An Algerian Advocate of Dialogue: Sheikh Mahfoud Nahnah

By Greg Noakes

After two and a half years of violence and political stalemate, there appears to be gradual movement in Algeria toward a settlement of the low-level civil war between the military-backed regime and Islamist militants. Algerian President Liamine Zeroual has overcome hard-liners in his own government to call for dialogue and national reconciliation, and is conducting ongoing talks with leaders of various opposition parties. Abassi Madani and Ali Belhaj, leaders of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) who were jailed following civil disturbances in June 1991, were released to house arrest in early September after they formally renounced violence and called for dialogue with the government.

The toll of the conflict has been heavy. The number of dead is now estimated at 10,000, the already stagnant economy has been weakened further, and the Algerian people have sustained considerable social dislocation and emotional distress. Few observers believe Algeria's political, economic and social problems are over, but the prospects for a true national dialogue and reconciliation have produced the first glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak situation.

One of the earliest and most consistent advocates of dialogue in Algeria is Sheikh Mahfoud Nahnah, leader of the Islamist Hamas party. Although his party's vote totals in Algerian elections have been marginal, Nahnah remains an important figure in Algerian politics because of his position as a moderate Islamist, his perspicuity and his willingness to engage in dialogue.

Unlike many leaders in the Algerian Islamic movement who have technical or liberal arts backgrounds, Nahnah pursued a classical Islamic education, having studied tafsir, the science of commentary on the Qur'an, and sirah, the study of the life of Prophet Muhammad. He has been active in the fields of education and social welfare, first through the Islamic Call League of Sheikhs Abd al-Latif Soltani and Ahmad Sahnoun, then through his own Association of Guidance and Reform. In December 1990, he and a colleague, Sheikh Mohammed Bouslimani, founded the Islamic Society Movement, best known by its Arabic acronym, Hamas (though the party has no link to the Palestinian movement of the same name). Nahnah spoke to the Washington Report during a recent visit to the United States co-sponsored by the United Association for Studies and Research and the American Council for Public Affairs.

Nahnah describes his party as "an Islamic, nationalist and democratic movement" that is "open and moderate." He explained, "In Hamas we have three special guidelines: we use a gradualist approach, we work toward specific objectives and we adopt a realistic program. We have three principles: knowledge, work and justice. By knowledge I mean Islamic knowledge, technology and all branches of science."

Addressing Algeria's economic and social problems, Mahfoud Nahnah says, "We believe that if in Algeria there is no opportunity for work, there can be no development. As for justice, the problem in Algeria is oppression. The strong devour the weak, the government is corrupt and the people suffer without work. Those in a position of responsibility have no legitimacy. We have to have justice."

Appropriate to the Times

A cornerstone of Nahnah's thought is the need for contemporary Muslims to express true Islam in ways appropriate to the end of the 20th century. "We want to live in this era of history," he explains. "In the past we had the era of the camel. This is the age of the rocket. Today we live in the era of the satellite and of CNN. In this age, Islam demands that we use modern knowledge and science, that we develop with our time."

Soon after the Algerian military's cancellation of elections and seizure of power in January 1992, Hamas called for the opening of a national dialogue designed to return the country to a democratic system. Since that time the party has engaged the government in a variety of negotiations. Hamas also was the only opposition party to accept a seat in the state-appointed parliament, the Transitional National Council.

Nahnah's willingness to talk with the regime has led some Algerian Islamists to brand him as a tool of the government used to fracture the Islamic movement. At the same time, some leftist opposition parties have refused to meet with Hamas members because of their Islamist stance. Nevertheless, Nahnah is clear about his belief in the need for talks.

"We say that without dialogue there will be only scorched earth," he explains. "In order to have dialogue, you have to have tolerance. And tolerance is based on an acknowledgement of differences. When we do that, we are able to build a society."

Nahnah says the Hamas political vision is "a mosaic system" in which "the Islamists, the nationalists, the secularists, the Berbers and the Arabs come together in order to build Algeria."

The desire for participation and power-sharing appears to be gaining converts, according to Nahnah. "After 30 years of the FLN (the former ruling National Liberation Front) holding power in their own hands, we say that everyone should participate in the system...Now the FLN is for power-sharing. Some of the other groups are for power-sharing. Some in the FIS are for power-sharing."

Observers have pointed out that the once-unified FIS, which swept local and regional elections in 1990 and, at the time of the military coup of January 1992, was set to gain an absolute majority in the national assembly, now has splintered. Its leadership is scattered, many of its members have been jailed and the rank and file has split between moderates and radicals.

"The Islamic Salvation Front has become a series of fronts," Nahnah believes. "Within the FIS there are elements in prison, elements in the mountains, and elements in exile across Germany, France, Britain and the United States. There is fragmentation."

The armed Islamist extremists also are split, according to the Hamas leader. "The Armed Islamic Group [GIA, one of the most radical factions] has broken into a number of groups—5, 10, 30, 50, etc., with a gun in the hand to kill or to burn forests, schools and factories. The armed groups are attacking the secularists, the Francophiles, the security forces, even ordinary citizens."

Nahnah denounces dictatorship, a position he says stems from his party's adherence to the teachings of Islam. He is equally vehement in his denunciation of violence and its effects. "This is no solution; it only produces lots of blood, victims and revenge," he says.

Several of his associates have been assassinated, including his friend and co-founder of Hamas, Mohammed Bouslimani, whose body was found earlier this year off a mountain road, his throat cut. Members of the GIA stand accused of the murder. Nahnah's driver, Hajj Omar, was killed during the summer, and shortly after Nahnah's U.S. visit another Hamas official, Ali Ayeb, was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in the city of Constantine.

"It's an even greater tragedy because it's between Muslims," Nahnah states. "In the Qur'an, God says, 'If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein, and the wrath and curse of God are upon him, and a dreadful chastisement is prepared for him.'...The proper course is politics and compromise."

Nahnah points to the release from prison of various FIS leaders, and their public rejection of violence, as "positive results" of talks with the regime. Nahnah believes the Zeroual government is serious about pursuing reconciliation. "I spoke with Liamine Zeroual when he was defense minister, and again as president of state," Nahnah says. "He says he supports democracy and elections. I and other leaders of the opposition are taking part in a dialogue conference on the subject of elections," talks which now may include officials of the outlawed FIS.

"Will there be elections or not?" Nahnah asks rhetorically. "We're in agreement on the idea of elections, but how? After two years or two months? We want them as soon as possible," Nahnah says, "because after two or three years there will be a lot of victims."

The Hamas leader believes that given the disputes between FIS and the radical groups, as well as within the FIS itself, the recently released party leaders, Madani and Belhaj, will have difficulty imposing discipline on the armed elements. "But there is no other solution," Nahnah says, "especially since the Algerian state cannot work as a dictatorship, whether political, religious or cultural, but only with democracy, a multiparty system, freedom and a market economy. These are the sources of development."

Nahnah's liberalism is grounded in Islam, and he warns against outside forces attempting to impose secularism in Algeria. "We are Muslims," he declares, "and we can't break away from the Islamic way of life...Prayer, fasting, charity, etc., we can't change that."

Nahnah believes politics and the governing of society is an integral part of Islam. "We are not Christians, who say render unto God that which is God's, and render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. We're Muslims, and we follow the Qur'an. Is the Qur'an a constitution or not? I say yes. The Qur'an doesn't give the little details, but the larger concepts," Nahnah says. "It talks about freedom and liberty, not about a parliament or a president. It also talks about shura, consultation or democracy, and about justice in relationships, whether with a spouse, or children, or society or government. The Qur'an gives the guidelines for society."

Nahnah believes the West, and the United States in particular, has to engage the Islamic movement. He noted with approval that the U.S. has encouraged reconciliation in Algeria, while the French have advocated the eradication of the Islamists.

"There are two schools of thought in the Clinton administration," Nahnah says. "One says it is necessary to dialogue with the Islamic movement, while adherents of the other are against dialogue because they feel all Islamists are extremists." When asked what advice he would give American policymakers, Nahnah replies, "We encourage them to engage in dialogue with Islamists who are moderate, democratic, open and are against violence."

As for what will be happening in Algeria in a year's time, Nahnah says, "I believe there will be elections, especially since the present government doesn't have popular support. It has foreign support from America, France, Italy, Germany, etc., but it has no popular support from within the country.

"There are two words that have to be adopted across the board, by all the parties, the government and the FIS: dialogue and cooperation," Mahfoud Nahnah explains. "We have to reject the idea that all power should rest with one group. Together we can succeed, but not by ourselves."

Greg Noakes is the news editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.