Islam in Libya
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History
During the seventh century,
Many pre-Islamic beliefs that had existed in Libya co-mingled with the newly introduced religion. Hence, Islam in Libya became an overlay of Quranic ritual and principles upon the vestiges of earlier beliefs -- prevalent throughout North Africa -- in
.Islam in Gaddafi's Libya
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Under the revolutionary
Gaddafi also believed in the value of the Quran as a moral and political guide for the contemporary world, as is evident from his tract, The Green Book, published in the mid-1970s. Gaddafi considered the first part of The Green Book to be a commentary on the implications of the Quranic injunction that human affairs be managed by consultation. For him, this meant direct democracy, which is given "practical meaning" through the creation of people's committees and popular congresses. Gaddafi felt that, inasmuch as The Green Book was based solely on the Quran, its provisions should be universally applicable—at least among Muslims.
Soon after taking office, the Gaddafi government began closing bars and nightclubs, banning entertainment deemed provocative or immodest, and making use of the Islamic calendar mandatory. The intention of reestablishing sharia was announced, and Gaddafi personally assumed chairmanship of a commission to study the problems involved. In November 1973, a new legal code was issued that revised the entire Libyan judicial system to conform to the sharia, and in 1977 the General People's Congress (GPC) issued a statement that all future legal codes would be based on the Quran.
Among the laws enacted by the Gaddafi government were a series of legal penalties prescribed during 1973 which included the punishment of armed robbery by amputation of a hand and a foot. The legislation contained qualifying clauses making its execution unlikely, but its enactment had the effect of applying Quranic principles in the modern era. Another act prescribed flogging for individuals breaking the fast of Ramadan, and yet another called for eighty lashes to be administered to both men and women guilty of fornication.
In the early 1970s, Islam played a major role in legitimizing Gaddafi's political and social reforms. By the end of the decade, however, he had begun to attack the religious establishment and several fundamental aspects of Sunni Islam. Gaddafi asserted the transcendence of the Quran as the sole guide to Islamic governance and the unimpeded ability of every Muslim to read and interpret it. He denigrated the roles of the ulama, imams, and Islamic jurists and questioned the authenticity of the hadith, and thereby the sunna, as a basis for Islamic law. The sharia itself, Gaddafi maintained, governed only such matters as properly fell within the sphere of religion; all other matters lay outside the purview of religious law. Finally, he called for a revision of the Islamic calendar, saying it should date from Muhammad's death in 632, an event he felt was more momentous than the hijra ten years earlier.
These unorthodox views on the hadith, sharia, and the Islamic era unsettled the population. They seemed to originate from Gaddafi's conviction that he possessed the transcendent ability to interpret the Quran and to adapt its message to modern life. Equally, they reinforced the view that he was a reformer but not a literalist in matters of the Quran and Islamic tradition. On a practical level, however, several observers agreed that Gaddafi was less motivated by religious convictions than by political calculations. By espousing these views and by criticizing the ulama, he was using religion to undermine a segment of the middle class that was notably vocal in opposing his economic policies in the late 1970s. But Gaddafi clearly considered himself an authority on the Quran and Islam and was not afraid to challenge traditional religious authority. He also was not prepared to tolerate dissent.
The revolutionary government gave repeated evidence of its desire to establish Libya as a leader of the
The government took a leading role in supporting Islamic institutions and in worldwide proselytizing on behalf of Islam. The Jihad Fund, supported by a payroll tax, was established in 1970 to aid the
Gaddafi was forthright in his belief in the
Gaddafi stressed the universal applicability of Islam, but he also reaffirmed the special status assigned by Muhammad to Christians. He likened Christians to misguided Muslims who strayed from the correct path. Furthermore, Gaddafi assumed leadership of a drive to rid Africa of Christianity as well as of the colonialism with which he associated it, despite the fact that Christianity's presence in Libya long predates Islam or its presence in much of Europe.
Saints and brotherhoods
Islam as practiced in
The true Islamic way of saints became widespread in rural areas; in urban localities, Islam in its Sunni form prevail. Saints were present in Tripolitania, but they were particularly numerous in Cyrenaica. Their Baraka continued to reside in their tombs after their deaths. The number of venerated tombs varied from tribe to tribe, although there tended to be fewer among the camel herders of the desert than among the sedentary and nomadic tribes of the plateau area. In one village, a visitor in the late 1960s counted sixteen still-venerated tombs.
Coteries of disciples frequently clustered around particular saints, especially those who preached an original tariqa (devotional "way"). Brotherhoods of the followers of such mystical teachers appeared in North Africa at least as early as the eleventh century and in some cases became mass movements. The founder ruled an order of followers, who were organized under the frequently absolute authority of a leader, or sheikh. The brotherhood was centered on a zawiya.
Sufi adherents gathered into brotherhoods, and Sufi orders became extremely popular, particularly in rural areas. Sufi brotherhoods exercised great influence and ultimately played an important part in the religious revival that swept through North Africa during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In Libya, when the
Senusiyya
The Senusiyya, or Senussi movement, was a sufi religious revival adapted to desert life. Its zawiyas could be found in Tripolitania and Fezzan, but its influence was strongest in Cyrenaica. The Senusiyya's first theocracy was in the city of Bayda, Cyrenaica and that was their center in 1841. After the Italian occupation, the focus turned from government to seminary education and then to the creation of an Islamic University which became in 1960 the University of Mohammed bin Ali al-Sanusi. The arrival of Gaddafi's rule changed the course of the university. It is now known as the Omar Al-Mukhtar University.
The Senussis formed a nucleus of resistance to the Italian colonization of Libya. As Libyan nationalism fostered by unified resistance to the Italians gained adherents, however, the religious fervor of devotion to the movement began to wane, particularly after the Italians destroyed Senussi religious and educational centers during the 1930s. Nonetheless, Idris of Libya was the grandson of the founder of the Senussi movement, and his status as a Senussi gave him the unique ability to command respect from the disparate parts of the Kingdom of Libya.
Despite its momentary political prominence, the Senussi movement never regained its strength as a religious force after its zawiyas were destroyed. A promised restoration never fully took place, and the Idrisid regime used the Senussi heritage as a means of legitimizing political authority rather than to provide religious leadership.
After unseating Idris in 1969, the revolutionary government placed restrictions on the operation of the remaining zawiyas, appointed a supervisor for Senussi properties, and merged the Senussi-sponsored Islamic University with the
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-37860-7.
- ^ "Pakistani Ahmedis Held". January 16, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
- ISBN 978-1-136-65457-2.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division.
External links
- Libyan Quran Reciter Archived 2007-04-20 at the Wayback Machine with live Quran for streaming.