Ancient Competencies

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 Ottoman period

Hocine al-Wartilani

Ouartilani_Hocine.jpg

Sufi Master, Intellectual and Erudite Traveler

Specialist in Islamic theology, geography and ethnology

Author of Al-Rihla - (1713-1779)

Origins & Education

Hocine al-Wartilani was born in 1713 in Beni Ourtilane, in present-day Sétif province, a region that constituted during the Ottoman era a major center of spirituality and religious learning. This Kabyle territory, renowned for its Islamic learning centers, shaped his first spiritual and intellectual education.

Family and social context: Born into a pious family deeply rooted in Islamic tradition, he was immersed from childhood in an environment conducive to spiritual development and the study of religious sciences.

His initial education took place in the various zawiyas of Kabylia, veritable popular universities of the era where traditional Islamic sciences were transmitted: Quranic exegesis, Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), theology ('aqida), and Sufi mysticism (tasawwuf).

These religious educational establishments, characteristic of medieval and modern North Africa, provided him with a solid foundation in Islamic sciences while developing his taste for spiritual quest and universal knowledge.

Vocation for travel: Animated by a thirst for knowledge characteristic of the great scholars of his era, he undertook very early his first peregrinations across the Muslim world to enrich his knowledge and perfect his spiritual formation.

Career

Geographical itinerary: Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Mecca and the entire Middle East - A journey of 25 years of exploration and learning.

His travels, true rihla in the Islamic tradition of initiatory journey, brought him to the great ulama of his time. He was deeply initiated into the Sufi path, acquiring spiritual mastery that earned him recognition from his peers.

Status as spiritual master: He became one of the recognized masters of the Sufi path and received the ijaza (authorization) to initiate novices and transmit mystical teaching, testimony to his high spiritual realization.

His peregrinations opened his eyes to the diversity of customs and traditions of Muslim peoples, but also to the dogmatic disputes that traversed Islam of his era: tensions between Ahl Es Sunna Wa Al Jama'a, Shiites, Sufis and Mu'tazilites.

Parallel to his religious formation, he developed a marked interest in other disciplines: philosophy, sociology, history and geography. This multidisciplinary approach considerably enriched the scope of his writings.

Intellectual network: Throughout his life, he maintained rich and dense epistolary correspondence with men of science and letters he encountered, constituting a true network of intellectual exchanges across the Muslim world.

1768: Completion of Al-Rihla - Literary monument of 900 folios written by his hand, fruit of three expeditions of 25 years to Mecca and the Middle East

Distinctions, Impact & Influence

Al-Wartilani's major work, Al-Rihla, constitutes an exceptional testimony to the 18th-century Muslim world and represents a unique contribution to Islamic travel literature.

Literary innovation: Pioneer of written reportage with critical analysis of facts and situations, al-Wartilani confronted his observations with the teachings of the ulama of his time.

Content of Al-Rihla: This dense work harmoniously blends religion, geography and ethnology. It offers precious insight into Islam and the practice of Sufism, which he conceived resolutely in service of society.

"Know that the noblest and highest sainthood is that which takes charge of the concerns and preoccupations of Muslims. It is integrated into the prophetic heritage on earth, in the defense of religion, the safeguarding of the Path, the mastery of knowledge and work."
- Hocine al-Wartilani, Al-Rihla

Impact on colonial research: Al-Wartilani's work paradoxically became a reference document for the French colonizer in understanding Algerian society, testimony to the ethnographic richness of his observations.

Intellectual heritage: Beyond Al-Rihla, he was an excellent commentator of several texts of his era, contributing to the development of exegesis and textual criticism in the Maghrebi space.

Vision of social Sufism: Al-Wartilani advocated for a Sufism engaged in social concerns, breaking with purely contemplative mysticism to embrace an active and socially responsible spirituality.

Death and posterity: He died in 1779, leaving to posterity the image of a scholarly traveler who delivered invaluable testimonies about his era, building a bridge between classical Islamic tradition and the transformations of the modern world.

References and Bibliographic Sources:

"Erudite traveler and spiritual master, privileged witness of 18th-century Islam"