— Libya’s transitional leader declared his country’s liberation on Sunday, three days after the hated dictatorMoammar Gadhafi was captured and killed.
Reacting to the news of Gaddafi’s death, the United States Secretary of State said: “The death of Colonel Gaddafi has brought to a close a very unfortunate chapter in Libya’s history. But it also marks the start of a new era for the Libyan people, and it is our hope that what I saw in Tripoli on Tuesday first hand, the eagerness of Libyans to building a new democracy, can begin in earnest.”
He called on Libyans to show “patience, honesty and tolerance” and eschew hatred as they embark on rebuilding the country at the end of an 8-month civil war.
The transitional government leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil set out a vision for the post-Gadhafi future with an Islamist tint, saying thatIslamic Sharia law would be the “basic source” of legislation in the country and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified. In a gesture that showed his own piety, he urged Libyans not to express their joy by firing in the air, but rather to chant “Allahu Akbar,” or God is Great. He then stepped aside and knelt to offer a brief prayer of thanks.
Islam’s legal lexicon
How to speak sharia
LITERALLY the “path” or “path to water”, sharia is a catch-all term for Islamic codes covering everything from social mores to crime. Based on the Koran and the sayings attributed to Muhammad, as well as the work of ulema (Muslim scholars), it is clear and strict in some matters (such as family law) and fluid and evolutionary in others (such as commerce). It comprises five main schools of interpretation (four Sunni and one Shia). In Muslim lands sharia courts are overseen by a kadi (judge) who will have studied both fiqh(legal interpretation) and how to apply qiyas (analogy).Fiqh classifies behaviour into one of five categories: fard (mandatory), mustahabb(advisable), mubah (neutral), makruh (inadvisable), and haraam (prohibited). Huddudrefers to the corporal and capital punishments that are laid down in traditional Islamic law for certain offences, including death by stoning for adultery. However, fatwa (ruling or opinion), contrary to popular opinion in the West, refers to theological, not legal, pronouncements in which one or more scholars opine on some pressing issue (the subjects of recent fatwas have ranged from questions of personal hygiene to the ethics of suicide-bombing).
“This revolution was looked after by God to achieve victory,” he told the crowd at the declaration ceremony in the eastern city of Benghazi, the birthplace of the uprising against Gadhafi began. He thanked those who fell in the fight against Gadhafi’s forces. “This revolution began peacefully to demand the minimum of legitimate rights, but it was met by excessive violence.”
Abdul-Jalil said new banks would be set up to follow the Islamic banking system, which bans charging interest. For the time being, he said interest would be canceled from any personal loans already taken out less than 10,000 Libyan dinars (about $7,500).
He also announced that all military personnel and civilians who have taken part in the fight against Gadhafi would be promoted to the rank above their existing one. He said a package of perks would later be announced for all fighters.
Islam, Sharia law and democracy
“Thank You, thank you to the fighters who achieved victory, both civilians and military,” he said. He also paid tribute to the Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation alliance led by Saudi Arabia, The Arab League and the European Union. NATO, more
Earlier, the US Secretary of State’s first reaction to the news of Gaddafi’s capture was caught on camera ahead of a television interview.source
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