Sanūsīya

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The white crescent moon with a star on a black background is the banner of the Sanusiya. It was later used as the inspiration for the flag of Cyrenaica and as part of the flag of Libya .

The Sanūsīya , also called the Senussi order ( Arabic السنوسية, DMG as-Sanūsīya ), was a Sufist Islamic brotherhood that had great religious and political importance in Libya from 1843 to 1969 .

history

Origin (1837–1855)

The Islamic order ( Tariqa ), known in Europe mainly as the Senussi Brotherhood, was founded in Mecca in 1837 by the pilgrim Muhammad as-Sanusi (1787-1859) from Algeria . It emerged as a puritan religious reform movement based strongly on Arab Wahabism . Like other Salafist currents in Islam, he strove for the renewal of Islam by returning to the pure teaching of the Koran and Sunna .

This purpose should not only serve the ascetic way of life and the intensive study of scriptures, but also Sufi practices such as meditation and various ecstasy techniques based on the model of the dervishes . In contrast to these, the Senussi strive for the unio mystica not with God, but with the spirit of the prophet Mohammed . The founder of the order himself was said to be able to enter into direct communication with the prophet at any time. Therefore, the Senussi apply his interpretations of the Koran and Sunna as binding.

In 1843 as-Sanusi moved the center of his order to northeast Libya . The local Cyrenaica was at that time a remote and backward province of the Ottoman Empire with relatively little political control. As-Sanusi therefore seemed particularly well suited to following the example of the Sufi mystic Sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris al-Fasi , who had been running a small, economically, legally and militarily self-sufficient community in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula since 1835.

The first settlement was established in al-Bayda in the north -east Libyan coastal mountains of the Jabal Achdar . In addition to prayer and mystical immersion, the friars also practiced weapons technology and agriculture there. They were supposed to earn their own living and for this purpose they practiced agriculture, trade and handicrafts. Similar to the Christian religious orders, the Senussi branches also had their own schools.

Due to the diligence and tight organization of the friars, the community developed very successfully in the following years. From the mother convent in al-Bayda, 80 further religious houses have now been built, mainly in Cyrenaica, but also in other regions of Libya. The increasing power of the Sanussiya now also led to the fact that the Ottoman rulers recognized the order as a competitor. For example, after attacks by the Ottoman governor in Libya, the center of the order in al-Bayda had to be abandoned in 1855.

The religious states in al-Jaghbub and Kufra (1856–1911)

Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Sanusi, leader of the Sanusiya 1859–1902

From 1856 the brotherhood established its new center in the remote oasis al-Jaghbub , about 500 km southeast of al-Bayda. The city was fortified, an Islamic university and a large mosque were built. Under Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi (1859-1902), the son and successor of the founder of the order, who died in 1859, a religious state could be established from al-Jaghub without the competing Ottoman administration in the following years, which was not at the height of its power only the Libyan desert , but the entire Eastern Sahara dominated. Of great importance was the control of the important caravan route from Benghazi via Kufra to Wadai , which was the only significant Trans-Saharan route completely outside the control of the European powers. In this way, mainly slaves from the Sahel zone were brought to the Mediterranean, while in return mainly older European firearms were negotiated to the south.

During this time the Sanusiya was of great importance for the cultivation and Islamization of the Southeast Sahara and the adjacent Sahel zone. In these areas in particular, numerous new religious settlements emerged, which functioned as regional centers of religious and economic development. By 1884 the number of branches grew to 121.

But even in Cyrenaica the order was still extremely influential due to its numerous branches, despite the existing rivalry, the Ottoman laws partially favored the brotherhood. Religious foundations were exempt from taxes, and by the end of Ottoman rule, the Sanusiya was able to take possession of 200,000 hectares of land in Kyrenaica .

Concerned about new attacks by the Ottomans and to reduce the spatial distance to their mission areas, the Sanusiya relocated their religious center again far south in the year 1895, to the Kufra oases . From there the order reached the height of its influence, at the beginning of the 20th century the number of branches had grown to over 150. It was now also represented in Fessan and Tripolitania , in Egypt , from the western Sudan region , via Wadai to Lake Chad , as well as in Arabia and even in India .

The far-reaching control of the Sanusiya over the Eastern Sahara was first compromised when France attacked the Sultanate of Wadai in 1909 and partially occupied it. The order, which had previously had very great political influence there, supported the sultanate on the one hand by delivering weapons, but also intervened militarily in the fight for Wadai . In the years that followed, the Sanusi could not be defeated by the French colonial troops, but sole control of the important caravan route from Wadai to Benghazi was lost.

Ahmad al-Sharif al-Sanusi, leader of the Sanusiya 1902–1916

The Italian Colonial Era (1911–1943)

The threat to the religious, political and economic interests of the order became even greater when Italian colonial troops landed on the Libyan coast in October 1911. Ahmad al-Sharif (1902–1916) did not hesitate to end the rivalry with the Ottoman Empire and to support it in the Italo-Turkish War . The Italians suffered a severe setback in the first major battle in Sidi Kraiyem near Darnah . Even after the Ottoman Empire ceded Libya to Italy in the Peace of Ouchy in November 1912 , Ahamad al-Sharif and his brotherhood continued the fight. He now used his high spiritual reputation to call for jihad against the foreign invaders, not only in Libya, but in the entire Islamic world. Due to the great influence of the Sanusiya in Cyrenaica, it was easy for him to unite the local tribes in the fight against the Italians. In the following years, many more successes against the Italian colonial troops followed, so that in 1915 they only had individual bases on the coast under their control.

As the Italians were almost defeated, Ahmad al-Sharif was encouraged by the Ottoman Empire in November 1915 to open new fronts against France and England against the backdrop of the First World War . In Algeria, the Tuareg were encouraged to revolt against the French colonial rulers, with the support of smaller departments of the order. The main advance, however, was to be made in Egypt against England. The plan provided for the Sanusi to invade Egypt from al-Jaghbub via Siwa to help reinstate the Khedive Abbas Hilmi, who was overthrown by the British in 1914 . The German Reich also supported the order with arms deliveries. For this purpose, German submarines operated between the ports of the Central Powers and the Libyan coast from November 1915 to October 1918 . But after initial successes, the Sanusi were decisively defeated by Anglo-Egyptian troops near Sollum in March 1916 .

Because of the defeat Ahmad al-Sharif resigned from the leadership of the Order and handed them to his 26 year old cousin Muhammad Idris (1916-1969), later known as Idris I. King of Libya was. Meanwhile, the Italians and English pushed the brotherhood more and more on the defensive, in August 1918 the remaining troops of the order were encircled in their last remaining base in Misrata . Ahmad al-Sharif only had to flee on a German submarine that landed there, while Muhammad Idris took over the peace negotiations with the victors.

Since Italy was politically and economically very weak after the First World War, the colonial rulers were ready to make major concessions after the end of the war. Muhammad Idris in 1918, recognizing the Italian supremacy as regent in Cyrenaica and in 1922 as the Emir of Tripolitania within the colony Italian Libya acknowledged.

Umar al-Muchtar

After Mussolini came to power in 1923, Italy broke these agreements just a few years later; the Italian colonial policy now clearly increased in aggressiveness. The entire property of the order was expropriated and most of it was given to Italian resettlers. Muhammad Idris fled into exile in Cairo , while the resistance of the brotherhood and the local population was led by the Koran teacher and mayor Umar al-Muchtar .

Numerous Italian war crimes accompanied the violent and costly guerrilla war that followed in Cyrenaica. A somewhat grotesque event attracted international attention in June 1929, when some tribal leaders and associations of the Sanusiya gave up the resistance and received the Italian governor Pietro Badoglio in Barca with a Roman salute and a horse parade. He used the opportunity to threaten everyone who did not surrender their weapons: “Not a single insurgent will ever find peace again, neither he, nor his family, nor his clan, nor his heirs. I will destroy everything, people and their property alike. May God enlighten you so that you can make the right choice. [...] This is my first and last word. "

In 1931 the Sanusiya suffered two major setbacks. On January 19, the Italian troops succeeded in taking the center of the order in the Kufra oases in a major offensive carried out with tanks and bombers. In September Umar al-Muchtar was captured by Italian troops and publicly executed after a show trial. After that, the brotherhood was only able to continue its fight clearly weakened. In 1934 the Italian governor announced that the uprising had been suppressed.

During the fighting in North Africa in World War II , the Brotherhood supported the Allied troops, but was of little strategic importance. It was not until 1943 that Muhammad Idris returned from exile and appeared with the recently founded “Sanusi Liberation Army”.

British Military Administration and Kingdom of Libya (1943–1969)

King Idris was also the spiritual head of the Sanusiya order

After the end of Italian colonial rule, Muhammad Idris gained a lot of influence as the most important local ally of the Allies. He was proclaimed Emir of Cyrenaica in 1949 and, in 1951, on the initiative of the United Nations, was appointed Regent of the Kingdom of Libya by the United Nations . As a monarch, however, Idris faced major domestic political problems. The population of the much more populous province of Tripolitania often felt disadvantaged compared to Cyrenaica. In 1963 the capital of the country was relocated to the old religious center al-Baida. Despite rich oil discoveries, the social tensions in the country could not be resolved. In the 1960s, new ideas such as pan-Arabism and Nasserism came to the country. The monarch's close alliance with the Western powers and the existence of western military bases in Libya also caused great resentment among his Islamic-Orthodox supporters, as this was perceived as a “betrayal of the Arab-Islamic heritage”. The 1967 Six Day War , in which the King did not assist Egypt, sparked violent pan-Arab protests.

On September 1, 1969, King Idris I was overthrown by the Association of Free Officers, led by Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi . He went into exile again in Egypt. The Sanusiya Order was banned in the new Arab Republic of Libya .

Despite the official ban, up to a third of the Sunnis in Libya are said to have remained connected to the tradition of the order under Gaddafi . The American embassy in Tripoli reported in 2008 that the small and remote mosques in Cyrenaica, built in the Sufi tradition of the Sanusiya, could hardly be controlled by the Libyan authorities. This is said to have partially favored the founding of Islamist groups such as the Libyan Islamic Combat Group .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ libyen.com: The Islamic Congregation of the Senussi. Retrieved May 20, 2011 .
  2. ^ Joachim Willeitner: Libya. Tripolitania, Syrtebogen, Fezzan and the Cyrenaica. Cologne 2011, ISBN 978-3-7701-4876-9 , p. 323.
  3. ↑ Wolfram Oehms: The Sanusiyya and the Transsahara slave trade of the 19th and 20th centuries , Historical Seminar of the University of Hamburg 2005, p. 3 u. 13.
  4. ↑ Snussi. In: Brockhaus Konversationslexikon. 14th edition. Leipzig 1908.
  5. ^ Walter Schicho: Handbook Africa. Volume 3. North and East Africa. Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-86099-122-1 , p. 126.
  6. ^ Claudia Anna Gazzini: Jihad in Exile: Ahmad al-Sharif as-Sanusi 1918-1933. ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.0 MB) MA thesis, Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University 2004, p. 17. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.claudiagazzini.com
  7. ↑ tungsten Oehms: The Sanusiyya and the trans-Saharan slave trade of the 19th and 20th centuries . (PDF; 576 kB) History Seminar at the University of Hamburg 2005, p. 13.
  8. ^ Claudia Anna Gazzini: Jihad in Exile: Ahmad al-Sharif as-Sanusi 1918-1933. ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.0 MB) MA thesis, Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University 2004, pp. 19–25. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.claudiagazzini.com
  9. ^ Hans Werner Neulen: Feldgrau in Jerusalem. 2nd Edition. Universitas, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-8004-1437-6 , p. 100 ff.
  10. ^ Walter Schicho: Handbook Africa. Volume 3. North and East Africa. Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-86099-122-1 , p. 128.
  11. ↑ The Times , June 21, 1929, p. 14: The Senussi Surrender. Picturesque scene.
  12. ^ Walter Schicho: Handbook Africa. Volume 3. North and East Africa. Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-86099-122-1 , pp. 127ff.
  13. ^ Joachim Willeitner: Libya. Tripolitania, Syrtebogen, Fezzan and the Cyrenaica. Cologne 2011, ISBN 978-3-7701-4876-9 , p. 41.
  14. ^ Hanspeter Mattes (Federal Agency for Political Education): Libya - Green Revolution. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved May 1, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.bpb.de  
  15. ^ Joachim Willeitner: Libya. Tripolitania, Syrtebogen, Fezzan and the Cyrenaica. Cologne 2011, ISBN 978-3-7701-4876-9 , p. 24.
  16. ^ Libya, Religion. In: Brockhaus Encyclopedia. Vol. 16, 21st edition. 2006, ISBN 3-7653-4116-9 , p. 733.
  17. ↑ American Embassy Tripoli: Extremism in Eastern Libya. In: wikileaks / The Guardian . February 15, 2008, accessed May 20, 2011 .