Algerian Radio
The Rector of the Great Mosque of Algiers, Sheikh Mohamed Maamoun El-Kacimi El-Hassani, emphasized this Wednesday in Algiers that the national religious reference is the result of cumulative historical maturity stretching across centuries.
Speaking at the opening of a national symposium titled "Prominent Figures of Algeria: Our Heritage in the Biographies of Our Greats" at the Cultural Center of the Great Mosque of Algiers, the Rector stated: "The national religious reference we take pride in today was not formed in a passing moment nor born as a response to a political or geopolitical emergency. Rather, it is the outcome of historical maturity built over centuries of education, authorship, spiritual purification, teaching, and social framing."
Sheikh El-Kacimi El-Hassani added that "the features of the national religious reference were shaped in circles of knowledge, in schools of jurisprudence, exegesis, and language, and in the mosques of cities and the zaouias of villages."
In this regard, he explained that the efforts of scholars "collaborated generation after generation to establish a balanced scientific method that combines text with understanding, jurisprudence with its purposes, and knowledge with its function in preserving social order and spiritual and intellectual stability."
The Rector further remarked that Algeria’s scholars "were not isolated individuals in the history of knowledge, but rather connected links in a chain of scientific construction that shaped the personality of Algerian society, defined the features of its religiosity, and established a religious consciousness rooted in knowledge." He highlighted the importance of examining prominent models such as the scholar Imam Abdelrahmane El-Thaâlibi and the scholar Sheikh Abu Al-Abbas Ahmed bin Yousef El-Meliani.
Discussing the symposium, El-Kacimi El-Hassani noted that it "comes as a response to an urgent scientific need to re-read the heritage of Algeria’s scholars through a balanced lens that does justice to the dimensions of their contributions and frees their biographies from the narrow stereotypes that have reduced some figures to a single aspect of their scientific presence."
This scientific gathering, the Rector added, represents a call for "responsible dialogue" among researchers and for a "sober reading" to resume the process of investigating national heritage. It aims to open new horizons for connecting this heritage to contemporary thought and its issues, and serves as a step toward strengthening academic research and encouraging critical studies of Algerian figures and their works. This, in turn, contributes to integrating this heritage into educational and research spaces and deepening awareness of the national scientific identity.
Organized as part of the celebrations for Knowledge Day and Heritage Month, the symposium featured a series of interventions and scientific research papers that shed light on the intellectual, religious, and philosophical heritage of prominent figures. The event concluded with a ceremony honoring the participants and distributing certificates in recognition of their intellectual contributions.
