Khaled ibn Hashimi ibn Hajj Abd al Qadir (1875 – January 1936) was the grandson of the military leader Abd al Qadir and was for a time a prominent opponent of the nature of French colonial rule in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Early years

Khaled ibn Hashimi was born in 1875 in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, where he grew up. He studied in Paris and went on to become an officer in the French army. He served with the army in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

.J. Ruedy, Modern Algeria: The Origins and Development of a Nation, (Bloomington, 2005), p. 109.

Politics

Khaled ibn Hashimi was well known in Algeria thanks to his grandfather's protracted struggle with the French, and he was commonly referred to as the Emir. In 1913, he signed the program of the Young Algerians. He went on to help establish the Union Franco-Algérienne in 1914. Khaled continued to serve in the French army, and fought in the trenches during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

until he was struck down with

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

.L. Zack, "Early origins of Islamic activism in Algeria: the case of Khaled in post-World War I Algiers", Journal of North African Studies, 11:2 (2006). After the Jonnart Law was passed in 1919, Khaled split with other members of the Union Franco-Algérienne such an Benthai, on the grounds that the Jonnart Law was insufficient. In the elections that followed in the same year, Khaled won a major victory. However he was feared by the colons who got the result overturned and rigged the election that followed in 1920. By 1923, Khaled was becoming frustrated with French intransigence, and was becoming isolated from his allies who feared his personal influence. Further, he had built up considerable debts which left him vulnerable to attack. The French government offered to pay off these debts if he would go into exile. He accepted this offer, withdrew from the election he was contesting, closed down his personal publication, and went into exile in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

in 1924. From there and from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he continued to pursue his political program, but his influence declined.J. Ruedy, Modern Algeria: The Origins and Development of a Nation, (Bloomington, 2005), p. 131. Over time, Khaled moved increasingly towards more secular and nationalist politics, appearing alongside communists and others. When Khaled died in January 1936, there was an outpouring of grief in Algeria. He became, for many, a symbol of Algerian nationalism. However, there has been some controversy over whether Khaled can be defined as a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

, due to his demands for Algerians to be able to maintain their

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic identity and his association with secular nationalists in his later years, or whether he was an assimilationist, due to his demands for reform within the French system.

References

{{Authority control 1875 births 1936 deaths French Army officers 20th-century Algerian people Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire People of French Algeria French military personnel of World War I