secularbuster
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2011
- Messages
- 694
- Reaction score
- 0
Libyan leader hails wider role for Islam
Mary Beth Sheridan, Benghazi
October 25, 2011
Anti-Gaddafi fighters gesture to the crowds during celebrations. Photo: Reuters
LIBYA'S top leader has declared the country officially ''liberated'' from the four-decade rule of Muammar Gaddafi, pledging to replace his dictatorship with a more democratic but more strictly Islamic system.
In a speech to a cheering, flag-waving crowd, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the National Transitional Council, promised to ban interest on housing loans and scrap other laws that didn't conform to Islamic jurisprudence.
Although he lacks the power to make such changes himself, his comments, on such a symbolically significant day, suggested that Islam could play a greater role in public life in Libya. They also heightened an already intense debate over the role of Islam in the countries transformed by the Arab Spring.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Tens of thousands of Libyans poured into Keish square in Benghazi, the eastern city that was the cradle of the revolution, to celebrate the defeat of Gaddafi in an eight-month struggle. Few were bothered by the spectacle hundreds of kilometres away in the north-western city of Misrata, where Gaddafi's body was on display in a frozen-food locker for the third day.
Controversy has raged over the circumstances of Gaddafi's death after he was taken alive during the fall of his home town of Sirt on Thursday. The new Libyan authorities have insisted he died as a result of crossfire. Doctor Othman al-Zentani, who did an autopsy on Gaddafi's body, said he was ''killed by bullets'' after his capture.
In Benghazi, the crowd chanted: ''Lift your head, you are a proud Libyan.'' Some waved the flags of France and the US, both of which were part of an alliance that helped the anti-Gaddafi forces.
The new government faces daunting challenges, including persuading scores of militias across the country to lay down weapons and integrate into a new military and justice system. A first test for authorities will be putting together an interim cabinet to take the country to elections in eight months. Under a timeline set by the governing council, the new prime minister and cabinet are to be in place within 30 days. But some observers say it could take longer as regions that felt neglected by Gaddafi - such as Benghazi - press for more power.
Mr Abdel Jalil, a former justice minister, paid homage on Sunday to those who lost their lives in the civil war. ''This revolution started as peaceful, to demand the minimum. But Gaddafi started killing people with heavy weapons,'' he said.
In what surprised some in attendance, he gave prominence to the role of Islamic law in the new Libya, pledging to get rid of regulations that didn't conform to such law, including charging interest. ''The interest [on loans] will be ruled out. You will not pay it any more,'' he said, to thunderous applause. The Islamic banking system prohibits charging interest, which is regarded as usury.
Senior Libyan officials played down the changes Mr Abdel Jalil was proposing, saying that he wanted to outlaw interest on housing and personal loans, but not on business loans. He also envisioned changing marriage laws to make it easier for men to take a second wife, they said.
Under current Libyan law, a man seeking a second wife must receive his first wife's permission and appear before a judge.
Libya is a conservative Muslim society, in which alcohol is banned and many women wear head scarves. Gaddafi's government tolerated little dissent and often repressed Islamists. But Libya's Islamist groups appear to be the best organised among post-revolution political groups. The US government has been uneasy about the prominence of some Islamists among the revolutionaries, but Libya's new leaders have tried not to alienate them.
Read more: Libyan leader hails wider role for Islam
Mary Beth Sheridan, Benghazi
October 25, 2011
Anti-Gaddafi fighters gesture to the crowds during celebrations. Photo: Reuters
LIBYA'S top leader has declared the country officially ''liberated'' from the four-decade rule of Muammar Gaddafi, pledging to replace his dictatorship with a more democratic but more strictly Islamic system.
In a speech to a cheering, flag-waving crowd, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the National Transitional Council, promised to ban interest on housing loans and scrap other laws that didn't conform to Islamic jurisprudence.
Although he lacks the power to make such changes himself, his comments, on such a symbolically significant day, suggested that Islam could play a greater role in public life in Libya. They also heightened an already intense debate over the role of Islam in the countries transformed by the Arab Spring.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Tens of thousands of Libyans poured into Keish square in Benghazi, the eastern city that was the cradle of the revolution, to celebrate the defeat of Gaddafi in an eight-month struggle. Few were bothered by the spectacle hundreds of kilometres away in the north-western city of Misrata, where Gaddafi's body was on display in a frozen-food locker for the third day.
Controversy has raged over the circumstances of Gaddafi's death after he was taken alive during the fall of his home town of Sirt on Thursday. The new Libyan authorities have insisted he died as a result of crossfire. Doctor Othman al-Zentani, who did an autopsy on Gaddafi's body, said he was ''killed by bullets'' after his capture.
In Benghazi, the crowd chanted: ''Lift your head, you are a proud Libyan.'' Some waved the flags of France and the US, both of which were part of an alliance that helped the anti-Gaddafi forces.
The new government faces daunting challenges, including persuading scores of militias across the country to lay down weapons and integrate into a new military and justice system. A first test for authorities will be putting together an interim cabinet to take the country to elections in eight months. Under a timeline set by the governing council, the new prime minister and cabinet are to be in place within 30 days. But some observers say it could take longer as regions that felt neglected by Gaddafi - such as Benghazi - press for more power.
Mr Abdel Jalil, a former justice minister, paid homage on Sunday to those who lost their lives in the civil war. ''This revolution started as peaceful, to demand the minimum. But Gaddafi started killing people with heavy weapons,'' he said.
In what surprised some in attendance, he gave prominence to the role of Islamic law in the new Libya, pledging to get rid of regulations that didn't conform to such law, including charging interest. ''The interest [on loans] will be ruled out. You will not pay it any more,'' he said, to thunderous applause. The Islamic banking system prohibits charging interest, which is regarded as usury.
Senior Libyan officials played down the changes Mr Abdel Jalil was proposing, saying that he wanted to outlaw interest on housing and personal loans, but not on business loans. He also envisioned changing marriage laws to make it easier for men to take a second wife, they said.
Under current Libyan law, a man seeking a second wife must receive his first wife's permission and appear before a judge.
Libya is a conservative Muslim society, in which alcohol is banned and many women wear head scarves. Gaddafi's government tolerated little dissent and often repressed Islamists. But Libya's Islamist groups appear to be the best organised among post-revolution political groups. The US government has been uneasy about the prominence of some Islamists among the revolutionaries, but Libya's new leaders have tried not to alienate them.
Read more: Libyan leader hails wider role for Islam
