Ali al-Sallabi

Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, or al-Salabi (Arabic: علي محمد الصلابي‎; born 1963 in Benghazi) is a Muslim cleric, religious scholar and Islamist[1][2] politician from Libya. He was arrested by the Gaddafi regime, then left Libya and studied Islam in Saudi Arabia and Sudan during the 1990s. He then studied in Qatar under Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual head of the international Muslim Brotherhood and returned to Libya during the 2011 overthrow of Gaddafi and distributed weapons, money and aid to Islamist groups in the country. His actions were criticized by members of the internationally recognized Libyan government under the National Transitional Council who he in turn criticized as being secular.

Sallabi has written several books which have been published and widely distributed by Saudi-based companies to English and Arabic speaking audiences.

Politics

During Gaddafi regime

Under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, Sallabi was detained in the infamous Abu Salim prison for eight years. After being released, he studied theology in Saudi Arabia and Sudan,[1] obtaining his doctorate in 1999 from the Omdurman Islamic University in Sudan.

In 1999 Sallabi moved to Qatar where he studied under Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual head of the international Muslim Brotherhood who lives in Doha, the Qatari capital.[2][3]

Sallabi is also associated with Abdelhakim Belhadj, emir of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and one of the commanders of the National Liberation Army.[2][4] In 2009 Al-Sallabi began acting as a mediator in negotiations between the Gaddafi government and the LIFG (whose members were in prison).[5]

During Libyan Revolution of 2011

During the Libyan Revolution of 2011 Sallabi was Qatar's main distributor of the Qatari government's military, humanitarian and cash aid[1] to the Libyan rebels and much of this aid ended up in the hands of Islamists like Belhadj who commanded a rebel group in Libya's western mountains and and Sallabi's brother Ismail, who commanded a rebel group from Benghazi.[6]

In October 2011, the international relations expert Daniel Wagner described Sallabi as Libya's most influential politician.[7]

Following the Libyan Civil War of 2011

In November 2011, after the death of Gaddafi, al-Sallabi announced the formation of the National Gathering for Freedom, Justice and Development, an Islamic party that would follow "Turkish-style moderation"[8] and would run in the country's upcoming elections.[2]

Al-Sallabi has sharply criticised Mahmoud Jibril, the president of the National Transitional Council, Libya's interim government. Al-Sallabi has denounced Jibril and his allies as "extreme secularists" who would try to enrich themselves. He claimed that the new administration was "worse than Gaddafi."[9]

The internationally recognized Libyan government under the National Transitional Council criticized Sallabi and the Qatari government for overwhelmingly supporting Islamist factions of the Libyan rebels. Qatar's arming of Islamists who were opposed to the secularists in the National Transitional Council was said to be one of the main reasons that the NTC was underable to establish a monopoly on security in the country following the overthrow of Gaddafi.[10]

Works

Sallabi has written no less than 10 books which have been translated into English and published by two Saudi-based publishing houses with offices in the United States (Darussalam Publishers and International Islamic Publishing House).

Al-Sallabi has also gained a wide audience among Muslims in the West due to his vast writings and scholarship on the early history of Islam. His biographical works on the Prophet Muhammad and the early Caliphate add up to over 8,000 pages across several volumes. They have been translated in their entirety into English by several reputable publishers. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dagher, Sam; Levinson, Charles; Coker, Margaret (17 October 2011). "Tiny Kingdom's Huge Role in Libya Draws Concern". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Libyan cleric announces new party on lines of 'moderate' Islamic democracy". The Telegraph, 10 November 2011. Accessed 26 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "Qatar and the Arab Spring: Support for Islamists and New Anti - Syrian Policy" (PDF), German Institute for International and Security Affairs, February 2012, retrieved 15 February 2016
  4. ↑ "Libyan Islamist demands role for 'moderate' Islam", Ahram Online, 10 October 2011, retrieved 15 February 2012
  5. ↑ Nakhoul, Samia (11 March 2011). "Libyan scholar urges help for rebels fighting Gaddafi". Reuters Africa. Reuters. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Qatar and the Arab Spring: Support for Islamists and New Anti - Syrian Policy" (PDF), German Institute for International and Security Affairs, February 2012, retrieved 15 February 2016
  7. ↑ Wagner, Daniel (8 October 2011). "Libya’s Coming Islamist Government". Journal of Foreign Relations. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  8. ↑ "Many similarities in Arab Spring, European chaos". CNN World, 21 November 2011. Accessed 26 November 2001.
  9. ↑ McDonnell, Patrick J. (14 September 2011). "Libyan rebel factions showing fissures". Denver Post. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "Qatar and the Arab Spring: Support for Islamists and New Anti - Syrian Policy" (PDF), German Institute for International and Security Affairs, February 2012, retrieved 15 February 2016
  11. ↑ http://www.kalamullah.com/ali-sallabi.html
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