This text challenges existing writing on 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri which divides his life into
two juxtaposed phases separated by narratives of conversion: from Francophobia to Francophilia
from militarism to pacifism from activism to quietism from Islamism to pluralism from
politics to religion. This work's interdisciplinary approach demonstrates that these narratives
cannot be sustained in light of the evidence. Rather they can be shown to originate in
specific historical cultural and methodological tendencies within western societies and
academies. Drawing on primary materials including archival documents and selections from his
own writing it constructively critiques his reception in the literature while advancing a
continuous and contextualised account of his life and ideas. These include the relating of his
ethico-religious and jurisprudential concerns to his political decision-making and a
resituating of his mystical writings within a definite moral epistemological and political
context. By problematising these interpretive issues this thesis aims at opening new avenues
for understanding even as it offers its own solutions. In so doing this study contributes to
discussions on Sufism political Islam and east-west relations. This monograph has been
awarded the annual BRAIS - De Gruyter Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World.
