Boushaki was born in 1935 in the village of
Soumâa south of the present city of
Thenia, about 50 km east of the great city of
Algiers, and his Sufi family descends from the
Malikite theologian
Sidi Boushaki (1394–1453), who founded the
Zawiyet Sidi Boushaki in 1440 during the 15th century. His father is
Abderrahmane Boushaki (1883–1985), a veteran of the
First World War (1914–1918) who returned from the
Maginot Line with the rank of
corporal of the , while his mother is Khedaouedj Boumerdassi, descendant of Sufis and theologian Sidi Boumerdassi, who founded
Zawiyet Sidi Boumerdassi in 1714 during the 18th century. His grandfather
Ali Boushaki (1855–1965) was
Muqaddam of
Tariqa Rahmaniyyah in
Lower Kabylia and his paternal and maternal uncles were
Muslim imams as were his cousins. He then received a religious education according to the
Algerian Islamic reference as well as a political consciousness according to the ideology of
Algerian independence nationalism through his paternal uncle
Mohamed Seghir Boushaki (1869–1959), who was an elected
municipal councilor from 1919 to 1939. In addition to his academic activity in this Sufi environment under the immediate patronage of Imam
Brahim Boushaki (1912–1997), he worked in agriculture and animal husbandry near the surrounding villages of
Meraldene,
Tabrahimt,
Gueddara,
Azela and
Mahrane. == Political activity ==