Confronting the Cultural and Intellectual Claims of Colonialism in the Poetry of Moḥammed al-Bashir al-Ibrahimi: A Critical Reading of “Iftira Mustashriq”

Abstract

This paper seeks to probe the intellectual and cultural contours that lend distinction to the writings of Sheikh Moḥammad al-Bashir al-Ibrahimi, particularly those composed as rejoinders to the spurious claims advanced by French colonial discourse—claims that endeavored to erode Algeria’s deep-rooted cultural, intellectual, and civilizational legacy. Al-Ibrahimi poetic oeuvre reveals a constellation of thematic intentions, stylistic markers, and purposeful aesthetic choices that firmly situate him among the most resolute guardians of national identity and its foundational constituents. His poetry becomes a vessel through which he articulates his vision, urging steadfast adherence to Algeria’s Arab essence, its Islamic heritage, and its linguistic sovereignty, while resisting all attempts to efface or distort its identity. A contemplative reading of his poems discloses a sustained preoccupation with questions orbiting the intellectual and cultural being of the Algerian nation. Indeed, Al-Ibrahimi often dedicates an entire poem to confronting whoever presumes to compromise Algeria’s dignity or diminish its historical stature—a tendency exemplified in his poem “Iftira Mustashriq” which this study attempts to illuminate through a close, critical engagement.