Lalla Zaynab

Lalla Zaynab (c. 1862 – 19 December 1904) was an Algerian Sufi Muslim spiritual leader. Regarded as a living saint by her followers, she fought a bitter battle over the succession of her father's barakah and Zawiya with her cousin Sa'id ibn Lakhdar which involved the French colonial administration. She would later build a friendship with Isabelle Eberhardt.

Early life Lalla Zaynab was born around 1862, a daughter of Muhammad bin Abi al-Qasim, founder and Shaykh of the Rahmaniyya zawiya (Sufi institution) of El Hamel in Algeria. She was a Sufi Muslim, and a member of a family who claimed to be direct descendants of Muhammad. Eberhardt would later say that she felt "rejuvenated" each time she met with Zaynab, and formed a friendship that would concern the authorities.

Death Zaynab died of a prolonged disease on 19 November 1904. She was placed in a mausoleum alongside her father, with the tomb becoming a place of pilgrimage. She left a strong legacy in the hearts of the El Hamel people for many years to come. She was succeeded by her cousin, Muhammad B Al Hajj Muhammad, who wasted El Hamel's resources, and reverted the cultural struggle which Zaynab and her father fought to maintain. Under Muhammad's rule, the zawiya became an exoticized, marginalized, and localized center looking to entertain culturally bored or curious Western elites. Muhammad also took out large loans from the French which resulted in owed debt.

Character and appearance Léon Lehuraux, a méhariste officer and writer, describes Zaynab (whom he met in 1902) as a woman who governs with incomparable authority. Isabelle Eberhardt, who had travelled to the zawiya and befriended Zaynab, described her as a woman of great simplicity. Regarding Zaynab's physical appearance she reported:

Paul Eudel, who met her some time after she succeeded her father at the head of the zawiya, described her physical appearance as follows: