Islamists' growing sway raises questions for Lbiya

[Revy]

Islamists' growing sway raises questions for Libya (http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_18897166?source=rss)



In the emerging post-Gadhafi Libya, the most influential politician may well be Ali Sallabi, who has no formal title but commands broad respect as an Islamic scholar and populist orator who was instrumental in leading the mass uprising.

The most powerful military leader is now Abdel Hakim Belhaj, the former leader of a hard-line group once believed to be aligned with al-Qaida.

Islamist militias in Libya receive weapons and financing directly from foreign benefactors like Qatar; a Muslim Brotherhood figure, Abel al-Rajazk Abu Hajar, leads the Tripoli
Municipal Governing Council, where Islamists are reportedly in the majority; in eastern Libya, there has been no resolution of the assassination in July of the leader of the rebel military, Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, suspected by some to be the work of Islamists.

Belhaj has become so much an insider lately that he is seeking to unseat Mahmoud Jibril, the American-trained economist who is the nominal prime minister of the interim government, after Jibril obliquely criticized the Islamists.
Libya's new leader calls for civil state (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/2011912214219388500.html)


Abdul-Jalil, who served as Gaddafi's justice minister before joining the rebels at the uprising's start, defined the government he says the NTC hopes to create.

"We strive for a state of the law, for a state of prosperity, for a state that will have Islamic sharia law the basis of legislation," he said.

[EvilRedGuy]

Fucking Islamists :(

[Tjis]

How is this different from politicians saying they base their politics on judeo-christian values? What is so scary about politics based on sharia law in particular? Isn't the end result in both cases a socially conservative state that is still business friendly?

[EvilRedGuy]

You misunderstood me my friend, where did i say that any other religions isn't equally bad as Islam? They are all conservative low-minded anti-social capitalist supporters, its just that in this case we are talking about Islam.

What's so scary about religion? Well i thought this was obvious for you being an anarchist/communist, that they are homophobic, sexist, racist, xenophobic, anti-multicultural, and completely reactionary in every point. Just like all major religions more or less are. :)

[Tjis]

But the problem here is not Islam at all. The problem is that a NATO-backed group of capitalists took over Libya. Which reactionary ideology they'll use to justify their actions is not all that relevant.
The people in charge are not crazy religious nuts hell-bent on establishing a replica of the 7th century caliphate. They are not Al-Quaeda or the Taliban. They're businessmen, military people and government officials of the old regime that managed to switch sides in time. Their ideology is not primarily shaped by any interpretation of Islam but by their own selfish desire for money and power. 'Islam' is just how they'll package it to a predominantly muslim population. They'll pick and choose their koran quotations to fit whatever policy they want to establish. And the only religious clergy that is ever going to gain any power are the ones whose ideology is in line with these same business interests.

In short, it will be the Libian bourgeoisie that will control their flavor of islam, and what is done in the name of islam. Islam won't control the bourgeoisie.

Islam itself (just like any other religion) is just a bunch of texts and traditions. How a religion is expressed in a society depends on material circumstances. Religions do not shape society, society shapes religion. So it is no surprise that under a reactionary regime the official islam will also be reactionary. But that doesn't mean Islam is inherently reactionary. For example, a popular movement for a socialist Libya would probably give rise to a progressive version of islam, maybe the muslim equivalent of liberation theology. While there are plenty of reasons to criticize liberation theology, it's still progressive and a worthy component of any social movement in Latin America. A similar thing is possible in the Arabic world.