Birth and rise to the imamate Abdelkader Mesli was born in 1902 in
Khemis,
French Algeria. At the age of 17, he left his native country for
Metropolitan France and arrived in
Marseille. He worked as a docker, carpenter, mine worker and salesman.
Second World War, Resistance and deportation When the
Second World War started, Mesli got involved with
Kaddour Benghabrit, rector of the mosque, in rescuing Jews by issuing false certificates of
Muslim faith. In 1942, Mesli was sent to
Bordeaux as Muslim chaplain at the
Château du Hâ by Kaddour Benghabrit after Mesli was suspected by the German authorities. He organized escapes there and continued to issue false certificates, despite the suspicions of the
Kommandatur. In this capacity, he handled forged documents and provided shelter for escaped African soldiers. Despite extensive interrogations and
torture, he did not denounce any resistant comrades. He then resumed his activity as an imam at the mosque of
Bobigny (near Paris) and took care of the Muslim cemetery of Bobigny. He died on 21 June 1961. == Acknowledgement ==