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Political Islam in Libya: Transformation on the Way to Elitisation

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Political Islam in a Time of Revolt

Part of the book series: Islam and Nationalism ((INAT))

Abstract

Under Muammar Al-Gaddafi’s revolutionary government in Libya, there was no major Islamist movement in existence with capacity to represent most of population. The repression and the co-option caused the exile or demobilisation of those who aspired to form part of the Libyan political class. The outbreak of revolt in February 2011, the subsequent civil war, and ulterior legislative and constituent processes enabled Islamists to abandon their clandestine situation and to start a process of emergence in public space, renovation of its bases and elitisation. The Justice and Construction Party (JCP) (Muslim Brotherhood in Libya) is the Islamist party that has benefited most from these processes. But the current instability, with different groups claiming the representative legitimacy of the state, has favoured the continuation of the atomisation of political Islam and the persistence of fighting brigades, including transnational jihadist groups.

This text forms part of the research projects: “Popular revolts from the Mediterranean to Central Asia: historical genealogy, power cleavages and identity factors”, HAR2012-34053, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    On the sociology of power, see (Izquierdo-Brichs 2008), (Izquierdo-Brichs and Lampridi-Kemou 2012), (Lampridi-Kemou 2012), (Izquierdo-Brichs and Etherington 2017).

  2. 2.

    Sympathetic sectors of MB joined the National Front for Salvation of Libya (NFSL), which was created in the early 1980s, and which combined its political work with covert military actions with support of US and UK secret services.

  3. 3.

    This is one of the few cases in which the regime’s co-option mechanisms seem to have been carried out, with some of their members being granted positions as imams.

  4. 4.

    In April 1986, the United States bombed Tripoli and Benghazi in reprisal for the previous terrorist attacks on US interests.

  5. 5.

    Islamic Jihad is accused of being behind the attempt to assassinate Soviet ministers in Tobruk in 1989. Several of its members were hanged, in an event that was broadcast on television. Some 1,500 people were arrested throughout the country.

  6. 6.

    Twenty-one presumed members of the group were indicted in spring 1982 for plotting against the regime, and eight of them were executed the following year.

  7. 7.

    We could quote here Sheikh Abu Yahya, Anas al-Libi, Abu Bakr al-Sharif, and Salah Fathi bin Suleiman.

  8. 8.

    In July 1996, they carried out an ambush of a group of security forces in which 26 soldiers died. From that moment on the group claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in different cities in the country (Benghazi, Sebha, Tobruk). In June 1998, the group attacked a convoy in which Gaddafi was travelling near Benghazi.

  9. 9.

    Some of the main reasons put forward for this were the differences over the management of operations (the role of the “Afghans” in the leadership), which led to a distancing from the GIA in June 1996 and subsequently from the Moroccans. See “The Guantanamo Moroccans”, Al-Hayat (London), February 16, 2005.

  10. 10.

    “Treasury Designates UK-Based Individuals, Entities Financing Al Qaida-Affiliated LIFG.” US. http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/js4016.htm [accessed May 20, 2016].

  11. 11.

    The sanctions included flights to Libya, the sale of aviation and military goods, the sale of equipment linked with the oil industry and the blocking of Libyan capital abroad. In 1998 the cost of the sanctions for Libya were estimated to have reached $24 billion. See: “Les éffects de l’embargo sur les finances extérieures de la Libye”, Marchés tropicaux, September 11, 1998, p. 1907.

  12. 12.

    Gaddafi was the target of seven attacks between 1982 and 1997, many of which were carried out by officers in Libya’s Armed Forces

  13. 13.

    al-Dāli, F. 2011. “Ḥiwār maʿ al-Shaykh Sālim al-Shaykhi”. Ṣaḥifat ʾĀfāq, 1(1): 6–7 (quoted in Sawani 2012: 6).

  14. 14.

    Quoted in Kohlmann and Lefkowitz (2007: 9): “Communiqué #1: The Declaration of the Establishment of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.” http://www.almuqatila.com/AMEER/bayanat/bayan1.htm. October 18, 1995.

  15. 15.

    Interview in 2006 with the spokesman for GICL, Abu Bakr al-Sharif (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/IN-LIBYA).

  16. 16.

    In response to an attack on its bases in the south of Afghanistan. Quoted in Kohlmann and Lefkowitz (2007: 12–13): “Communiqué #14 Regarding the American Attack against Sudan and Afghanistan (http://www.almuqatila.com/AMEER/bayanat/bayan14.htm) [accessed August 25, 1998].

  17. 17.

    See the report by Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2006/06/28/libya13636.htm) [accessed April 12, 2016].

  18. 18.

    “Corrective Studies in Understanding Jihad, Accountably, and the Judgment of people”. See the text in www.mediafire.com/?uiqiuyiqjzy/www.akhbar-libyaonline.com.

  19. 19.

    In 2006 more than 80 members of the MB who had been arrested in 1998 were released. Between 2007 and 2009, also released from jail were 136 members of LIFG.

  20. 20.

    See report of Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2006/06/28/libya13636.htm) [accessed September 9, 2015].

  21. 21.

    The Benghazi region was the first to raise up against the dictator, while the region of Sirte, where the Gaddafa were much more numerous, resisted the change (Daguzan and Moissenon 2011: 85).

  22. 22.

    The intervention started on March 19, 2011 to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, and finished on October 31.

  23. 23.

    In early 2000, the GCIL stated (through its spokesman Abu Bakr Al Sharif): “Any compromise with the secular opposition is impossible (…) Democratic ideals are not compatible with Islamic society” (quoted in Sfeir 2002: 330).

  24. 24.

    In 12 districts the elections could not be held due to boycotts and lack of security (Al Wasat, 21/07/2014 http://www.alwasat.ly/ar/news/libya/28172/.

  25. 25.

    Libya Herald 25/06/2013 (http://www.libyaherald.com).

  26. 26.

    Aljazeera Center Studies (2016). “As-Saytara ‘ala An-Naft: Makasib Haftar wa ‘awaqibih” Brief Policy, October. http://studies.aljazeera.net/ar/positionestimate/2016/10/161003104223811.html.

  27. 27.

    Libyan Ministry of Justice, 06/11/2014. http://aladel.gov.ly/home/?p=594.

  28. 28.

    Ahmed Ghaddaf Ad-Dam, “Ana ma’a Dae’sh” Alquds Al-Arabi. 18/01/2015: http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=281421.

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  1. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Laura Feliu & Rachid Aarab

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  1. Laura Feliu
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  2. Rachid Aarab
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Correspondence to Laura Feliu .

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  1. Autonomous University of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain

    Ferran Izquierdo Brichs

  2. Autonomous University of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain

    John Etherington

  3. Autonomous University of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain

    Laura Feliu

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Feliu, L., Aarab, R. (2017). Political Islam in Libya: Transformation on the Way to Elitisation. In: Izquierdo Brichs, F., Etherington, J., Feliu, L. (eds) Political Islam in a Time of Revolt. Islam and Nationalism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52833-5_7

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