Omar Derdour Omar Derdour ( ) , full name Abou El Kacem Omar Derdour ( 13 October 1913 – 19 March 2009 ) , was an Algerian Muslim leader , nationalist , and political worker . A disciple of Abdelhamid Ben Badis , he was active in the Islamic reformation of Algeria and the Algerian War of Independence . He directed the Friends of the Manifesto and Liberty Party ' s ( in French : " Amis du Manifeste et de la Liberté " , AML ) Federation in Constantine , and was a member of the Central Committee and Deputy of the Constantine region from 1947 to 1951 . In 1954 , Omar Derdour became a political worker within the National Liberation Front ( FLN ) and undertook a great deal of propaganda and mobilization in France in 1955 and 1956 and then in Cairo , Egypt and throughout the Arab world . After independence , Omar Derdour devoted himself to teaching , became a founding member of the Islamic Institute , and founded numerous other Muslim institutions and schools . Early years . Derdour was born on 13 October 1913 in Hidoussa , a small village in the municipality of Teniet El Abed , in the heart of the Aurès Mountains . He was born into a family of scholars which hailed from the Ouled Abdi Valley in that mountain region . The village lies He learned the Quran in his great - grandfather ' s zawiya ( a Maghrebi Islamic school ) . Derdour went to Tolga where he studied at the school of Sheikh Ali bin Omar for two years , and was given a thorough Islamic education in language and jurisprudence . In 1932 Sheikh Abdul Hafiz al - Hashemi took Omar Derdour to Constantine and introduced him to Sheikh Imam Abdelhamid Ben Badis , who agreed to accept him as a pupil on the condition that he passed an examination . In 1933 Derdour joined the " Green Mosque " ( " Djamâa El Akhdar " ) and began studying under Sheikh Abdelhamid Ben Badis . He would remain there for seven years . In 1934 , Ben Badis appointed Derdour teacher in the two mosques of " Sidi Guemouche " and " Sidi Boumaâza " in Constantine . In 1936 , he became the close assistant of Ben Badis in organizing the courses . Return to Hidoussa . In 1936 Omar Derdour and a group of fellow students founded a division of the Algerian Muslim Scholars Association and became active in education in the fields of religious and national awareness . In 1937 , Derdour returned to his village to establish a madrasa for the education of children and adults . Ben Badis considered him the " soul of the Islahiste movement in the Aures " . At the end of 1937 , the French authorities became aware of his activities and imprisoned him in Batna for " inciting the population to civil disobedience " . Derdour was released on 6 January 1938 , but was imprisoned a second time in August 1939 to complete his four - month sentence and was fined 8 , 000 francs . He was released in September 1939 upon the outbreak of World War II ( 1939 - 1945 ) . During the war the authorities suppressed all political activities , and he was forced to limit himself to non - political education . Struggle for independence . Omar Derdour directed the AML Party ' s Federation in Constantine , and was a member of the Central Committee and Deputy of the Constantine region from 1947 until 1951 . The purpose of the AML party was to publicize and defend the Manifest du Peuple Algerien ; anti - French , it demanded equal rights for the Muslim population and an Algeria federated with France , the colonial power . Between July 1955 and January 1956 he lived in Vichy , France , working with the National Liberation Front ( FLN ) on defining the objectives and approach of the revolution . Derdour moved to Cairo , meeting Sheikh Mohammed Bashir Brahimi and other members of the Revolutionary Command . He was given the task of travelling to the Arab countries to raise support for the Algerian revolution . Derdour was based in Cairo until he moved to Tunisia in 1960 . He taught soldiers on the Algerian border until independence was achieved in 1962 . Independent Algeria . After Algeria gained independence , Omar Derdour devoted himself to teaching Islam and Arabic . He founded the first Islamic institute in Batna in May 1963 , followed by the creation of similar institutions in several cities across the country , reaching 10 , 000 students . In 1981 , Derdour was appointed director of the institute in Sidi Okba for training imams and regional inspectors of religious affairs in Batna , Khenchela and Oum El Bouaghi , holding this position until his retirement . In 1986 , Derdour was appointed regional inspector of Religious Affairs in Batna and Khenchela provinces . In the 2000s he built a mosque and a zawiya in the locality of El Hamza in the municipality of Oued Taga and a school in the village of his birth . On 19 March 2009 Abou El Kacem Omar Derdour died after a long battle against the effects of a stroke . He was buried in Tazoult .