Mahfoud Nahnah ( ar, محفوظ نحناح; 27 January 1942 – 19 June 2003) was an Algerian politician who served as the leader of the Islamist political party

Movement of Society for Peace The Movement of Society for Peace ( ar, حركة مجتمع السلم, Harakat mujtamaâ as-Silm; ), sometimes known by its shortened form Hamas () is an Islamic party in Algeria, led by Mahfoud Nahnah until his death in 2003. Its current le ...

(commonly referred to as ''Hamas'') in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. Nahnah was born in

Blida Blida ( ar, البليدة; Tamazight: Leblida) is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name ''Blida'', i.e. ''bulaydah'', is a diminutive ...

and later studied literature at the

University of Algiers The University of Algiers (Arabic:جامعة الجزائر – بن يوسف بن خـدة ), commonly called the Algiers 1 University, is a public research university located in Algiers, Algeria. It is the oldest and most prestigious universi ...

. He became a teacher of Arabic after Algeria achieved independence in 1962. Influenced by

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

ian professors, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1976, Nahnah was sentenced to 15 years in prison for cutting telephone wires in an act of opposition to the National Charter of that year. After being freed four years later, he helped found the El Islah Oual Irchad (Reform and Guidance) charitable association with Mohammed Bouslimani, as well as the Islamic Preaching League with Ahmed Sahnoun, uniting major figures of the Algerian Islamist movement such as

Abbassi Madani Abbassi Madani (; 28 February 1931 – 24 April 2019) was an Algerian politician who was the President of the Islamic Salvation Front. As its leader, he became the voice of a large part of the dispossessed Algerian youth. Career Madani was born ...

and Mohammed Said. However, he decided not to join the

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية للإنقاذ, al-Jabhah al-Islāmiyah lil-Inqādh; french: Front Islamique du Salut, FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representi ...

(FIS) because he was opposed to its founding principles. On 6 December 1990, after the FIS was successful in local elections, Nahnah established his own party and called it Hamas (later renamed

, or MSP). Seeing FIS as overambitious to the point of hubris, he emphasized the importance of gradual, step-by-step change and reform from within. He felt that the military and the West were not ready to allow Algeria even to become a full democracy at that time, much less an Islamic state. Because of Nahnah's cautious practices, his party remained legal after the military coup of 1992, and in November 1995 he ran for president (with FIS banned) and finished second to General Liamine Zeroual with about 25% of the vote. He attempted to run again in 1999, but was disqualified by the courts for not having fought in the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

, despite being born before July 1942 (which was an allowed exemption according to the Algerian Constitution, article 73). Nahnah died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

on 19 June 2003 at 61 years of age. He was succeeded as head of the MSP by Bouguerra Soltani. He was buried at the

El Alia Cemetery El Alia Cemetery ( ar, مقبرة العالية ) is a cemetery in a suburb of Algiers in the commune of Oued Smar in Algeria. The name "El Alia" means in Arabic ''which is high'', but came from the surname of the donor of the land in 1928, ...

External links

European Institute for Research on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab Cooperation (Medea)

1942 births 2003 deaths Algerian dissidents People from Blida Movement of Society for Peace politicians Deaths from leukemia Algerian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Algeria Deaths from cancer in Algeria University of Algiers alumni 21st-century Algerian people {{crime-bio-stub