Lalla Fatma N’Soumer (1830–1863): Spirituality, Resistance and Womanly Leadership in Colonial Algeria

Abstract

Lalla Fatma N'Soumer (1830-1863) is one of the major heroines of Algerian resistance to the French colonial enterprise in the region of Kabylia. Her life and personality have been surrounded by myths and mysteries. Although her name is mentioned in colonial chronicles recording the conquest of Algeria, her exact role in leading a movement of local resistance to the French army doesn't seem to be very clear. This paper aims at shedding light on this exceptional Berber woman through the analysis of French colonial sources describing these military campaigns-despite their obvious bias-and later secondary sources. This paper focuses on the spiritual dimension which has been somehow overlooked in the existing literature. It precisely describes her family background whereby her ancestry goes back to a marabout lineage affiliated with the Rah . māniyya sufi order. It argues that her level of education in spiritual and religious matters was probably higher than what had been so far assumed. This article discusses how this spiritual aspect helps explain the tremendous popularity she enjoyed among her people in Kabylia, where she has been considered almost a saint.

Sufi Feminism

“…It could be argued that the introduction of colonialism did not provide opportunities for Muslim women to be empowered, nor did it bring any special improvements to their conditions in Africa. On the contrary, some studies have found that colonial rule contributed to the marginalization of women and their exclusion from positions of power that were eventually offered to men (Touati 2018). It was thus unsurprising that colonial authorities ignored women's political participation in the precolonial period.…”

“…Studies have attempted to shed light on this exceptional Berber woman by analyzing French colonial sources that describe these military campaigns, despite their apparent bias, as well as subsequent secondary sources (Touati 2018). In the same year that the French colonized Algeria, she was born in a village near Ain El Hammam in the Kabyle region.…”