Cheikh Mohand Ou Lhocine is a philosopher, poet, and an Amazigh religious of the nineteenth century. He was born in 1838 in Taka Ait Yahia (Upper Kabylia) in a famous family of Sherifs called Imrabden from the tribe of Aït Yahia, of which Hocine Aït Ahmed is one of the descendants.
A religious man himself, Cheikh Mohand Ou Lhocine, renowned for his great culture and knowledge of traditional sciences, was honored with the title of Amusnaw, a title akin to that of sage and man of knowledge. He indeed enjoyed a large following and influence. Cheikh Mohand thus played an essential role in the Kabyle thought of his time, recommending the need for a certain primacy of traditional values and customs over religious dogma, thus confirming its specificity to Islam.
His poetry is also imbued with the theme of resistance and courage. His life is indeed marked from his adolescence by the beginnings, disastrous for Kabyle society, of col
onization (1852-1857), and in 1871 he attends the Kabyle insurrection in which the Tariqa Rahmaniya, to which he was linked, had a leading role through its leader at the time, Cheikh Aheddad.
He was also close to the population of the different regions of Kabylia and in particular with his companions from various regions of Kabylia.
He died in 1901. His words inspired several contemporary singers and storytellers such as Lounis Ait Menguellet and Matoub Lounes.