Min Ajl al-Taghyir

Min Ajl al-Taghyir (من أجل التغيير, "For the Sake of Change") is a collection of political, cultural, and sociological essays by the Algerian thinker Malik Bennabi (1323–1393 AH / 1905–1973 CE), published posthumously within his series Mushkilat al-Hadarah ("Problems of Civilization") Min Ajl al-Taghyir+1.

Background and Compilation

The essays in the book were written in French by Bennabi during the 1960s, commenting on contemporary developments during the immediate post-independence period when Algeria was establishing its national institutions and international presence following the end of French colonial rule Min Ajl al-Taghyir. The collection serves as a sequel and completion to his earlier work Bayna al-Rashad wa-al-Tih (Between Guidance and Wandering), which brought together articles Bennabi had contributed to the French-language weekly newspaper La Révolution Africaine Min Ajl al-Taghyir.

The original French articles were gathered under the title Pour changer l'Algérie (من أجل تغيير الجزائر) through the efforts of the Algerian writer Noureddine Boukrouh Min Ajl al-Taghyir. To produce an Arabic edition of the remaining uncollected 1960s articles, Omar Meskawi—the trustee of Bennabi's intellectual estate—commissioned Dr. Bassam Baraka, professor of French literature and linguistics at the Lebanese University, to translate them, while Meskawi personally translated three of the essays Min Ajl al-Taghyir.

Themes and Content

The book addresses the challenges of national reconstruction, governance, and cultural decolonization in post-colonial Algeria Min Ajl al-Taghyir+1. Bennabi analyzes the disconnect between political leadership and intellectual thought, critiquing superficial political sloganeering and highlighting the necessity of an organic link between ideas and social reality Min Ajl al-Taghyir+1. He discusses contemporary ideological currents—such as Marxism and socialism—and stresses that genuine societal transformation requires addressing the underlying cultural and psychological dimensions of civilizational change rather than merely importing foreign models or adopting technocratic measures Min Ajl al-Taghyir+1.

Publication History

The first Arabic edition of Min Ajl al-Taghyir was published in 1995 CE (1415 AH) jointly by Dar al-Fikr al-Mu'asir in Beirut and Dar al-Fikr in Damascus Min Ajl al-Taghyir. In the preface, Meskawi noted that following the completion of this volume, he transferred the translation and publication rights entrusted to him under Bennabi's handwritten will to the author's daughter, Rahma Bennabi Min Ajl al-Taghyir.