News and Views

Nazim Baksh: Muammar! Who is the Iblis now?

Published

February 26, 2011

Amir

There are two pictures on this page. Both are Libyans but a world of difference separates them. I believe one is the image of piety, the other, despicable evil. The image on the right is Sayyid Muhammad Idris Al-Mahdi As-Sanusi. He was born circa 1889 in Jaghbub when Libya was part of the Ottaman Khilafah. He was the first and only King of Libya. Those who knew him said he prayed Tahajjud every night and was outwardly pious. In 1969 the man on the left, Muammar Al-Gadafi, who has over 200 spelling of his name and whom the world will soon forget, staged a military coup and toppled Sidi Muhammad Idris. At this time Sidi Muhammad was in Turkey seeking medical treatment. After the coup the King was granted asylum in Egypt. He died on May 25, 1983 at the age of 94. He was buried in Madina Al-Munawwarah in the company of the best of God’s creation. His grandfather was the founder of the Sanusiyah Brotherhood (Tariqa). After Sidi Muhammad’s father died in 1902, he became the leader of the Sanusiyah Tariqa and its active leader when he 16. Following the Italian invasion of Libya in 1922 he was forced into exile in Egypt where he continued to lead his people. During WWII the exiled King recruited Libyan fighters to aid the Allied forces against Nazi Germany and the Axis. In 1947 he returned home and in 1949 the United Nations determined that representatives of three provinces should meet in a national assembly to decide their future. The assembly met and decided on a constitutional monarchy and offered the reign to Sidi Muhammad. In 1951 Libya declared its independence. The army rose up against the King dubbing him “Idris Iblis.”

Shaykh Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Zarruq Ehwass.

A senior member of the 1969 coup along with Gadafi was a young army Major named Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Zarruq Ehwass. He was my first serious Arabic and Islamic studies teacher. In those years he was the Libyan ambassador to Guyana (1977-1981), the country of my birth. Shaykh Ahmad was a pious man. He was a learned scholar, charismatic, generous, patient and kind. The youth of Guyana loved him and his regular weekly classes drew teenagers from remote regions of the country. Many traveled long distances risking their safety to attend his weekend classes in Georgetown.

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The elders respected him, but he was a stranger they never really got to know. He played cricket with us, but preferred soccer. He ate what we ate and sat on the floor to teach us the rules of Tajwid. In return, we taught him many Guyanese terms. He fell in love with our poor tropical third world country and was so involved in the affairs of its community that he adopted an orphaned infant raising him as his own. He and his wonderful wife didn’t have any children.

I never saw him get angry. He was a Hafiz of the Quran and recited it every night in prayers. Long after bedtime we would hear him reciting verses of the Quran from memory. He fasted every Monday and Thursday. He followed the Maliki Madhab, but knew enough of the Hanafi fiqh and adopted it in prayers so as not to cause disunity in our small vibrant community. He stood up when the majority of Muslims would stand to send Salat and Salam on the Prophet during the annual Mawlid celebrations. He considered Gadafi’s Green Book garbage and it was. I knew that when I was 15-years-old.

After the 69′ coup, Shaykh Ahmad came to see Gaddafi for what he was, a tyrant who did not deserve what he coveted. Convinced that the real “Iblis” was about to turn Libya into hell on earth, he spoke out and was jailed. Unable to keep him incarcerated, Gadafi assigned him to a host of diplomatic positions in Denmark, North Yemen, Somalia, South Yemen, Malaysia and finally Guyana. Ten years after the coup Shaykh Ahmad formed the Islamic Salvation Front for the Liberation of Libya. He was determined to correct the mistake of 1969 by force if necessary.

He quit his position as ambassador in 1981 and left Guyana. None of his many students who are now community activists in Florida, NY, Toronto and throughout the Caribbean, would ever see him again. I was the sole exception. At the ISNA conference in Sept. 1983 I met Shaykh Ahmad in Indianapolis. He was serious. Intense. Scarry in some ways. He was in the company of many Libyan men and some ‘shy’ Americans whom I later realized were masters at the dark art of espionage. I was 19 and none of it made sense to me at the time.

What became evident much later was that in the shadows of the Islamic confernce Shaykh Ahmad was planning a coup. King Idris would have been proud of the moral backbone of this son of Libya who so hated the injustices of Gadafi that he was determined to oust him. King Idris died that same year and knew that Gadafi was conducting a brutal campaign of assassination against hundreds of opponents to his regime. Human Rights organizations accounted for Libyan ‘Ulema who were killed by Gadafi, many during the Hajj in the most sacred Islamic cities. Eight months (May 8, 1984) after ISNA, Shaykh Ahmad and a group of armed fighters staged a failed coup at Bab Al-Aziziya. Media reports said they killed 30 bodyguards of Gadafi but did not succeed in getting him. Shaykh Ahmad was killed and Newsweek printed a picture of him with a story that hinted at the possibility that the men might have been betrayed.

What he started 30 years ago and ultimately gave his life to achieve, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Libyans, have sacrificed their lives trying to complete. I heard an Imam in Tripoli use the mimbar today (Feb. 25) to remind worshippers that the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported to have said: If you disapprove of your leaders do not raise your voices nor your swords in protests, otherwise you should be killed (i.e. capital punishment).” Someone should have reminded the young Colonel Gadafi of this in 1969. It’s a little too late now.

Source: NazimBaksh.ca

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Amir

Muslim American born in Brooklyn, NY with Guyanese parents currently living in Virginia working full-time as a web developer.

11 Comments

nazradeen

February 27, 2011 at 10:19 AM

AssalamuAlaikum

Thanks so much MM and Nazim for that historical article .
it brought back a lot memories for me in guyana in the 80s.
I was unfortunate to see Sh.Ahmad.

May Allah reward you all and Br.Nazim immensely.
nazradeen
new york.

Reply
Wael - IslamicAnswers.com

February 27, 2011 at 5:04 PM

I appreciate your perspective and history, though it does seem a bit hypocritical that you condemn Qadhafi for overthrowing the apparently pious King Idris, while giving your Sheikh Ehwass a pass for the same thing.

Also, without condeming Idris nor supporting Qadhafi, let me just point out that Idris’ monarchy at the time was widely accused of corruption. Idris was also unpopular for maintaining close ties with the USA and Britain even after their support for Israel in the 1967 war, and for purging Palestinian residents of Libya. Also, at the time a pan-Arab movement was sweeping the Arab world, with a lot of talk of unifying Arab nations; however, Idris was widely seen as uninterested in this, and that caused a lot of grumbling in the army.

When Qadhafi took power, he took a number of steps that were popular among the people. He closed down US and British bases in the country, prohibited alcohol and gambling, launched a number of social programs, and pursued a program of unification with Egypt (which ultimately failed of course).

I’m not defending Qadhafi. He has done horrible things and I hope his end will come soon, Insha’Allah. I’m just pointing out that not everything is black and white. The person you portray as the “good guy” may not have been entirely good, and the “bad guy” may not have been entirely bad, at least not in the beginning.

One tragedy is the some of the current Sanussis are among the most ardent supporters of Qadhafi and are involved in the suppression and killing of protesters.

Reply
- MR
  
  March 16, 2011 at 2:20 PM
  
  “Also, without condeming Idris nor supporting Qadhafi, let me just point out that Idrisâ€™ monarchy at the time was widely accused of corruption. Idris was also unpopular for maintaining close ties with the USA and Britain even after their support for Israel in the 1967 war, and for purging Palestinian residents of Libya. Also, at the time a pan-Arab movement was sweeping the Arab world, with a lot of talk of unifying Arab nations; however, Idris was widely seen as uninterested in this, and that caused a lot of grumbling in the army.”
  
  Where can I read more about this? I have heard different.
  
  In fact the flag of King Idris’s rule is being used today by the rebels. Doesn’t make sense.
  
  Pan-Arabism is not something Islamic and was more secular pro-Nationalism, anti-Religion (anti-Islam). Saudi Arabia was also against it.
  
  Reply
abu bakr

February 27, 2011 at 6:12 PM

Agree with Wael here. Power changes Ghaddafi apparently.

Reply
Nasar

February 27, 2011 at 7:50 PM

Salaams,
Jazakallah khair for the info. I also agree with the respondent, the hadith is in the context of a leader ruling by the laws of islam and it is a misapplication to say rising against the current rulers who do not rule by islam as unislamic. On the contrary, speaking out against them for their crimes and the failure to apply islam removes the loyalty from the muslims.

Reply
Hassan

February 28, 2011 at 9:57 AM

I think you missed the sufi/tasawwuf tag for the article

Reply
Sara

February 28, 2011 at 10:20 AM

The imam in Libya last week would have done well to also quote surah ash shura, verses 38-43.

Reply
Sayyid Muhammad

March 4, 2011 at 6:46 AM

subhaanallaah….. shaikh Ahmad Ehwaaz , may Allah continue to bless him and make it easy for him on ÙŠÙˆÙ… Ø§Ù„Ù‚ÙŠØ§Ù…Ø© for the work he has done especially for Guyana …. Ø¢Ù…ÙŠÙ†

Reply
Abu Umar

March 10, 2011 at 2:37 PM

Baksh incites against the “Wahabis” at his website, citing right-wing sources.

Reply
Thaqib

March 19, 2011 at 7:51 PM

Assalam Alaykum

Just because someone prays tahajjud and seems outwardly pious does not necessarly make him an upright and ideal ruler. What the author has narrated regarding Idris Sanussi is not the only narrative, there are many other narratives available revealing the corruption within the Sanussi movement and how Omar al-Mukhtar was left alone against the Italians. If anyone, the true hero and ideal example is Sidi Omar al-Mukhtar (rha) and if I have read correctly, Omar al-Mukhtar is the flag of the ‘rebels’?

Reply
b.e

March 23, 2011 at 10:45 AM

Another dimension that needs to be analyzed in the very possible interference of foreign intelligences like many western analysts have pointed out … I don’t know how much is true about it ..but those experts also predicted the recent invasion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjMDO9qWeTw

Reply