RELIGION

Virtually all Algerians, according to statistics, are Sunni Muslims, and Islam is recognized as the state religion. Christianity, since the departure of the French in 1962, is a peripheral religion. Jews, according to the most recent statistics gathered by the Sephardic Jewish Federation, number 5,000. The recognition of Islam as the state religion, however, should not be confused with the notion of an "Islamic State," which is based strictly on Islamic law (shar'ia). Algeria has a secular government and a constitution. Islam is recognized as the state religion just as the Anglican Church is recognized as the state religion in England (though that country lacks a constitution).

Describing all Algerians as Sunni Muslims as a whole is not quite accurate, not withstanding statistics. The relationship with Islam is much more complicated. Algeria has for centuries been influenced by Sufism, and the marabouts (as they are called here) were very influential French colonialism. Among many of the older people, especially women, there are those that offer gifts to shrines and saints, a practice frowned upon by "orthodox" Islam. In fact, during the 1930s, the reformist movement, led by Imam Abd al-Hamid Ben Badis, fought to "purify" Islam from what they perceived as the superstitous practices of the marabouts.

Despite the secular orientation of the Algerian government, Islam was controlled by the state after independence (as it had been controlled by the French under colonialism). A Ministry of Religion was set up, and the imams of the mosques were officially selected. As the populace became more disatisfied with the government, they were likewise disatisfied with the official mosques. Imams who were not officially approved by the government could not preach in the mosques, so unofficial prayer areas began to sprout on college campuses and elsewhere in the 1980s under Chadli Benjadid, who was unable to stop the activities due to the many serious issues he had to handle at the time. (Under Boumedienne, the political Islamist activities had been more effectively suppressed.)

The resurgence of political Islam during the 1980s was stimulated by various factors, and some attribute it to the Iranian revolution, Muslim Brotherhood influences, and the manifest failure of socialism in the Arab world (reasons given generally for all Islamist resurgence, notwithstanding the specific conditions of the particular country). For a more detailed explanation of the move to politicized Islam in Algeria, see the next chapter on Islam and the Government.