Qaddafi’s corpse casts shadow

Qaddafi's burial has split the new Libya between those who want to move away from his legacy, and revenge-seekers.

At the close of Qaddafi’s brutal regime, one would look forward to a Libya that wouldn’t be marred by the rather distasteful and unIslamic manner in which his body was kept in cold storage in Misrata. Before Qaddafi was buried at an unknown location, hundreds of Libyans had queued up to view his corpse, as reports surfaced that Libya’s interim rulers ended the public display of the bodies of Qaddafi, his son and the army chief after four days, during which time thousands of Libyans came to see for themselves that the dictator was really dead.

However, the question is not one of whether the public display was finally halted; the issue arises from the principles at stake in the first few days of a new Libya. While foreign allies of the anti-Qaddafi rebels had expressed concern about the treatment of Qaddafi, both after his capture and after his death, there should be a high-level of disquiet about the new leaders promise to respect human rights. Does the same treatment await thousands of Qaddafi loyalists?

Meanwhile, Qaddafi’s will surfaced and in it, he expressed the desire to be buried next to his ‘family and friends’ in his birthplace, Sirte — the centre of the loyalist last stand against the rebels.

The document, in English translation, says: “This is my will. I, Muammar Qaddafi, do swear that there is no other God but Allah and that Mohammad is God’s Prophet, peace be upon him. I pledge that I will die as Muslim. Should I be killed, I would like to be buried, according to Muslim rituals, in the clothes I was wearing at the time of my death and my body unwashed, in the cemetery of Sirte, next to my family and relatives.”

Subsequently, the official Egyptian news agency said Libya’s office for fatwas, or religious decrees, had declared Qaddafi was not a Muslim as he had denied the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and, therefore, should not be given an Islamic funeral.

And so the people of new Libya and its new leaders were left with what was possible their toughest decisions yet, because even as a corpse, Qaddafi casts a shadow over Libya’s new beginning. However, in principle, to avoid further disgrace, the wrangling within the National Transitional Council’s (NTC) faction must end and it ought to act swiftly and honourably. The NTC leaders wanted Qaddafi buried at a “secret, unknown location in the desert so the place does not become a shrine” — a bizarre concern from a council that believed only a handful of Libyans truly cherished the deposed dictator. Either way, granted that their concerns can be validated, the burial should have taken place wherever they may wish, according to Islamic law as Qaddafi’s will states his Muslim beliefs and desire to be buried in the Islamic tradition and it would be paramount for the government to leave further judgment to God.

Furthermore, Seif alIslam Qaddafi, one of Qaddafi’s sons, is said to be still at large. This time around, it would be best if he isn’t also killed out of hand, or if at the very least the NTC and the international community can caution their fighters that the new Libya is one that is governed by the law of the land, not kerbside justice or mob rule.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2011.