Independence of the Greater Maghrib: Islam and Arab Nationalism, 1900-1960s

Hibba Abugideiri

The question of Islam's role in the nationalist movements that swept over the Maghribi region, that is, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco collectively, on the eve of independence in the early 1900s bespeaks, from the onset, of a complex interplay of issues. Whether it be the differing ideological worldviews peddled by the Maghribi nationalists or the impact of an enduring French imperialism, these Maghribi countries witnessed the double-edged challenge of both ousting an oppressive foreign power while creating an alternate vision of state more in tune with their collective Arab identity. The role of Islam within this equation of indigenous political leadership is one that evolved according to the nationalist vision of state, which itself developed over time and in response to certain shifts in power. As interactive ideologies within the nationalist struggle, Islam and nationalism did not initially share the antagonistic relationship that is often asserted, for the Maghribi nationalists themselves were experimenting with new notions of Western political thought, against a backdrop of a rich Islamic past. Gradually, however, as nationalism became more embedded in Maghribi soil and was more highly developed by the secular modernists, the Islam-nationalism dialectic took hold of the movement. The victory of the secular nationalists upon independence demonstrated the outcome of this dialectic, where, in short, Islam was subverted. Thus, notwithstanding the context-specific differentiation between Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, the religious component of the Maghribi nationalist movement in these countries can generally be said to have played the pivotal role of an ideological cohesive and mass mobilizer in the initial stages, while the post-independence era saw Islam as a political legitimizer of nationalist policy formulation. Throughout the genesis of the nationalist movement, Islam was consistently invoked as a powerful tool of identity-building.

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