Libya's ultra conservative Grand Mufti, Sheikh Sadeq
Al-Ghariani has continued with his meddling in the political arena. This week,
he called on Libyans to come out in their thousands to pressurise the Congress
to issue the Political Exclusion Law, issuing a fatwa ruling that doing so is
fard kifayah (a religious obligation).
In a bid to reach as wide an audience as possible, the Mufti,
who has made no bones about his support for the current uncompromising draft of
the Political Exclusion Law, also gave a lecture that was filmed and distributed
this week. In it Al-Ghariani proclaimed, “If this law can't be applied unless
one hundred thousand people come out, then this number of people have to come
out.”
Al-Ghirani declared, too, that in order to set up a proper
state Libya needed to issue the Political Exclusion Law to expel all former
regime loyalists who are now “penetrating the state”, and to reform the
judiciary and activate it in a proper manner, meaning that, in his view, it
should be purged of all those who have links to the former regime.
The Grand Mufti also made an outright attack on the government,
asserting that the state is “stealing hundreds of millions” and is stealing
public money on a wider scale than the former regime. Al-Ghirani called for all
corrupt elements who were part of the National Transitional Council's executive
office or the interim government or all those in the current government to be
held to account.
In a clear effort to pave the way in the public mind for an
Islamist alternative, the Mufti also asserted that “these governments are still
working in the same way as the former regime”.
While Al-Ghiriani is an influential figure who commands a great
deal of support and respect, his repeated insistence on intervening in politics
is prompting serious anger and resentment among some Libyans, particularly those
in the liberal camp. His assertion earlier this month in a letter to Minister of
Social Affairs Kamila Khamis Al-Mazini that Libyan women should not be allowed
to marry foreigners, including foreign Muslims, as well as his condemnation of
the latest UN report on violence against women, which the Dar Al-Ifta described
as “menacing”, caused outcry among certain Libyans who fear the Mufti's growing
political role and what they see as the increasing Islamisation of society.
For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focusand Libya Politics & Security.
© 2013 Menas Associates
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