The Islamic Conference 1936
1- Introduction
Colonized Algeria in 1930s, knew an extensive political activity represented by different bodies and their different activities. With the arrival of the people's public front in France and its seeming early receptivity to the demands of Algeria's political elite, which convened for the first time in a historical gathering held in the capital in June 1936, known as the Islamic Conference.
2 - Conditions of the meeting:
The Islamic Conference was held on June 07, 1936 in Algiers, in the Majestic Cinema (currently Atlas) in the Bab El-Oued, under special internal and external conditions.
a- internal conditions
- The establishment of The Association of Algerian Muslim Ulama in 1931
- The establishment of the Algerian Communist Party in 1936
- The role of the Elected Muslim Algerian Federation and their success stood out during the Municipality elections in 1934
- The popular front now ruling party, and proposing reform projects, including The Blum Viollette Project.
b- external conditions:
- Holding several Islamic conferences, such as: The Caliphate Conference in Cairo, the Conference of the Muslims of Europe in Geneva, the Islamic Conference in Jerusalem.
-The participation of some Algerians at these conferences, such as Ibrahim Atfaich, who participated at the Islamic Conference in Jerusalem.
- The influence of Emir Chakib Arselan's beliefs, who used to urge all Muslims to take care of and protect the interests of the Islamic country.
3 - Participating figures:
For the first time since the foundation of political parties in Algeria, the latter would assemble under unified demands. The conference was attended by most of the political currents from right to left, with the exception of The Étoile Nord-Africaine who was located in France, with the participation of scholars, marxists, legislators, and religious figures.
According to historical accounts, Constantine initiated the conference at the invitation of Abdel Hamid Ben Badis and Dr. Ben Jelloul. As a result, they came together with Al Bachir Al-Ibrahimi, Al-Tayyib Al-Okbi, Dr. Saadan, Ferhat Abbas, Dr. Bin Al-Tohamy, and other leaders of the participating parties.
Dr. Ben Jeloul, representing Constantine and a leader in the federation of elected Algerian Muslims, presided over the conference's activities. Their office comprised representatives from Oran, Constantine, the capital Algiers.
- The Conference’s demands:
- The conference’ works were conducted in one day. The morning session included opening speeches, panelists, whereas the afternoon session was committed to approving the Islamic Conference demands that had been agreed upon by the participating parties. Every political party would defend their demands, as deputies wished to apply the Viollette Project, and the Scholars (Ulemas) defend Islam and the Arabic Language, whereas communists demand equality in rights with the French. Therefore, the Conference demands, in their final form, expressing all participants’ opinions, can be summarized as follows:
- Canceling all Algerians-related transactions
- Canceling military courts and granting pardon to the convicted of the Constantine accidents in 1934
- Establishing equality between French and Muslim deputies
- Considering Arabic an official language in addition to French
- Liberating the Islamic religion from the French government’s authority
4- The conference’s results:
After the works of the session were concluded, the parties agreed to form a delegation representing the conference to travel to Paris. The purpose behind this travel was to put forth the demands of the government before the popular front government. The delegation, presided by Cheikh Ben Badis and Dr. Ben Djaloul on July, 23rd, 1976, went to France and met with the French President “Leon Blum” and handed him, what is today called “the Charters of the Muslim Algerian People's Demands,” to which the President promised to study.
After the Islamic Conference delegation returned from Paris, a popular meeting was convened on August 2, 1936 at the Municipal Stadium to present the outcomes of their mission in Paris. During the meeting, attendees listened to various speeches, the most notable of which were those of Abdel Hamid bin Badis and Messali Al Hajj, both of whom were prominent in the assembly. Although the Popular Front did not keep their promises, the meeting was regarded as critical towards its achievement in uniting the Algerian national movement for the first time. Although the second Islamic conference was convened in July 1937, it was unimportant since it just rehashed the requests of the first.
