Sufi order and resistance movement : the sanusiyya of Libya,1911-1932
SUFI ORDER AND RESISTANCE MOVEMENT:
THE SANÜSMTA OF LIBYA, 1911-1932
A thesis
~ubdttedto the Fadty of Graduate Studies and Resevch
in p
d fiiIfïhent of the requirements for
the degree of Master of A a s
p
-
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
-
p
-
-
-
-
-
-
hstitute of Isl?unic Studies
McGill University, Montreal
1999
-
-
-
-
m
m
National Libraiy
dC-&
Bibliothèque nationale
du Canada
Acquisitions and
Bibliîraphic Services
Acquisitions et
services bibliographiques
The author has granteci a non-
L'auteur a accordé une licence non
exclusive permettant à la
Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de
reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou
vendre des copies de cette thèse sous
la forme de microfiche/film, de
reproduction sur papier ou sur format
électronique.
The author retains ownership of the
L'auteur consewe la propriété du
droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse.
Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels
de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés
ou autrement reproduits sans son
autorisation.
exclusive licence allowing the
National Libracy of Canada to
reproduce, loaq distribute or seli
copies of this thesis in microform,
paper or electronic formats.
copyright in this thesis. Neither the
thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it
may be printed or otherwise
reproduced without the author's
permission.
Author
Title
:Awalia Rahrna
:Sufi Oder and Resistance Movanent: The Sanisiyya
Libya, 1911-1932
Department :Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill Universi9
DeWee
:Mastez ofArts
O€
This thesis is a s t d y of the Sanïîsiyya osdex, in which partîculaf
emphasis is placed on its role as a iesistance movement Based on a m e y of
the socid, economic, rebgious and
and its involvement in
political adVities of this s u f i b m t h d d
the mbd system of the
Noah Afkica diiting the first
three decldes ofbis century, an attempt will be made to identifir on the one
hand die fhctom t
h ccmtgbuted to the stxength of its resistance to Italian
invasicm, and cm the other, the elements that led to its
fidur;e.
It is ygraed that
its Mitiail success m the resistance benefited fiom the netwodt of the qibiyus
where kdbxvin h m diff-t
tcibes were intepteci s o d l y and eccmornidy m
accordance with strmg Islamic values. However, hck of d t v p training and
w e a p s , dependenq on a prominent figue, cornpeting ambitions witbin the
SmÜG fvrmy and geographical distance dtimately weakened the resistance.
Auteur
Titre
: Awralia Rahma
: Ordie sufi et mouvement de résistance: La SanÜsiyya
Diplôme
: WAt&e ès Arts
de Libye de 1911 à 1932
Département : Institut des Études IsWques, Université McGill
-
- --
Ce mémoire porte sur i'énide de l'ordre SanGsiyya, avec une attention
particulière sur son mouvement de résistance. En se fondant s u r les activités
sociales, économiques, religieuses et politiques de la fratemité sufse, ahsi que
son impfidon au sein du système txibd pendant la pénétration occidentale ea
-que
du Nord durant les trois premières décennies, la recherche tentera
dSidenti6erd'me p m les fiacteurs ayant contniué i la force de sa résistance à
l'invasion italienne, et, d'autre p w les éléments qui ont causé sa chute. Il a été
débattu que le succès initial de la Sankiyya dans la rédstance a pu tirex parti du
réseau des x&ytas
où les i M w 2 des &€fiérentes tribus fixent intégrés
socialement et économiquement et ce, avec des
valem islamiques solides.
Toutefois, le peu d'entraînement militaire et d'mement, h dépendance à
l'égard des leaderss Ies cüffkentes p e r s d t é s au sein de la fàmille S a n s et
les distances géographiques ont &Ni
la résistance.
I w d d like to express my gratitude in the k t place to Professor Eric L
Onnsby, my academic advisor and diesis superclisoq whose schohdy cntiLism,
patience and encouragement have made this thesis possible.
to Pmfessor A. Üner T-y,
My thvlks ais0 go
the Diffaor of the Institute of Islamic Studies,
f
a his imightfd couxnents. I wodd
aiso like to
thank my teachers
at die
Institute, espediy Pmfessor Hemian Landolt, my former academic
supervisor, and F m u g h J b b a k h s h
mystiusm and die Pe-
0
and Wame
who widened my insight
hqpage. My thanks are also due to S
mto Islamic
h Ferahkm
St. Thomas of the Islamic Studies Libram for their assistance in
4
obtaining i e s d m a t d s . I wodd also like to record my t h a h to Zakgi
Ibrahim fbr his rneanhgfd help m the very eady stages of my study; and to
Steve W
e
z for his editoriai help, espeady as he accomodated me in spite of
his own busy schedule.
1 wkh
to
acknowIedge here the generosity of the Ministry of Religious
Afftus of the Republic of Indonesh, the Canadian Intemational Development
Agency (CIDA) and the Mcclll-Indonesia Project in providiag me with a gmnt
to s t d y nt
McGill University. My th?nks h go to Prot Dr. Nourouzzaman
Sbiddiqi and PmE Dr. Buzhanuddin Daya of Yogyakarta for di&
moral
e
support and encouragement 1 am likewise gntefbl to my Indoneskm fiaends
for th& wum fiendship during m y stay in Montreal,
I wodd also iike to express my heartfelt dimks to m y parents H.
Abubakar M
d and Hj. Isrmwati and to my yomger bmthers and sisters for
their suppm as w d as to my father and mother-in-law who were so
encoutaging.
F i d y 1 dediute this thesis
desemes s p e d ho=
to
m y husband, Kusmana, who
and thanlrs for his constant love, criticism and support.
The system of transliteration of Arabic wods and names applied in this
thesis is h t used by the Instihite of Isl?mic Studies,
The table of tr;uisliteration is as follows:
b =+
t
=a
th = &
j
=c
h =t
kh =i
d
= 3
dh=i
=J
Short :
Long :
University.
vii
TABU3 OF CONTENTS
.-
Abstract
11
R é d
Acknowledgements
Transliteration
Table of Contents
Intrioductim
Chapm 1
a
THE POLJTICAL AND ECONOMIC BACKGROUND
OFLIBYA IN THE EARLY TWENTlETH CENTURY
A. People and Land
B.Economy
C.Politid Situation
1. Ottoman Administration
2 Tripolitanian Resistance and the Emergence of the Repubk
of Tripolitania
3. Itahm Penetration
Chapter 11
ROLES OF THE SANÜSZYYA: THE CENTRAL POSITIONS
OF smm,I K H W ~ A N~FWYRT
D
A Stmctuie and Oiganizaaonof the SanÜsiyya
B. Socio-Religious Role
1. Dbikr as die essence of SanÜsiyya's Mystical Teachkgs
2 Education
3.?'&ai Integration
C.Economic Role
Chapter III RE!SPONSES TO COLOISIAIJSM
A. Baclrground of the Resistance
B. Responses tu Colonialism
1. Responses of the Libyan People
2 The SanGsiyya Responses
C.The SanÜsiyya Resistance: Roles of the Lea&g SanÜsiyya
Leaders
1. The Role of Sayyid A i p d S h d f (1 813-1933)
2 The Role of Sa@ Muhammad Idris (1890-1983)
3. The Role of 'Uniar al-Mukhtk (1862-1931)
Conclusion
Bibliography
iii
iv
INTRODUCTION
The Sanusiyya movement constitutes an interesting phenornenon in
Islamic history, and pvtiCUISlifly in that of North Ahican sufism. This sufi
bmtherbood wls narned a f k its founder, Mdpmmad ibn
~ham-bia l - ~ a s d
a1-1&;
as the
-
'sal-San=
a-miijiii (1787-1859 AD), &
&O
al-
knm
Ginnd SpniG, a prominent Sufi-scholat ia nineteenth ceatury Noah
Afnca. This &a
evolved fiom a rrhgious to a politid movernent when ît
b e p to play a substantial part in the sesistance agrinst the French in the
Sdma, W
s
t the British and It?lians in Cyremica and m the emergence of the
Kingdom of Iibya. The latter was d e d at k t by SaniiSi's p d s o n , Çayyid
Mdpmmad Idris, who ascended die thme in 1951, d y to lose it in a miiitaq
coup d'état led by M u 'ammat al-Qaddafi in September 1969.
Muiy scholars have discussed the SanÜsiyya and their correspondmg
poIitica3 movement Most have noted the role of the Sankiyya in resisting
colcmialism in their homeland. B a r k for instance, points out that the Libyan
iesistance during the years 1911-1920 depended heady on Sankiyya foices,
Ahmida discusses the soapl cuItuial and historical background of
modem Libya
h m the eady nineteenth centiiiy
to the end
of the amied
anticolonial resistance? H e believes diat Sufi Islam, tribai d i t z u y ocg?nizauon
and
d traditions wem
crucial M the f#ît
and cultural legacy of the resistance has
against coloniafisfn. The politid
ais0
been pmeiful strengthdg
Libyan n a t i d s m and leadiag to the m h l of a strcmg attichment
to Islam
d the clan. The memory of this pePod has not yet fided, and appreciation of
this background is essential to understanding present-ciay Lib@
The p t Biitish anduopologist, Evans-Pritchard, cm the 0th- han4
interprets the Sanùsjlya's politicai development e s t th& historical
background in Tba S
d of ~
~
'Yetchereathe~emphasis is more on the
development, traàng the historg of the SanGiyya fkom its ori@
to the @od
of Itlliui colonjzabon. The present thesis is however as indebted to this book as
are so muiy odiec writings tbnt focus on Liiya.
A pdcular character is amibuted to the SanÜsiyya by Nicola Ziadeh who
sees the brotherhds d e as that of a revivaiist movement. As Leoivalist
2
Ah Abcidatif Ahmidz. Th Making ofM& fi&
Shte F o d n , Cdof*@im
1830-1932 (Amiuiy, New Y&. S U W 1994).
a d &abta=,
0
3
E.E. Evans Pritchard, Tbr Saami o j f C w (Oxfd: Clarendon Press, 1954).
-e
movement, the SanÜsiyya ans consexvative to the extent it did not recogaize the
d e d o p e n t "the w d d had known since the advent of Isiam." '
Research d
l now hm covered various aspects of the order, such as
reiïgiosity, ethnic, economic, and sochl issues, and politics. Howeveq only fm
scholars have tned to see the interconnection between the doctrines and the
political movement of the &a
One scholar who has, Knut S. Vikor,
ccmcluded that the political movemmt was not the central aspect of the
Thus the histoy of the Sanùsiyya is dso the history of a Sufi bmtherhood
which welded the edinic identity of the Sahafan bedouin and neighborhg
The movement hm also become m y focus by mon of its distinctme
Wahhabi doctrines, a unique blend that consïsted in maintainhg Sufi values
and &g
for a retum to the fundamental IslYnic sources, the Q 6 a n and
Sunna. 1 propose in this thesis
Nicoia A. Ziadeh, SP*~
Bplz 1983), p. 3.
to
mvestigrte why the Saniisiyya became
A S*
$A RanPdirtM o l ~ ~ ~ ~inl el'hm
n t (Leiden: E.J.
0
invohred in resisgog colweaken the &stance.
and what fàctom tended m strengthen and to
1 propose to investigate die nature of the j h i 2 (hot
war)' which was such a major feahire of the tesistance and to compare diis to
sLnilnr nuieteenth-cenhirg A6ican movemmts which may have influencecl die
the TijG Tokolor, al-Hajj Umy in west Sudan; the S-
San*
Md
-
Alpud; the S&-IclÜsii,
Mdpmmad ibn 'Abd AU&
--
Hasan in
AccordLig to Peters, modem theones ofjb
THE SANÜSMTA OF LIBYA, 1911-1932
A thesis
~ubdttedto the Fadty of Graduate Studies and Resevch
in p
d fiiIfïhent of the requirements for
the degree of Master of A a s
p
-
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
-
p
-
-
-
-
-
-
hstitute of Isl?unic Studies
McGill University, Montreal
1999
-
-
-
-
m
m
National Libraiy
dC-&
Bibliothèque nationale
du Canada
Acquisitions and
Bibliîraphic Services
Acquisitions et
services bibliographiques
The author has granteci a non-
L'auteur a accordé une licence non
exclusive permettant à la
Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de
reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou
vendre des copies de cette thèse sous
la forme de microfiche/film, de
reproduction sur papier ou sur format
électronique.
The author retains ownership of the
L'auteur consewe la propriété du
droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse.
Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels
de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés
ou autrement reproduits sans son
autorisation.
exclusive licence allowing the
National Libracy of Canada to
reproduce, loaq distribute or seli
copies of this thesis in microform,
paper or electronic formats.
copyright in this thesis. Neither the
thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it
may be printed or otherwise
reproduced without the author's
permission.
Author
Title
:Awalia Rahrna
:Sufi Oder and Resistance Movanent: The Sanisiyya
Libya, 1911-1932
Department :Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill Universi9
DeWee
:Mastez ofArts
O€
This thesis is a s t d y of the Sanïîsiyya osdex, in which partîculaf
emphasis is placed on its role as a iesistance movement Based on a m e y of
the socid, economic, rebgious and
and its involvement in
political adVities of this s u f i b m t h d d
the mbd system of the
Noah Afkica diiting the first
three decldes ofbis century, an attempt will be made to identifir on the one
hand die fhctom t
h ccmtgbuted to the stxength of its resistance to Italian
invasicm, and cm the other, the elements that led to its
fidur;e.
It is ygraed that
its Mitiail success m the resistance benefited fiom the netwodt of the qibiyus
where kdbxvin h m diff-t
tcibes were intepteci s o d l y and eccmornidy m
accordance with strmg Islamic values. However, hck of d t v p training and
w e a p s , dependenq on a prominent figue, cornpeting ambitions witbin the
SmÜG fvrmy and geographical distance dtimately weakened the resistance.
Auteur
Titre
: Awralia Rahma
: Ordie sufi et mouvement de résistance: La SanÜsiyya
Diplôme
: WAt&e ès Arts
de Libye de 1911 à 1932
Département : Institut des Études IsWques, Université McGill
-
- --
Ce mémoire porte sur i'énide de l'ordre SanGsiyya, avec une attention
particulière sur son mouvement de résistance. En se fondant s u r les activités
sociales, économiques, religieuses et politiques de la fratemité sufse, ahsi que
son impfidon au sein du système txibd pendant la pénétration occidentale ea
-que
du Nord durant les trois premières décennies, la recherche tentera
dSidenti6erd'me p m les fiacteurs ayant contniué i la force de sa résistance à
l'invasion italienne, et, d'autre p w les éléments qui ont causé sa chute. Il a été
débattu que le succès initial de la Sankiyya dans la rédstance a pu tirex parti du
réseau des x&ytas
où les i M w 2 des &€fiérentes tribus fixent intégrés
socialement et économiquement et ce, avec des
valem islamiques solides.
Toutefois, le peu d'entraînement militaire et d'mement, h dépendance à
l'égard des leaderss Ies cüffkentes p e r s d t é s au sein de la fàmille S a n s et
les distances géographiques ont &Ni
la résistance.
I w d d like to express my gratitude in the k t place to Professor Eric L
Onnsby, my academic advisor and diesis superclisoq whose schohdy cntiLism,
patience and encouragement have made this thesis possible.
to Pmfessor A. Üner T-y,
My thvlks ais0 go
the Diffaor of the Institute of Islamic Studies,
f
a his imightfd couxnents. I wodd
aiso like to
thank my teachers
at die
Institute, espediy Pmfessor Hemian Landolt, my former academic
supervisor, and F m u g h J b b a k h s h
mystiusm and die Pe-
0
and Wame
who widened my insight
hqpage. My thanks are also due to S
mto Islamic
h Ferahkm
St. Thomas of the Islamic Studies Libram for their assistance in
4
obtaining i e s d m a t d s . I wodd also like to record my t h a h to Zakgi
Ibrahim fbr his rneanhgfd help m the very eady stages of my study; and to
Steve W
e
z for his editoriai help, espeady as he accomodated me in spite of
his own busy schedule.
1 wkh
to
acknowIedge here the generosity of the Ministry of Religious
Afftus of the Republic of Indonesh, the Canadian Intemational Development
Agency (CIDA) and the Mcclll-Indonesia Project in providiag me with a gmnt
to s t d y nt
McGill University. My th?nks h go to Prot Dr. Nourouzzaman
Sbiddiqi and PmE Dr. Buzhanuddin Daya of Yogyakarta for di&
moral
e
support and encouragement 1 am likewise gntefbl to my Indoneskm fiaends
for th& wum fiendship during m y stay in Montreal,
I wodd also iike to express my heartfelt dimks to m y parents H.
Abubakar M
d and Hj. Isrmwati and to my yomger bmthers and sisters for
their suppm as w d as to my father and mother-in-law who were so
encoutaging.
F i d y 1 dediute this thesis
desemes s p e d ho=
to
m y husband, Kusmana, who
and thanlrs for his constant love, criticism and support.
The system of transliteration of Arabic wods and names applied in this
thesis is h t used by the Instihite of Isl?mic Studies,
The table of tr;uisliteration is as follows:
b =+
t
=a
th = &
j
=c
h =t
kh =i
d
= 3
dh=i
=J
Short :
Long :
University.
vii
TABU3 OF CONTENTS
.-
Abstract
11
R é d
Acknowledgements
Transliteration
Table of Contents
Intrioductim
Chapm 1
a
THE POLJTICAL AND ECONOMIC BACKGROUND
OFLIBYA IN THE EARLY TWENTlETH CENTURY
A. People and Land
B.Economy
C.Politid Situation
1. Ottoman Administration
2 Tripolitanian Resistance and the Emergence of the Repubk
of Tripolitania
3. Itahm Penetration
Chapter 11
ROLES OF THE SANÜSZYYA: THE CENTRAL POSITIONS
OF smm,I K H W ~ A N~FWYRT
D
A Stmctuie and Oiganizaaonof the SanÜsiyya
B. Socio-Religious Role
1. Dbikr as die essence of SanÜsiyya's Mystical Teachkgs
2 Education
3.?'&ai Integration
C.Economic Role
Chapter III RE!SPONSES TO COLOISIAIJSM
A. Baclrground of the Resistance
B. Responses tu Colonialism
1. Responses of the Libyan People
2 The SanGsiyya Responses
C.The SanÜsiyya Resistance: Roles of the Lea&g SanÜsiyya
Leaders
1. The Role of Sayyid A i p d S h d f (1 813-1933)
2 The Role of Sa@ Muhammad Idris (1890-1983)
3. The Role of 'Uniar al-Mukhtk (1862-1931)
Conclusion
Bibliography
iii
iv
INTRODUCTION
The Sanusiyya movement constitutes an interesting phenornenon in
Islamic history, and pvtiCUISlifly in that of North Ahican sufism. This sufi
bmtherbood wls narned a f k its founder, Mdpmmad ibn
~ham-bia l - ~ a s d
a1-1&;
as the
-
'sal-San=
a-miijiii (1787-1859 AD), &
&O
al-
knm
Ginnd SpniG, a prominent Sufi-scholat ia nineteenth ceatury Noah
Afnca. This &a
evolved fiom a rrhgious to a politid movernent when ît
b e p to play a substantial part in the sesistance agrinst the French in the
Sdma, W
s
t the British and It?lians in Cyremica and m the emergence of the
Kingdom of Iibya. The latter was d e d at k t by SaniiSi's p d s o n , Çayyid
Mdpmmad Idris, who ascended die thme in 1951, d y to lose it in a miiitaq
coup d'état led by M u 'ammat al-Qaddafi in September 1969.
Muiy scholars have discussed the SanÜsiyya and their correspondmg
poIitica3 movement Most have noted the role of the Sankiyya in resisting
colcmialism in their homeland. B a r k for instance, points out that the Libyan
iesistance during the years 1911-1920 depended heady on Sankiyya foices,
Ahmida discusses the soapl cuItuial and historical background of
modem Libya
h m the eady nineteenth centiiiy
to the end
of the amied
anticolonial resistance? H e believes diat Sufi Islam, tribai d i t z u y ocg?nizauon
and
d traditions wem
crucial M the f#ît
and cultural legacy of the resistance has
against coloniafisfn. The politid
ais0
been pmeiful strengthdg
Libyan n a t i d s m and leadiag to the m h l of a strcmg attichment
to Islam
d the clan. The memory of this pePod has not yet fided, and appreciation of
this background is essential to understanding present-ciay Lib@
The p t Biitish anduopologist, Evans-Pritchard, cm the 0th- han4
interprets the Sanùsjlya's politicai development e s t th& historical
background in Tba S
d of ~
~
'Yetchereathe~emphasis is more on the
development, traàng the historg of the SanGiyya fkom its ori@
to the @od
of Itlliui colonjzabon. The present thesis is however as indebted to this book as
are so muiy odiec writings tbnt focus on Liiya.
A pdcular character is amibuted to the SanÜsiyya by Nicola Ziadeh who
sees the brotherhds d e as that of a revivaiist movement. As Leoivalist
2
Ah Abcidatif Ahmidz. Th Making ofM& fi&
Shte F o d n , Cdof*@im
1830-1932 (Amiuiy, New Y&. S U W 1994).
a d &abta=,
0
3
E.E. Evans Pritchard, Tbr Saami o j f C w (Oxfd: Clarendon Press, 1954).
-e
movement, the SanÜsiyya ans consexvative to the extent it did not recogaize the
d e d o p e n t "the w d d had known since the advent of Isiam." '
Research d
l now hm covered various aspects of the order, such as
reiïgiosity, ethnic, economic, and sochl issues, and politics. Howeveq only fm
scholars have tned to see the interconnection between the doctrines and the
political movement of the &a
One scholar who has, Knut S. Vikor,
ccmcluded that the political movemmt was not the central aspect of the
Thus the histoy of the Sanùsiyya is dso the history of a Sufi bmtherhood
which welded the edinic identity of the Sahafan bedouin and neighborhg
The movement hm also become m y focus by mon of its distinctme
Wahhabi doctrines, a unique blend that consïsted in maintainhg Sufi values
and &g
for a retum to the fundamental IslYnic sources, the Q 6 a n and
Sunna. 1 propose in this thesis
Nicoia A. Ziadeh, SP*~
Bplz 1983), p. 3.
to
mvestigrte why the Saniisiyya became
A S*
$A RanPdirtM o l ~ ~ ~ ~inl el'hm
n t (Leiden: E.J.
0
invohred in resisgog colweaken the &stance.
and what fàctom tended m strengthen and to
1 propose to investigate die nature of the j h i 2 (hot
war)' which was such a major feahire of the tesistance and to compare diis to
sLnilnr nuieteenth-cenhirg A6ican movemmts which may have influencecl die
the TijG Tokolor, al-Hajj Umy in west Sudan; the S-
San*
Md
-
Alpud; the S&-IclÜsii,
Mdpmmad ibn 'Abd AU&
--
Hasan in
AccordLig to Peters, modem theones ofjb