Religion in Algeria

Algeria has a rich history of religious belief that finds itself at the crossroads of two of the major religions today: Islam and Christianity. Delving even further into its history however, the ancients had a particular religious belief outside of these two main pillars.

One of the earliest known people groups of Algeria were the Berbers. These were mostly nomadic people who lived near the coast of North Africa. As much as we can tell, these people were animists and one commentator calls them "pagans": "Assisted by these traits of indigenous manners, we can call to mind ogres and pagans who represent an ancient population, or, more exactly, the secretarians of ancient religion like the Paganism or the Christianity which was maintained on some points of Northern Africa..." (Basset, xvi-xvii) Much of the ancient literature has been contaminated by the Islamic influence around 700 A.D., so while these religious beliefs probably persisted for some time, they were ousted by the dogmatic Muslims which conquered the country. 

But Alegria is the crossroads of two religious main religious beliefs, and the first to appear was Christianity. Rome conquered Algeria during the Punic Wars and it became a colony subservient to that master. When Constantine promoted Christianity as the state's official religion, Christianity was popular in the state. One commentator said, "The new Christian doctrines, which from Carthage radiated rapidly throughout Roman territory, were at once recognised [sic] as a danger to the established order; but there was no sufficient philosophy to oppose them" (Nickerson, 31). Some of the most famous Christian teachers of the early Church lived in Algeria, including Augustine of Hippo. 

This dramatically changed in the 8th century. Islam arose from the Prophet Muhammed in the 7th century A.D. in Arabia. Trade routes were established that took the religion across vast areas in a relatively short amount of time (Isichei, 40). By the 8th century, traders had brought Islam to Algeria. It was widely accepted and several Islamic dynasties ruled Algeria until the 16th century. The Ottoman Turks absorbed parts of North Africa into their empire, the consequence of which was widespread acceptance of Islam. While small pockets of Christianity remain, Islam is the dominant religious belief of Algeria.

Bibliography

Basset, Rene. Moorish Literature. New York, NY: P.F. Collier & Son, 1901.

Isichei, Elizabeth Allo. 2004. The Religious Traditions of Africa : A History. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed September 17, 2016).

Nickerson, Jane. Africa: From Pre-Roman Times to the Present. New York, NY: Devin-Adair, 1961.