Amir Abd El-Kader exile in America?

(DISCLAIMER: I know next to nothing about this person. I had heard the name before in relation to Algeria, but only today did I decide to do any research and it's been limited...)

Read an article today (USA Today) on this guy who I knew very little to nothing about previously. Online resources on him are scarce for me - so far - but from what I've read he was an anti-French interventionist Algerian war hero hailed as being compassionate to people of other faiths. He is currently lauded as an example for modern moslems to follow concerning inter-faith relations and anti-extremist/fundamentalist ideology.

I also discovered that he was immensely popular in Europe, the UK, and US. With the Pope, Lincoln, and Queen Vicky all singing his praises, the French eventually decorating him, and a town in Iowa named for him.

Not knowing much about Abdelkader or his personality myself, I wondered what fruit an alternate El-Kader exile (around 1860 AFTER the saving of Christians in Damascus) in the United States might have brought in relation to:

1. If he (like many European expats in the US) decides to contribute to the Civil War, what side might he support or would he get involved at all (my hope of course would be that, yes, he does on the side of the Union).

2. If he becomes an author and speaker in the U.S. how does Islam develop in that country? The idea here is for Islam to be more - if even very slightly - widespread, more accepted by Americans, and for the purest (i.e. not auto-anti West) form of Islam itself to become more internationally popular.

Apologies again for my lack of knowledge but I'm fascinated by this guy.

Here is the USA Today article I read, and here is the Wikipedia.org article on the man.

Any direction to other alternate TLs on this guy would be appreciated as well.

So, the effect of Abdelkader in America? None or maximum possible?
 
Hmmmmmmm.


What made the a french violate their treaty and cross through the Iron Gates? Perhaps if Abdelkader had given them a more deadly blow or if this situation was as thus, if the French leader in Algeria was wary of him and decided against violating the treaty.

Though as for America perhaps if was invited or their was Islamic concerns he could be invited to mediate.
 
He looks promising. I'd have him make some sort of spectacle in 1851 so that Napoleon III arrests him and re-exiles him to the USA at that point.

He doesn't actually look useful for the war itself; neither side would voluntarily release a guerrilla expert and experienced nation-builder into the fray. He could be a fantastic choice for a reconstruction administrator, though; and following his example, large numbers of the freedmen commit to Islam.

Bonus points of you can arrange a meeting between him and Brigham Young.
 
He looks promising. I'd have him make some sort of spectacle in 1851 so that Napoleon III arrests him and re-exiles him to the USA at that point.

He doesn't actually look useful for the war itself; neither side would voluntarily release a guerrilla expert and experienced nation-builder into the fray. He could be a fantastic choice for a reconstruction administrator, though; and following his example, large numbers of the freedmen commit to Islam.

Bonus points of you can arrange a meeting between him and Brigham Young.

Good idea on the spectacle and subsequent exile.

As to his usefulness: Given the amount of European war veterans both sides enlisted, would the Union not want a guerilla expert to counter the guerilla tactics of the South?

I agree with you that he would make for an ideal reconstruction administrator and could perhaps even go into politics.

With more fans in the U.S. ttl, would it not be possible for more than just a massive majority of freedmen to convert? Could he not be the forebear of a new Islamic movement in the United States post-war including whites, Latin and Asian Americans, and others?

(He may also be the perfect figure to begin an ATL movement I've always wanted to attempt but could never decide whether to make it ancient or modern: a popular religion or subreligion acting as a sect of Christianity in which Christians accept Mohammad as a prophet of God, a sect of Islam in which Muslims accept Jesus as divine, son of God, and crucified, or a combination of the two... I may be overreaching, but if such a mighty Muslim Arab is idolized by WASPs in America, might someone not arise to bring a little Islam into Christianity or vice versa?)

As to him meeting Brigham Young... may I ask why? I have no idea what the two would discuss or the conclusion they might draw from said discussions. I'm interested in your take.
 
Good idea on the spectacle and subsequent exile.

As to his usefulness: Given the amount of European war veterans both sides enlisted, would the Union not want a guerilla expert to counter the guerilla tactics of the South?

I agree with you that he would make for an ideal reconstruction administrator and could perhaps even go into politics.

With more fans in the U.S. ttl, would it not be possible for more than just a massive majority of freedmen to convert? Could he not be the forebear of a new Islamic movement in the United States post-war including whites, Latin and Asian Americans, and others?

(He may also be the perfect figure to begin an ATL movement I've always wanted to attempt but could never decide whether to make it ancient or modern: a popular religion or subreligion acting as a sect of Christianity in which Christians accept Mohammad as a prophet of God, a sect of Islam in which Muslims accept Jesus as divine, son of God, and crucified, or a combination of the two... I may be overreaching, but if such a mighty Muslim Arab is idolized by WASPs in America, might someone not arise to bring a little Islam into Christianity or vice versa?)

As to him meeting Brigham Young... may I ask why? I have no idea what the two would discuss or the conclusion they might draw from said discussions. I'm interested in your take.
I don't think the Union would want him in that capacity, no. The emir organized Muslim Maghrebi Arabs against invading French Christians; the ACW is a fight between two fairly similar factions of Protestant Christians. Correctly or no, I don't think anyone would see his experience as directly relevant, EXCEPT to organize a "servile insurrection", which is not the North's goal. EDIT: I agree that he would probably choose to serve as a cavalry officer, but I strongly doubt he would be chosen for high command, and so he would have little impact.

I think his timing's bad to get any great number of converts among whites. Admired or not in the north, he's going to be reviled among southern whites, and the northern religious spectrum for the moment swings between irreligious disaffection due to the war's horrors and satisfaction that God sustained them on the battlefield. The Third Great Awakening, which gave us the Christian Scientists, Salvation Army and the like doesn't really get rolling until the late 1870s, by which point the emir is already an old man, perhaps hamstrung by his early successes among freedmen, creating the impression that Islam is a "black" religion. One would need to invoke a second great Muslim evangelist, a successor to the emir, to capitalize on it.

I am curious about him meeting Young for reasons fairly similar to yours, actually - I don't expect the emir would take anything useful away from it, but Young might find elements of Islam useful or attractive to be incorporated into the LDS church, turning Mormonism into something more like the synthesis of Christianity and Islam you envision. Well, not really, since acknowledging Muhammad as a prophet of God would require a major revision to the idea of the Great Apostasy, plus ignoring Muhammad's bit about no prophets after him but...hm.

Although if he succeeds in converting large numbers of freedmen, that implies the 9th and 10th Cavalry will have significant Muslim elements...Geronimo might explore Islam? A minor element, but one that interests me a bit.
 
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I don't think the Union would want him in that capacity, no. The emir organized Muslim Maghrebi Arabs against invading French Christians; the ACW is a fight between two fairly similar factions of Protestant Christians. Correctly or no, I don't think anyone would see his experience as directly relevant, EXCEPT to organize a "servile insurrection", which is not the North's goal. EDIT: I agree that he would probably choose to serve as a cavalry officer, but I strongly doubt he would be chosen for high command, and so he would have little impact.

I think his timing's bad to get any great number of converts among whites. Admired or not in the north, he's going to be reviled among southern whites, and the northern religious spectrum for the moment swings between irreligious disaffection due to the war's horrors and satisfaction that God sustained them on the battlefield. The Third Great Awakening, which gave us the Christian Scientists, Salvation Army and the like doesn't really get rolling until the late 1870s, by which point the emir is already an old man, perhaps hamstrung by his early successes among freedmen, creating the impression that Islam is a "black" religion. One would need to invoke a second great Muslim evangelist, a successor to the emir, to capitalize on it.

I am curious about him meeting Young for reasons fairly similar to yours, actually - I don't expect the emir would take anything useful away from it, but Young might find elements of Islam useful or attractive to be incorporated into the LDS church, turning Mormonism into something more like the synthesis of Christianity and Islam you envision. Well, not really, since acknowledging Muhammad as a prophet of God would require a major revision to the idea of the Great Apostasy, plus ignoring Muhammad's bit about no prophets after him but...hm.

Although if he succeeds in converting large numbers of freedmen, that implies the 9th and 10th Cavalry will have significant Muslim elements...Geronimo might explore Islam? A minor element, but one that interests me a bit.


The more participation the better. What is the highest rank he could achieve in the cavalry? Sgt.?

Even more interesting would be the addition of Sgt. Elkader to James Lane's gang after a few successful cavalry assaults around the border. There, he might have been instrumental in organizing the 1st Kansas Volunteers as a guerilla cavalry unit.

Following the war, he may split his service between being a leader of the 9th regiment where he is decorated during the Indian wars and becoming a reconstruction official. During this time, he is a prolific religious writer, having served with many Christians and becoming open to Christian ideas about Jesus, while remaining Muslim.

He achieves fame similar to T. E. Lawrence later on in OTL. He becomes a hero of story and song and later in print. A religious figure who also serves as a boyhood American hero.

The American Sheik or some such rot. The vision of him charging into battle ahead of both whites and blacks Union cavalry uniform beneath a white cape and agal; wielding a sword and duel pistols given to him from Lincoln sweeps the nation.

His more Christian leaning Islam is popular among Native Americans, Latin Americans, and African Americans, as well as some whites who inevitably inject the divine Christ into their variant.

He meets with Frederick Douglass, Brigham Young, and others and these discussions along with his writings lead to the development of a more Islam friendly Mormonism and Christianity as well as more Christian leaning Muslims he himself has converted within the U.S. By the late 19th century, these various groups have united behind his ideological successor and Christian Mohammedanism is a relatively successful religion/denomination by the turn of the century.

Eh?
 
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Any chance he could end up in Missouri during the time of the bushwackers? If he was successful in countering the insurgency, he might come to the attention of higher ups and find an interesting career ahead of him?

Much like you, I don't know much about the man, but he sounds fascinating.
 
Oh, since he's had a decade to put down roots in some community (wherever in the USA he lived in the 1850s), I'm sure he could be a Lieutenant in a volunteer regiment when the war breaks out and perhaps a Colonel by war's end. I just don't think he'll ever really have the trust of his superiors as he's not a West Point man (among other things) and would certainly be mustered out in '65.

I don't see him participating in the Indian Wars, even if he were permitted to remain in uniform. A bit reminiscent of his experiences against the French, I suspect.

Say he becomes reconstruction governor of Texas through '76, so he can remain in contact with the 9th & 10th even if he's not in uniform. He'd be 68 then, surely ready to retire and simply lead his local mosque?

I guess I'm having trouble imagining something "between" Christianity and Islam. They're not points on a spectrum; either Jesus was God incarnate (in which case he had the authority to forgive sin) or he was a prophet and miracle worker (in which case he didn't). Either mankind has original sin or it doesn't. You can take superficial elements from either or both, but core doctrines aren't reconcilable. So I'm not sure what ideas you're trying to advance and spread here.

I can certainly see him as a romantic figure influencing fashion; hookahs and djellabas catching on in Gilded Age America because of him. I suspect we were both interested in something a bit more profound, though - I can't imagine Islam ever topping, say, 12% of the USA, but a USA that's 12% Muslim is still a very different and potentially interesting country.
 
I don't think the Union would want him in that capacity, no. The emir organized Muslim Maghrebi Arabs against invading French Christians; the ACW is a fight between two fairly similar factions of Protestant Christians. Correctly or no, I don't think anyone would see his experience as directly relevant, EXCEPT to organize a "servile insurrection", which is not the North's goal. EDIT: I agree that he would probably choose to serve as a cavalry officer, but I strongly doubt he would be chosen for high command, and so he would have little impact.

I think his timing's bad to get any great number of converts among whites. Admired or not in the north, he's going to be reviled among southern whites, and the northern religious spectrum for the moment swings between irreligious disaffection due to the war's horrors and satisfaction that God sustained them on the battlefield. The Third Great Awakening, which gave us the Christian Scientists, Salvation Army and the like doesn't really get rolling until the late 1870s, by which point the emir is already an old man, perhaps hamstrung by his early successes among freedmen, creating the impression that Islam is a "black" religion. One would need to invoke a second great Muslim evangelist, a successor to the emir, to capitalize on it.

I am curious about him meeting Young for reasons fairly similar to yours, actually - I don't expect the emir would take anything useful away from it, but Young might find elements of Islam useful or attractive to be incorporated into the LDS church, turning Mormonism into something more like the synthesis of Christianity and Islam you envision. Well, not really, since acknowledging Muhammad as a prophet of God would require a major revision to the idea of the Great Apostasy, plus ignoring Muhammad's bit about no prophets after him but...hm.

Although if he succeeds in converting large numbers of freedmen, that implies the 9th and 10th Cavalry will have significant Muslim elements...Geronimo might explore Islam? A minor element, but one that interests me a bit.

Actually, OTL Mormons weren't/aren't that far from thinking that Mohammed was a prophet. It wouldn't take much of a change to make that official. But it wouldn't mean much either, because Mormons would still take the view that Islam had corrupted Mohammed's original message.
 
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