As a privileged intermediary between the French authorities and Algerians in Lyon, he engaged in the Resistance and saved numerous Jews during World War II.

Despite the different political currents during the Algerian War, Bel Hadj El Maafi remained highly appreciated by the Muslim community in Lyon until his death.

Bel Hadj El Maafi was born on October 25, 1900, in the oasis of Lichana,[1] ten kilometers from the city of Biskra, in French Algeria.

[2][12] In this capacity, he assisted Julien Azario, a civil servant in the prefecture who was a French resistance member and recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, in his surveillance work.

[12] However, this request was denied by the Minister of Interior, Camille Chautemps, who stated :[12][14]"These so-called mokkadems seek, under the cover of religious proselytism, purely temporal advantages, notably gifts of money extorted from their Muslim coreligionists.

Thus, he sacrificed a sheep at the Maison des Africans in Saint Antoine street on December 8, 1943, the day of Eid al-Adha,[19] in the presence of Alexandre Angeli, collaborationist prefect of the Rhône, Julien Azario and the head of the Lyon's Milice.

The report stated that :[6]"he often took advantage of his role as an interpreter for the North African Brigade to obtain false identity cards for Moroccan Jews, especially those from the commune of Saint-Fons.

He chose to maintain an anti-independence stance, and the Renseignements généraux testified that :[6]"During the events in Algeria, Bel Hadj El Maafi consistently expressed pro-French sentiments.

"Due to his connections with France, the Rhône prefecture and the Algerian National Movement, he became a target of an assassination attempt, which he survived on April 23, 1957, in the midst of the Café War.

[6] He continued to participate in public actions; in 1959, he intervened during a trial to make a Muslim swear his innocence on the Quran, while the man was accused of theft by one of his co-religionists.

[30] He continued to participate in the commemorations of the Second World War and the Shoah as well as to direct his mosque, the first in Lyon, which he had obtained in the meantime,[3] and which was located in a small room lent by Catholic nuns, in the Croix-Rousse district, 11 Montée Lieutenant-Allouche.

Every believer must ask himself about the real, concrete, immediate scope of this teaching and be fully aware of his responsibility before God and before the world.On December 27, 1976, after the death of thirteen disabled children and their instructor a few days earlier, who drowned in Lyon,[34] including some Muslims, he intervened during the multi-confessional service to say a few words in their memory, alongside Francisque Collomb, mayor of Lyon, Alexandre Renard, and Pierre Doueil, prefect of the Rhône.

[35] On June 11, 1978, he was appointed Officer of the Ordre national du mérite in recognition of his services as a hospital chaplain by the Mayor of Lyon, Louis Pradel.