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Humble in Victory Dignified in Defeat
Compiled by Khusthar Jamal
The French offered Abd-al-Khader wealth and a guard of honour if he acknowledged their rule in Algeria, but he turned them down.
Abd-al-Khader was an Arab of Algeria who was born in 1807. He was a man of remarkable character. He had a fine, graceful physique and was gifted with a body of great strength and endurance. He was unsurpassed in courage, profoundly learned, and had high standards of duty and honour. As a young man of 26, he left his life of study and religious meditation to lead his people as commander-in-chief, against the French invaders, and for 14 years tried to free Algeria from foreign rule, and form a great Arab nation.
Alone, or with a few horsemen, he would appear in some remote parts of his country, or in the Sahara to rally thousands to aid him in his fight against the invaders. When the French expected an attack from their rear, he would suddenly appear in their front to lead the attack against the enemy soldiers. He could shoot accurately while standing on his black Arab horse, with lightning speed. At other times, he would enter a town and exhort his people to rise in defence of their country and Islam. He treated his prisoners as guests sending them money, clothes and food. It is related that once some French women were captured and brought to him. He immediately set them free and exclaimed in anger to his people, “Lions attack strong animals; jackals fall upon the weak.”
The French had limitless resources under their command. An army of 100,000 disciplined French troops was sent to Algeria to overcome Abd-al-Khader and his Arab forces. Even then, he did not lose heart. His trust in Allah was complete. Alone, he wandered through the deserts and sometimes with a few of his soldiers accomp-anying him. And, such was the fear of his name that the French had to keep a large army on foot to capture him.
Finally, he realised that he could not overcome the overwhelming odds that were set against him by his enemies, and in 1847, this brave man surrendered, on condition that he and his family should be free to live in Alexandria in exile. But, the French never fulfilled their promise to him and he was taken as a prisoner and kept in France for many years. He resigned himself to his fate, as was his nature, humble in victory and dignified in defeat. The French offered him wealth and a guard of honour if he acknowledged their rule in Algeria, but he turned them down, demanding that France redeem the pledge that was made to him. In 1852, Louis Napoleon saw that this was done and he was set free to live his life as a free man.
In the year 1860, the Turkish soldiers in Damascus set out to fight against the Christian rebels of Damascus, where Abd-al-Khader was then living. With the help of some Algerian soldiers he saved the lives of 15,000 Christians and from that time, honours and distinctions were heaped upon him. He did not care about them. He said that he had saved the lives of ordinary citizens. He settled down in Damascus and lived there until his death in 1883.
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