The two successive assaults on the shrines of Sheikh ‘Abdullah al-Shaab’ in Tripoli and ‘Abd As-Salam Al-Asmar’ in Zliten – 160 kilometers east of Tripoli – this past August, were not the first armed Salafist attacks on ancient Sufi landmarks in Libya. ‘Sidi Obeid’ Cemetery in Benghazi, eastern Libya, and the tomb of ‘Sidi Nasr’ in Suluq, 50 km south of Benghazi, were previously vandalized by Salafist groups.

The two successive assaults on the shrines of Sheikh ‘Abdullah al-Shaab’ in Tripoli and ‘Abd As-Salam Al-Asmar’ in Zliten – 160 kilometers east of Tripoli – this past August, were not the first armed Salafist attacks on ancient Sufi landmarks in Libya. ‘Sidi Obeid’ Cemetery in Benghazi, eastern Libya, and the tomb of ‘Sidi Nasr’ in Suluq, 50 km south of Benghazi, were previously vandalized by Salafist groups.

Shrines were also attacked in Derna, approximately 200 km east of Benghazi, which has been the most prominent, heavily armed and extreme stronghold of Islamic groups in Libya for decades. According to the people of Derna, the famous ‘Sahaba Mosque’ was attacked in July 2011 by a group from the armed battalion of ‘Rafallah al-Sahati,’ which denied it in a later statement.

Despite late and useless condemnations and denunciations by the president of the General National Conference, the prime minister, the minister of the interior and the Mufti, the series of attacks has not stopped.

‘Polytheists’ and ‘ignorant’

The Sufi-Salafist conflict dates back to centuries of ideological differences.  While Salafists describe Sufis as heretic, dervish, and even polytheist, according to their fatwas, Sufists raise the slogan of ‘ignorance and obscurantism’, condemning militant Salafists’ acts and describing them as dull and backward.

In the midst of the conflict, which has been exacerbated by the rise of political Islam, the number of youth turning to takfir is thought to come from Saudi Arabia and has been on the rise.

Due to the momentum of the Sufi heritage deeply rooted in the history of Libya, with growing cells of armed Islamist groups and fatwas of Wahhabism, this conflict was for three decades – as of the 1980s – an important card used by the former regime within its exclusionary practices to eliminate the risk of Salafism, which antagonized it since its inception in the country, though at the expense of distorting Sufist thought.

‘Rats’

Faraj Fakhiri is a 40-year old Salafist who works as an imam in ‘Ansar’ mosque in Tobruk, 450 km east of Benghazi. He describes the nature of this dispute, recalling what happened to him during his imamate under Gaddafi: “Imams and preachers were prevented from speaking their opinions on pulpits; otherwise, informers of the Awqaf Authority would rat on them.”

“In 2004, I was officially assigned as the imam of Ansar mosque by the Public Authority for Endowments and Zakat Affairs (PAEZA) of Tobruk. I thought that would help me feed my big family, but I have received nothing so far. After the revolution, I was surprised that they had paid may salary for two years, but it had been sent to the Office of Tobruk not to my personal account,” Fakhiri adds.

“Appointment of preachers”, says Fakhiri, “required approval of the internal security and filling a so-called ‘acquaintance card,’ which contained many intelligence questions that identified how loyal the applicant was. Furthermore, PAEZA meetings were held at the office of the Revolutionary Working Group that promoted Gaddafi’s ideas.”

In addition, some Sufi rites unfounded in the Quran or Sunnah were imposed on imams. “We were”, explains Fakhiri, “obligated to repeat piety prayer at dawn prayers, and hymns during nightly prayers in Ramadan”, which are, “Sufi rituals that provoke resentment of Salafists who consider them a clear violation of the Sunnah.”

Disagreement and controversy

It is fair to say, says Khalifa Graybeal, a 25-year old pharmacist and imam of Al-Arqam ibn-abil-Arqam mosque in Tobruk, that “correct Sufism is not different from the Sunnah and doctrine of ancestors.”

We criticize ‘Sufis’ because they confine worship to chanting praise poems and holding Hadarat [sacred dance], “sessions held only by sorcerers”, he says.

“Nevertheless”, says Khalifa, “we regret the vandalism of some shrines, tombs and beacons of science, which are landmarks and icons of the history of the country. I greatly wished that had been under the supervision of a panel of scholars.”

We cannot settle for Salafists’ opinion alone, even if it is moderate and fair, as described by ‘Ali Sassi’, a Ph.D. student from Tripoli, specializing in Sharia science. “There is a confusion and slur on Sufism by many militant Salafists. Sufism has never been confined to praises and what is promoted by some mercenary intruders. It is much greater,” he says.

Sassi Also denies Sufism’s submission to the policy of the former regime, describing it as simple, content, and peaceful. “Sufism sometimes falls under the control of tyrants who use it to realize their own goals and policies,” Sassi insists.

“I’m a Sufi, a son of a Sufi”, explains Sassi, “and I have never felt that I commit acts that anger God or violate the correct Sunnah. In order to correct our situation, we have to be tolerant and promote a culture of dialogue through gentle persuasion, science and knowledge.”

Sovereignty

The Libya Scholars Commission expressed dissatisfaction with escalating armed attacks on many famous Islamic landmarks. While it emphasized the need to respect the state’s prestige and security, it condemned some practices that were in violation of the law of God and the Sunnah.

Sheikh Nasr Sa’eed Aqqoub, a senior scholar of the Commission that was established after the revolution, says, “Libyans form a religious society, and what is happening now between the two currents cannot be resolved by force.”

Aqqoub suggests that the Salafi-Sufi conflict is cultural and intellectual, and cannot be confined to disagreements over grave removals. In his opinion, dialogue and argument are the alternative to ‘military force’.

Despite their thorny controversy, both parties managed to coexist in Libya for long decades. However, the spread of weapons and prevalence of a principle that “the strongest is (the most) righteous” has led the Salafist current to impose its principles by force on Sufism, a belief that raises a slogan of ‘peace and love’ at all times.