The paper examines the role and importance assigned to the ‘ulama’ and religious elites in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica by the Italian colonial authorities. In Libya, under Italian colonial rule, religious elites and ‘ulama’ played an important role in society as Islam not only legitimated the resistance but also became a fundamental element for colonial policies . Since the occupation of Tripoli (1911) Italians proclaimed the principle of religious freedom and guaranteed complete respect for Muslim practises. However, the Italian occupation of Libya had been planned without a preliminary cultural knowledge of the territories. Interestingly a completely different attitude was used by the invaders vis-à-vis the Muslim brotherhoods. This particular interest in the brotherhoods was hardly disinterested. Italians paid attention to them because they realised their effective political power, and assumed their support could facilitate the penetration into the countryside. During the Fascist regime, the policy religious freedom in Libya did not change (at least on paper). This positive attitude towards Islam was, in realty, part of a broader policy geared towards co-opting Muslim elites against British hegemony in the area. The Fascist propaganda put a great deal of effort to present the Arabs as possible allied in the struggle for the Mediterranean. A series of initiatives, such as the creation in 1935 of the Institute of Islamic Studies in Tripoli were taken to please Muslim elites. As far as Libya was concerned, the purpose of these initiatives was to create an elite that would facilitate the administrative and political tasks in the colony. Participation to courses offered by the Institute conferred the title of ‘alim – required to practise in shari’a courts and to apply for the position of qadis and muftis. This paper clarifies the complex and intertwined relationships between brotherhoods and Italian colonialists and outlines the impact of the IIS on the community of ‘ulama’, and their political attitudes.

Italian Colonial Rule and the Muslim Elites in Libya: a Relationship of Antagonism and Collaboration

BALDINETTI, Anna
2009

Abstract

The paper examines the role and importance assigned to the ‘ulama’ and religious elites in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica by the Italian colonial authorities. In Libya, under Italian colonial rule, religious elites and ‘ulama’ played an important role in society as Islam not only legitimated the resistance but also became a fundamental element for colonial policies . Since the occupation of Tripoli (1911) Italians proclaimed the principle of religious freedom and guaranteed complete respect for Muslim practises. However, the Italian occupation of Libya had been planned without a preliminary cultural knowledge of the territories. Interestingly a completely different attitude was used by the invaders vis-à-vis the Muslim brotherhoods. This particular interest in the brotherhoods was hardly disinterested. Italians paid attention to them because they realised their effective political power, and assumed their support could facilitate the penetration into the countryside. During the Fascist regime, the policy religious freedom in Libya did not change (at least on paper). This positive attitude towards Islam was, in realty, part of a broader policy geared towards co-opting Muslim elites against British hegemony in the area. The Fascist propaganda put a great deal of effort to present the Arabs as possible allied in the struggle for the Mediterranean. A series of initiatives, such as the creation in 1935 of the Institute of Islamic Studies in Tripoli were taken to please Muslim elites. As far as Libya was concerned, the purpose of these initiatives was to create an elite that would facilitate the administrative and political tasks in the colony. Participation to courses offered by the Institute conferred the title of ‘alim – required to practise in shari’a courts and to apply for the position of qadis and muftis. This paper clarifies the complex and intertwined relationships between brotherhoods and Italian colonialists and outlines the impact of the IIS on the community of ‘ulama’, and their political attitudes.
2009
9789004169531
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11391/149563
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