Idris of Libya

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Idris
King Idris in 1960
King of Libya
Reign24 December 1951 – 1 September 1969
Prime ministers
See list
Born13 March 1890
Al-Jaghbub, Tripolitania Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died25 May 1983(1983-05-25) (aged 93)
Cairo, Egypt
Burial
Al-Baqi' Cemetery, Medina, Saudi Arabia
Spouse
Full name
Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi
HouseSenussi
FatherMuhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi
MotherAisha bint Muqarrib al-Barasa
ReligionSunni Islam

Sayed Mohamed Idris Al Sanusi (Arabic: السيد محمد إدريس بن محمد المهدي السنوسي; El Sayyid Prince Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi; 13 March 1890 – 25 May 1983)[1] was a Libyan political and religious leader. He was the Emir of Cyrenaica. Idris was the King of the United Kingdom of Libya (renamed as the Kingdom of Libya in 1963) from 1951 to 1969.[2] He was the chief of the Senussi Muslim order.

Early life[change | change source]

Sayed Mohamed Idris Al Sanusi was born on 12 March 1889 in Jaghbub. Jaghbub is a remote oasis in Cyrenaica, an Ottoman district. Nowadays, Cyrenaica is located in the north east of Libya.[3] In Jaghbub, he studied islamic law and theology.[4]

Idris was the grandson of Shaikh al-Sayed Mohamed Ali ibn Sanusi (1787-1859). Mohammed Ali grew up in Algeria. Later, he founded the Sanusi Order after his migration to Libya. The Sanusi Order began as a religious movement which preached the return to the beliefs and rituals of early Islam.[3] As soon as the movement became bigger, it obtained political power.[5]

The name of Idris' father is Mohamed El Mahdi Al Sanusi. In the 1880's, he was the head of the Sanusi Order. Under him, the Sanusi Order had power over the nomadic tribes of the Libyan Desert. He also had a lot of followers across Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.[5]

Cyrenaica: Idris' rise to power[change | change source]

The former provinces of the Ottoman empire in the area now known as Libya.

Sanusi Order and the Italian invasion of Libya[change | change source]

Head of the Sanusi Order[change | change source]

Amir of Cyrenaica[change | change source]

The first exile[change | change source]

A delegation of Tripolitanian leaders came to Idris in January 1922. At the conference of Gharyan, they had agreed with each other about certain terms. They now offered these terms to Idris, but Idris was hesitant to accept their offer. If he would accept their terms, he would upset the Italians, but if he would refuse their offer, he would upset the Tripolitanians. When a second delegation came to him in the same month, the Italian army occupied a coastal city named Misurata. Shortly thereafter, the fascist took control of Italy[6] and cancelled all the treaties with Tripolitania.[7] As a response to this, Idris fled to Egypt on 21 December 1922.[8] He stayed there in a self-declared exile.[6]

Italian reinvasion[change | change source]

The Italian army went on with its military campaign after reconquering Misurata. They wanted to reconquer the whole of Libya. First, they occupied Tripolitania in 1923.[6] That was an easy battle in comparison with the struggle to conquer Fezzan. From 1926 until 1930, there was a strong resistance from the native population of Fezzan. They used guerrilla warfare to delay the Italians. Finally, Cyrenaica was conquered in 1932.[9]

The biggest reason that Cyrenaica was not conquered until 1932, is the Sanusi Order. The Sanusi Order had through its mobilisation and education a beneficial effect on Cyrenaican tribes. The Sanusi Order made tribes cooperate with each other. This unity made their resistance much more effective.[9] The leader of this Cyrenaican military resistance was Umar al Mukhtar. He had already been against the peace agreements with Italy, but the leader of the Sanusi Order, Idris, got his way. However, Umar al Mukhtar turned out to be right in the eyes of the Libyans. That is because they saw Idris fleeing and the Italians beginning their brutal invasion. As a result, Umar al Mukhtar got more supporters.[8] During the resistance in 1924, Umar al Mukhtar went personally to Alexandria to ask help from Idris. Unfortunately, Idris disappointed Umar and said that he could do nothing. As a response Umar wrote a famous letter complaining that Idris has abandoned the Libyans.[10] 

Seclusion and re-engagement[change | change source]

During the following years, Idris barely played a role in Libya. The first time he engaged with Libyan affairs again was in 1939. He met with other Libyan exiles in Alexandria. There, they discussed which actions could be taken to protect Libya. Those Libyan exiles represented the two provinces Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. When they met again in 1940, they chose to side with the Allies. They did this under the influence of Idris. By supporting Britain they hoped to get rid of the Italian domination after World War II.[11]

When World War II ended, Britain and France gained control over Libya. Britain controlled Cyrenaica and Tripolitania and France controlled Fezzan. Consequently, the first two provinces fell under the British military administration(BMA) and Fezzan fell under French Military Administration.[12]

Return to Libya[change | change source]

In November 1947 Idris arrived in Cyrenaica,[13] because Britain invited him to return from his exile. The British military administration worked with him and with other local administrators and politicians from 1947 until 1949.[14] In 1949, the British military administration in Cyrenaica was replaced by a civilian administration and Idris became the new leader of Cyrenaica. The reason behind this was to make Cyrenaica a kind of British protectorate like Transjordan was after World War I.[15] Because of this, Britain did not intervene, when Idris declared Cyrenaica’s independence on June the first 1949.[16] In July of the same year, he even went on a formal state visit to Britain.[17]

In December 1949, an UN Commissioner who was appointed by the United Nations General Assembly, came with an extraordinary mission. He wanted to achieve independence for a united Libya before 1 January 1952.[18] This idea seemed ridiculous before 1949, because Tripolitania did not want to unite with Cyrenaica. However, after two visits to Tripoli by Idris in that same year, the opposition against him dropped.[19]

The UN commissioner helped to establish the National Constituent Assembly of Libya (NCAL). This assembly was the first forum where representatives of all the three regions could negotiate with each other. They decided to make Libya a federal monarchy. After that, they proclaimed Idris to be their king in December 1950. A year later, on 24 December 1951, Idris declared Libya independent.[20]

King of Libya[change | change source]

On 24 December 1951, Idris became the king of the United Kingdom of Libya.[21] Libya had a lot of problems at the moment of independence. One of the problems was that the country was very poor.[22] Another problem was that Libya had a weak central government. Instead, the three provinces had a strong autonomy, because it was a federation.[23]

In 1959, oil was discovered.[24] This made the country very rich at once.[25] Because Idris wanted to centralise administrative and economic planning, he abolished the federal system. He did this on 26 April 1963. As a result, the name of the country changed to the Kingdom of Libya.[26]

Overthrow and second exile[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ "Idris I | Libya, Biography, & History". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  2. ↑ Schnelzer, Nadine (2016). Libya in the Arab Spring: The Constitutional Discourse since the Fall of Gaddafi. Springer. p. 31. ISBN 978-3-658-11381-0.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Villard, Henry Serrano (1956). Libya: The New Arab Kingdom of North Africa. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. p. 35.
  4. ↑ Villard, Henry Serrano (1956). Libya: The New Arab Kingdom of North Africa. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. p. 42.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Villard, Henry Serrano (1956). Libya: The New Arab Kingdom of North Africa. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. p. 36.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (1994). The making of modern Libya: State Formation, Colonization, and Resistance, 1830-1932. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 133.
  7. ↑ Vandewalle, Dirk j. (2012). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 29.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (1994). The making of modern Libya: State Formation, Colonization, and Resistance, 1830-1932. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 136.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (1994). The making of modern Libya: State Formation, Colonization, and Resistance, 1830-1932. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 134.
  10. ↑ Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (1994). The making of modern Libya: State Formation, Colonization, and Resistance, 1830-1932. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 137.
  11. ↑ Vandewalle, Dirk j. (2012). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 36.
  12. ↑ Vandewalle, Dirk j. (2012). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 37.
  13. ↑ Synge, Richard (2015). Operation Idris: Inside the British Administration of Cyrenaica and Libya, 1942-52. London: Society for Libyan Studies. p. 183.
  14. ↑ Synge, Richard (2015). Operation Idris: Inside the British Administration of Cyrenaica and Libya, 1942-52. London: Society for Libyan Studies. p. 184.
  15. ↑ Synge, Richard (2015). Operation Idris: Inside the British Administration of Cyrenaica and Libya, 1942-52. London: Society for Libyan Studies. p. 186.
  16. ↑ Synge, Richard (2015). Operation Idris: Inside the British Administration of Cyrenaica and Libya, 1942-52. London: Society for Libyan Studies. p. 189.
  17. ↑ Synge, Richard (2015). Operation Idris: Inside the British Administration of Cyrenaica and Libya, 1942-52. London: Society for Libyan Studies. p. 190.
  18. ↑ Synge, Richard (2015). Operation Idris: Inside the British Administration of Cyrenaica and Libya, 1942-52. London: Society for Libyan Studies. p. 196.
  19. ↑ Synge, Richard (2015). Operation Idris: Inside the British Administration of Cyrenaica and Libya, 1942-52. London: Society for Libyan Studies. p. 198.
  20. ↑ Synge, Richard (2015). Operation Idris: Inside the British Administration of Cyrenaica and Libya, 1942-52. London: Society for Libyan Studies. p. 203.
  21. ↑ Vandewalle, Dirk j. (2012). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 43.
  22. ↑ Vandewalle, Dirk j. (2012). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 45.
  23. ↑ Vandewalle, Dirk j. (2012). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 46.
  24. ↑ Vandewalle, Dirk j. (2012). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 44.
  25. ↑ Vandewalle, Dirk j. (2012). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 63.
  26. ↑ Vandewalle, Dirk j. (2012). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 65.


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