The work “Contre vents et maritées” (Somoud wassatal issar) by its late author Abdallah Ibrahim, initially published in Arabic in 1976, was published after its translation into French, as part of a partnership between Hassan Benaddi, in partnership with the Abdallah Ibrahim Foundation.
This essay on explaining the history of the Great Maghreb ”is now available to French-speaking readers wishing to understand the evolution of peoples which looks like geometric lines, straight lines and broken lines.
The book shows that unlike the countries of Europe, the line of evolution of the Maghreb has historically broken, at least three times, over three thousand years: when it is excluded from the millennial current of Carthaginian civilization, to Latinize and Christianize gradually, under the rule of the Romans; then when he broke with Roman influence, to Arabize and embrace Islam. Its Arabity and its Islam become the levers of its national glory and the foundations of the greatness of its empires, we read in the presentation note.
The line is broken a third time when the Maghreb has found itself unable to keep pace with the overall evolution of human civilization. It was during the centuries of feudalism and inertia. During the 19th century it found itself face to face with international imperialism, while it was undermined internally by the after-effects of enslavement and arbitrariness, adds the same source.
Through the translation of “Against winds and tides”, Hassan Benaddi offers the Abdallah Ibrahim Foundation a remarkable contribution both on the human and political level, after having worked with the deceased author on the path of politics and trade unionism and around rich and dense discussions of lessons on various cultural or topical themes.
As a reminder, Abdallah Ibrahim (1918-2005) was a great figure in the national movement, a progressive Moroccan politician and a professor of higher education. In 1945, he enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris where he rubbed shoulders with, among others, André Breton, Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Aragon… He is the author of several political and literary works inviting reflection and dialogue.
In 1956, he held the post of Minister of Labor in the first post-independence government and then that of Minister of Employment and Social Affairs in the second. Two years later, he was appointed by the late Mohammed V, Chairman of the Government Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs.