Brussels ! Vienna ! Oxford
Ben Hardman

Islam and the Métropole

A Case Study of Religion
and Rhetoric in Algeria

PETER LANG
New York ! Washington, D.C./Baltimore ! Bern
Frankfurt am Main ! Berlin ! Brussels ! Vienna ! Oxford
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hardman, Ben.
Islam and the Métropole: a case study of religion
and rhetoric in Algeria / Ben Hardman.
p. cm. — (American university studies VII: Theology and religion; v. 276)
1. Islam—Algeria—History. 2. Algeria—Civilization—French influences.
3. Sufism—Algeria. 4. French language—Algeria. I. Title.
BP64.A5H366 297.0965’0904—dc22 2009016696
ISBN 978-1-4331-0271-4
ISSN 0740-0446

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de/.

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council of Library Resources.

© 2009 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.

Printed in Germany
This book is dedicated to my mother, Helen M. Hardman
and to the memory of my father, Averell L. Hardman

CONTENTS
Introduction....................................................................................................ix

1. Baraka and the ‘Ujâq..................................................................................1

2. Religion and Revolution: Ideology from the Rive Nord...........................19

3. Messianic Positivism and the Maraboutic State........................................41

4. Algérie Française and the Teleological Railroad.....................................73

5. Ethnicity and the Locomotive Class.......................................................105

6. Islam Progressiste and the Gnoseology of State.....................................159

Conclusion..................................................................................................199

Notes...........................................................................................................205

Bibliography...............................................................................................241

Index...........................................................................................................251

INTRODUCTION
T
his book is an exploration of the colonial policies of France regarding
Islam and the effects they had on religion in the early days of Algerian
independence. France justified its mission civilisatrice (civilizing mission) in
Algeria on the basis of a theory of universal social evolution that specifically
targeted Islam as a defining point of a less advanced civilization that could
profit from the knowledge and expertise their presence could offer. The
ensuing opposition of “Islam” and “Progress” in this ideology that informed
the official colonial policy toward Islam combined with its incumbent social
pressure over time to create nearly insurmountable fissures in the relation
between religion and the state in the early years of Algerian independence
that were exacerbated by the government’s inability to reconcile their
attempt to create a progressive state while simultaneously recovering their
lost sense of cultural authenticity.
France, as a colonial power, had the unique legacy of the 1789 revolution
that adopted the ternary slogan of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” as an
expression of its core values. Although this slogan became the ideological1
mantra of French administration for generations to come, all three of these
principles were difficult if not impossible to maintain in a situation of
colonial dominance. Even so, the revolution was not a mere modification of
political regime: It also reflected a transformation in the philosophical
perceptions of the nature of the world inspiring revolutionaries to seek the
formation of a society in accordance with this change. Following this logic,
the old order, including its religion had to change. This dynamic would
certainly have a direct effect on French governance in Algeria, coming, as it
did, long before the questions raised by the watershed revolution were
resolved.
The colonial project was rationalized as part of France’s unique
“mission civilisatrice” (civilizing mission), a rough Gallic equivalent to the
“White Man’s Burden” of Anglophone empires theoretically impelling
superior nations to share their supposed advantages with the less advanced
peoples of the world. The so-called civilizing mission in Algeria included an
element that envisioned an eventual unification of humanity that had hitherto
been divided artificially by religious beliefs that, to their way of thinking,
had no real basis in nature and served mainly as an impediment to the
establishment of the perfected society to come. In this sense, the governance
of a state takes on a teleological element as it seeks to direct an eventual
transformation of man and society.