Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Said Ibrahim Ben Sultan Said Ali El Maceli Al Ba'alawi (17 April 1911 – 24 December 1975) was a Comorian politician. He served as a member of the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

from 1959 until 1970, and as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the Comoros from 2 April 1970 until 16 July 1972. He was the son of Sultan Said Ali Bin Sultan Said Omar, Sultan of Grande Comore.

Biography

Ibrahim was born in

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

in 1911. His family included other Comorian politicians like

Said Mohamed Jaffar Prince Said Mohamed Jaffar (), full name Said Mohamed Jaffar El Amjad, (April 14, 1918 in Comoros – October 22, 1993) was the second President of Comoros ''(État comorien)'' from 3 August 1975 until 3 January 1976, as well as chief minister o ...

, Said Atthoumani, and

Said Ali Kemal Said Ali Kemal (1938 – 13 September 2020) was a Comorian politician. He was the son of Prince Saïd Ibrahim Ben Ali and the grandson of Sultan Said Ali bin Said Omar of Grande Comore. Biography Kemal did his Quranic studies in the Comoros, then ...

. Said Ibrahim was educated at the

Myre de Villers Myre refers to the following: Places *Mire or quagmire, a geographical wetland or metaphorical equivalent * Myre, Andøy, a village in Andøy municipality, Nordland county, Norway *Myre, Øksnes Myre is the administrative centre of Øksnes Muni ...

School in

, with the view that he would be part of the local administration of the Comoros. He initially became an interpreter, and in 1938, after several requests, he obtained the post as Head of Administration to Grande Comore, then later the High Commissioner to Madagascar. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1946 he was appointed Governor. He made a pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, remaining in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

where he met

King Farouk Farouk I (; ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936 and reigning until his ...

, and visiting

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

. In 1947/1948 he sought to organize an

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

struggle against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. In 1951 he stood down, arguably to devote himself entirely to politics. He became the leader of the opposition Parti Blanc (White Party), later reconstituted as the Democratic Assembly of the Comoran People ( Rassemblement Démocratique du Peuple Comorien—RDPC), in league with the Comorienne Agreement Party (CEP) of his half brother Prince Said Houssein, and in agreement with the Party of General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

. He was a member of the

. Finally, he was appointed Minister of Finance from 1957 to 1958. In 1959, Comoros got two seats in the French National Assembly, while remaining a single electoral district, and in 1962 and 1967, he teamed up with Mohamed Ahmed in elections. From 1958 to 1970 he was elected and reelected president of the Territorial Assembly and the Chamber of Deputies of the Comoros. After the death of Sheikh Mohamed Said, he became for a time the strongest politician in the Comoros. He was elected President of the Governing Council on 2 April 1970, and was re-elected on 28 June 1971. Amid calls from all sides of the political elite demanding independence, he maintained that there was "no political independence without economic independence" which implied cooperation between the Comoros and France. In 1971 the Legislature was hostile to him and he sought and obtained from France the dissolution of the Legislature, but the new assembly sought to overthrow the government in June 1972. He died in 1975 in Mecca after his pilgrimage. King

Faisal of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 14 April 1906 – 25 March 1975) was King of Saudi Arabia from 2 November 1964 until #Assassination and aftermath, his assassination in 1975. Before his ascension, he served as Cr ...

- a close friend of the prince - proposed to the prince's family to bury his body in Mecca or Medina. However, his two elder sons (Prince Said Ali Kemal and Prince Naçreddine) preferred to bury their father in the Comoros among his people and therefore King Faisal arranged for his body to be taken back to the Comoros via the King's private jet. Said Ibrahim was buried in his home city Iconi. He has sons and daughters who are well known politicians, ministers and lawyers: - Prince Said Ali Kemal, Prince Fahmi Said Ibrahim, Prince Mourad Said Ibrahim, Prince Faiz Said Ibrahim and Prince Moncef Said Ibrahim, Princess Sitina-Fatma (Lily), Princess Nourou, Princess Malika, Princess Hanazad, Princess Samira and Princess Thoueibat.

Legacy

Said Ibrahim is commemorated by the

Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport (, , AIMPSI) is an international airport serving Moroni in Comoros. It is named after Prince Saïd Ibrahim. It is located north of the village of Hahaya. Airlines and destinations ;Notes : Turkish A ...

, the international airport serving Moroni, capital of

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

. The Prince Said Ibrahim

Mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

Ngazidja Grande Comore (; ) is an island in Comoros off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, which is ...

, Comoros, is named after him.Photo: three-foiled arches at Prince Said Ibrahim mosque
, accessed 2009-07-01

References

Bibliography

* at Comores-Online.com (in French) -

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Said Ibrahim Ben 1911 births 1975 deaths Comorian politicians People from Antananarivo Prime ministers of the Comoros Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic