This study will attempt to demonstrate the status of zawiyyas, and in particular that of the 'Alawiyya in contemporary Algeria, and their role during the rise of nationalism and the liberation struggle. In our discussion of the persecution and rehabilitation of the 'Alawiyya Brotherhood (and others) in Algeria during the contemporary period we will deal with the links between the 'Alawiyya and: (1) The colonial administration: the Brotherhood was closely watched by the police and intelligence agencies. The strategy of the Brotherhood was to remain neutral insofar as possible, but it did not hesitate to defend the preservation of Arab-Muslim identity. (2) The reform movement, with the appearance in 1926 of the journal ach-Chihab and the Association of Muslim Algerian Ulemas (AOMA) founded the 5th of May 1931 with at its head President Ibn Badis, who contributed to the rise of Algerian nationalist sentiment. (3)Algerian nationalist groups, with which the 'Alawiyya Brotherhood maintained close relations, notably during the period of the Party of the Algerian People (PPA) founded in 1937 by Messali Hadj. The events of 8 May 1945 in Sétif triggered the preparation of the Algerian Revolution during which the Sheikh Mehdi Bentounes played an important role. (4) Successive Algerian governments: the 'Alawiyya Brotherhood decided to come out against the nationalization of « habous » holdings. The Boumedienne government carried out a vast campaign of persecution against Sheikh Mehdi Bentounes and had him arrested in 1970. From that time the Brotherhood became active in Europe with Sheikh Khaled Bentounes, who fostered the creation of numerous cultural and youth-oriented projects which enjoyed official recognition. These waves of persecution little by little marginalized a religious current -Sufism (tasawuf)- which had been present in Algeria from the beginning of the millennium, and which was part of an essential immaterial cultural heritage in Algeria. It took the arrival and the development of religious fundamentalism, resulting in the civil war known as the « Dark Years », for the Algerian government to promote the rehabilitation of the religious Brotherhoods in Algeria.