Thursday, January 21, 2010

Emir Abdelkader

1 comment:

HAMMOUDI ABDELWAHAB said...

Did You Know?
In 1846, a village in the Missouri Territory was named after the Emir. Today it's known as Elkader, Iowa.


The emir's regulations for the treatment of his prisoners were a Koranically correct forerunner of the Geneva Convention.


Citizens of Bordeaux put Abd el-Kader's name on the ballot as a candidate in the French presidential elections of 1849.


A horse named Abd el Kader (called 'Little Ab' by the racing public) was twice winner of the British Grand National Steeple Chase.


"Allowing for certain exceptions of a theological nature, there is no Christian virtue that Abd el-Kader does not practice to the highest degree," wrote Dominican Sister Natalie who cared for the emir's family in prison.


The emir's most influential biographer was a descendent of the Duke of Marlborough, Col. Charles Henry Churchill, British military attaché in Lebanon.


The Suez Canal would not have been built in 1869 without Abd el- Kader's influence among the Arabs, and support for the French project.


President Lincoln honored Abd el-Kader as a great humanitarian for saving thousands of Christian lives in 1860.