Umar al-Arbawi
- Died
- 1405 AH
- Born in
- -
Umar al-Arbawi (c. 1324–1405 AH / 1907–1984 CE) was an Algerian Islamic reformist scholar, educator, and prominent member of the Association of Algerian Muslim Scholars who remained active in educational and religious revival after Algerian independence .
Early Life and Background
He was born as al-Hamlawi al-Arbawi—with al-Hamlawi serving as his official administrative name, though he was widely known as Umar—around 1324 AH (1907 CE) in the town of Sidi Aissa, currently in M'Sila Province . He was raised in a religious family belonging to the local al-Arsh al-Ahmar clan; his father, Salih ibn Abd al-Karim al-Arbawi, was an instructor in traditional Quranic schools (kuttabs), and his mother was Fatima bint al-Qasim .
Reformist Activity and Teaching
Al-Arbawi was strongly influenced by the reformist movement of Shaykh al-Tayyib al-Uqbi and frequented the reformist hub Nadi al-Taraqqi (The Progress Club) in Algiers during the late 1940s, where he engaged with leading figures of the Algerian reform movement, including Muhammad al-Bashir al-Ibrahimi, al-Arbi al-Tabbasi, and Abd al-Latif Sultani . Following World War II, he formally joined the teaching ranks of the Association of Algerian Muslim Scholars .
He established and directed several Arabic schools across the capital region, including an early school in Bir Khadem inaugurated in the presence of al-Tayyib al-Uqbi, followed by another school in al-Sahaoula, where he married around 1949 . He subsequently served as a teacher and preacher at the Tahdhibiyya School in Saint-Eugène (now Bologhine), and later delivered the Friday sermon at a mosque in Belouizdad (later renamed the al-Arbi al-Tabbasi Mosque) . During this period, he presided over the Algiers branch of the Association of Algerian Muslim Scholars and published numerous articles in the association's organ, al-Basa'ir .
Imprisonment and Later Career
In 1956, during the Algerian War of Independence, French colonial authorities surrounded the Belouizdad mosque while al-Arbawi was delivering the Friday sermon and ordered him off the pulpit . He refused and completed the sermon, after which he was taken into custody, interrogated, held in solitary confinement for a week, and subsequently transferred to Berrouaghia prison . There he was detained alongside fellow scholars such as Ahmad Sahnoun and Misbah al-Huwaydhaq, and together they taught inmates the fundamentals of Arabic and Islamic studies; during his incarceration, he also drafted a notebook on Quranic exegesis (tafsir) .
Following national independence, al-Arbawi participated in the founding and leadership of Jam'iyyat al-Qiyam (The Values Association) in 1383 AH (1963 CE), contributing to its secretariat and writing for its journal al-Tahdhib al-Islami . In the late 1970s, when emerging armed groups sought his religious backing or acquiescence for armed insurrection, al-Arbawi rejected their methods and opposed political violence . He also authored Kitab al-Tawhid al-Musamma al-Takhalli 'an al-Taqlid wa al-Tahalli bil-Asl al-Mufid, an exposition of Sunni theology that was reviewed and endorsed for publication by the High Islamic Council under Shaykh Ahmad Hamani, as well as the socio-political revivalist treatise al-I'tisam bil-Islam .
Death
Al-Arbawi died on the morning of Sunday, 9 Rabi' al-Awwal 1405 AH (2 December 1984 CE), after a prolonged illness, at nearly eighty years of age . His funeral in El Harrach drew thousands of mourners who accompanied the procession on foot from his residence in al-Manzar al-Jamil to the Sidi Rzin cemetery, where he had requested to be buried in accordance with the simplicity of its unadorned graves .
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List of Works
al-I'tisam bil-Islam (Adherence to Islam) is an Islamic reformist and socio-political treatise conceived as a call to Islamic unity and revival. The work addresses the political and social decline experienced by Muslims after the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate, while examining the Algerian Revolution to show how religious faith and solidarity sustained the struggle. It evaluates the challenges facing the modern Muslim world and urges intellectual diligence, scientific inquiry, and adherence to foundational Islamic principles.
Kitab al-Tawhid al-Musamma al-Takhalli an al-Taqlid wa al-Tahalli bil-Asl al-Mufid is a treatise on Islamic creed and monotheism compiled from lessons delivered to students. Grounded in the Quran, the Sunnah, and the creed of the righteous predecessors, the book uses scriptural proofs and decisive arguments to equip Muslim youth with firm belief and counter post-independence ideological and moral challenges.