El Moudjahid was originally conceived as an FLN guerrilla information bulletin during the 1954-62 Algerian War, circulated among resistance fighters.

Its name, a French transliteration of the Arabic مجاهد (Mujahid), means "holy warrior", which the FLN called its fighters.

When Algeria opened up its closed system in 1988 and allowed for the publication of independent newspapers, El Moujahid continued to publish.

Today it is a state newspaper, but its ties with the FLN were cut after the party was voted out of power in the 1991 elections.

Omar Belhouchet, an award-winning journalist, worked at El Moudjahid early in his career.