Abdelhamid Ben Badis

He gave colonial Algeria a clear cultural and religious identity — "Islam is my religion, Arabic my language, Algeria my homeland" — and shaped generations of teachers and nationalists.

His Ulema reform still shapes Algerian debates on schooling, language, and national identity.

Born in Constantine into a learned family, Abdelhamid Ben Badis became the leading reformist scholar of colonial Algeria. He founded the Association of Algerian Muslim Ulama in 1931 and built schools, journals, and study circles across the country to revive Arabic, Islam, and a sense of shared Algerian belonging.

His famous verse "The Algerian people are Muslim, and to Arabism they belong" became a rallying cry for the national movement.