In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Praise be to the Almighty God who ordered us to reconcile and live in harmony, and prayers and blessings be upon His Prophet Muhammad, his Household, and his Companions.
Having said so,
The Libyan League of Ulema (LLU) reiterated in many statements its call for reconciliation and its support for all efforts, ideas, and initiatives in this direction.
Reconciliation is the true pathway toward achieving recovery in Libya.
On the other hand, the LLU repeatedly called those who issue the bloody fatwas to repent to Allah the Almighty and to incline to peace and spread it all over the country.
It is absolutely abominable that the people who are expected to spread peace and support reconciliation initiatives incessantly try to foil such good efforts by issuing fatwas that lead to violence and divide the people in a country that is already suffering from blood shedding and lack of security.
The people who issued the fatwas and responses in connection with the draft resolution of Skhirat and many previous initiatives need to repent and ask for God’s forgiveness. In some cases they claim that the ruler’s approval is needed, and in other cases they try to abort the initiatives by putting preconditions for achieving the urgently needed reconciliation.
In one of their recent fatwas they say: “It is religiously impermissible to subjugate the sovereignty of the Muslim State to the command of the foreigners because that empowers the infidels to impose their will over the Muslims.”
Instead of saying that, they should have pointed to the real people who actually subjugated the sovereignty of the country to foreign will. Indeed, there is no mention or reference to any relegation of Libya’s sovereignty in the draft proposal.
On the contrary, the draft proposal, in its first governing principle affirmed the “commitment to the protection of the national and territorial integrity of Libya, as well as its sovereignty, independence, and its full control over its international borders, and rejection of any foreign intervention in Libyan internal affairs.”
In fact, the people have high hopes with regard to the Skhirat dialogue because all previous internal initiatives failed, and all efforts were foiled by baseless justifications.
Furthermore, they said: “It is religiously impermissible to sign an agreement that renders the judiciary rulings void since the judge’s verdict settles the dispute; and by the consensus of the nation, such verdict cannot be invalidated or revoked unless the verdict violates the holy text or the unanimous agreement of the scholars.” This issue is complex and refutable; many people are saying that the Supreme Court’s ruling was carried out under duress and the chief justice of the panel that issued the verdict allegedly left the country right after the issuance of the ruling. The great scholar, El Kharashi, concluded in his book Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil that suspect rulings are considered nugatory. El-Kharashi cited many examples that you can refer to.
As for their saying that: “It is religiously impermissible to empower the murderers and criminals to assume public offices since Almighty God says: “My covenant does not include the wrongdoers”. (2:124). Instead, those who committed such crimes must appear before the courts for fair trials in order to achieve justice.”
Traditionally, a person who have been convicted cannot assume public offices in our country. Also, submitting a criminal record certificate, issued by the police, is a prerequisite. However, there are cases of many people who have been tried and convicted, based on rumors published online and on Facebook, without an official judiciary mandate.
In this context, the draft proposal invoked in its governing principle No. 23 “prosecuting and punishing perpetrators of murder, torture, and other crimes.”
We call upon the scholars, sheikhs, writers and media people to fear Allah. We must do our best to put an end to the state of anarchy, blood shedding, looting funds, and other heinous crimes. We must restore security, collectively contribute to the on-going reconciliation efforts, and spread peace and tolerance in all our communities by all means because the Libyan people are suffering from this mayhem. The people are suffering in all domains; housing, salaries, electricity, etc.
Let us all go for reconciliation by any means in observance of our religion and the teachings of our Prophet (peace be upon him). Let us accept the initiative of reconciliation because we, the scholars, should be more caring about it than anybody else: Let us accept the initiative; not foil it, for the Almighty God says: “But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace, and trust in Allah: for He is One that heareth and knoweth (all things)” (8 : 61), and He (Glory be to our Lord Allah) says: “In most of their secret talks there is no good: But if one exhorts to a deed of charity or justice or conciliation between men, (Secrecy is permissible): To him who does this, seeking the good pleasure of Allah, We shall soon give a reward of the highest (value).” (4: 114), also He (Glory be to our Lord Allah): “and keep straight the relations between yourselves” (8: 1). And the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Shall I tell you a degree better than prayer, fasting and sadaqa?” “Yes,” they replied. He went on to say, “Improving a state of friendship. Causing discord in a state of friendship is
what shaves things away.” And he said: “O Abu Ayoub, what if I tell you about a kind of sadaqa that pleases Allah and His Prophet?” Abu Ayoub, answered saying:
“Of course”, so the Prophet said: “Reconcile between people when they quarrel and try to bring them closer when they get away from each other.”
O’ Allah, please guide us to the right, and let us all accept it, stop the bloodshed, guide the souls to reconcile and be in harmony, and let our prayers be upon the Prophet and bless him, his Household, and his Companions.
Finally, Praise be to Allah the Almighty.
The Media Bureau of the Libyan League of Ulema (LLU)
13th of Ramadan, 1436 AH, June 30th, 2015 AD
