Libyans are fighting extremism with Sufism and moderation

Two years ago, AFP published a picture of ISIS elements gathering inside a mosque in Libya, warning that extremists would take control of the mosque pulpits and use them as platforms to spread extremist ideology and recruit youth. But with the political developments and the conflict raging between the Brotherhood and Turkish-backed militias in Libya, there has been renewed discussion about the role of Sufism and moderate imams in restoring the pulpits.

Corona and terrorism

In June, the Libyan Endowments Authority issued a decision to reopen mosques and receive worshipers, with measures that include social distancing to limit the spread of the Covid-19 corona virus. Hence, Libya is battling both the corona pandemic and the scourge of extremism.

Less than a month after the mosques were opened, clashes occurred in the city of Zawiya, near Tripoli, between groups that follow Sufism and others that follow Salafism. This led to the intervention by security forces after one group shaved the beards of members of the other group in protest of the way they followed in prayer.

Extremist control

Khairallah Mohammed, an imam and preacher in the city of Wadi al-Hayat in southern Libya, said that the mosques were under the control of qualified sheikhs who had graduated from the Faculty of Islamic Studies at Al-Asmarya University and followed the moderate ideology of Sufism. Afterwards, the extremists took advantage of the state’s weakness and the division of the government. Terrorist groups took control of some of the joints of the state and then took the moderate imams from the pulpits and attacked them.

Mohammed told the Reference that the extremists labeled the imams as immoral and the people of Sufism as innovators. Even now, some mosques in Libya are still under their control despite being popularly rejected, as the Libyan people by nature tend towards Sufism and moderation, rejecting extremism.

He added that society does not welcome to the extremists, although they still have power in some areas, while the moderates and Sufis are working to confront them by organizing lectures and conferences in schools and mosques in order to save the youth who have been drawn into militancy, inviting them to return and learn the moderate approach so as to defeat fanaticism and terrorism.

The battle to restore mosque pulpits

Akram al-Jarari, head of the Libyan branch of the International Organization for Al-Azhar Graduates, said that the terrorist groups took advantage of the Libyan people’s simplicity, as there are no sects or parties in Libya. The groups raised slogans about implementing God's law, which the Libyan people sympathized with, but when the populace saw the assassinations, the fraud of extremist leaders, and the spread of terrorism, they rejected them. He pointed out that the extremists present in Libya aim to bring down Egypt and break its foundations.

Regarding the battle to reclaim the pulpits from the militants, Jarari assured the Reference that Al-Azhar is training Libyan imams and preachers to correct misconceptions about Islam and to respond to suspicions propagated by the extremist currents in Libya, aiming to immunize the people of Libya from joining terrorist groups. They learn how to refute extremist ideas in a modern style that suits all groups, in addition to introducing Islam’s tolerance and moderation.

Jarari added that there is full coordination with the security services and municipalities in the governorates, as well as the Security Directorate and social councils, to organize advocacy work and spread the moderate ideology in mosques and schools through seminars, lectures and workshops to combat the extremist elements’ control.