Editing Libya (section)

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in Libya}}

[[File:Ghadames - Grosse Moschee.jpg|thumb|upright=0.95|Mosque in [[Ghadames]], close to the Tunisian and Algerian border]]
About 97% of the population in Libya are [[Muslims]], most of whom belong to the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni branch]].<ref name="spooks"/><ref name="Chivvis-2014">{{cite book |last1=Chivvis |first1=Christopher S. |last2=Martini |first2=Jeffrey |title=Libya After Qaddafi: Lessons and Implications for the Future |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUAkAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 |access-date=30 December 2018 |date=18 March 2014 |publisher=Rand Corporation |isbn=978-0-8330-8489-7 |page=49 |archive-date=26 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526205252/https://books.google.com/books?id=PUAkAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 |url-status=live }}</ref> Small numbers of [[Ibadi]] Muslims live in the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.islamopediaonline.org/country-profile/libya/religious-minorities/minority-muslim-groups |title=Minority Muslim Groups |publisher=Islamopedia Online |access-date=1 April 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415030122/http://www.islamopediaonline.org/country-profile/libya/religious-minorities/minority-muslim-groups |archive-date=15 April 2016  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/01/16/pakistani-ahmedis-held/ |title=Pakistani Ahmedis Held |newspaper=[[Libya Herald]] |location=Tripoli |date=16 January 2013 |access-date=5 June 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531182432/http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/01/16/pakistani-ahmedis-held/ |archive-date=31 May 2014  }}</ref>

Before the 1930s, the [[Senussi]] Sunni Sufi movement was the primary Islamic movement in Libya. This was a religious revival adapted to desert life. Its ''zawaaya'' (lodges) were found in [[Tripolitania]] and [[Fezzan]], but Senussi influence was strongest in [[Cyrenaica]]. Rescuing the region from unrest and anarchy, the Senussi movement gave the Cyrenaican tribal people a religious attachment and feelings of unity and purpose.<ref name="senussi">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ly0065) |title=The Sanusis |publisher=Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress |access-date=5 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120921235348/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ly0065) |archive-date=21 September 2012  }}</ref> This Islamic movement was eventually destroyed by the [[Italo-Turkish War|Italian invasion]]. Gaddafi asserted that he was a devout Muslim, and his government was taking a role in supporting Islamic institutions and in worldwide proselytising on behalf of Islam.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ly0066) |title=Islam in Revolutionary Libya |publisher=Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress |access-date=5 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120921235348/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ly0066) |archive-date=21 September 2012  }}</ref>

The [[International Religious Freedom Report]] 2004 noted that "bishops, priests and nuns wear religious dress freely in public and report virtually no discrimination," while also "enjoying good relations with the Government". The report also indicated that members of minority religions said "they do not face harassment by authorities or the Muslim majority on the basis of their religious practices". The [[International Christian Concern]] does not list Libya as a country where there is "persecution or severe discrimination against Christians".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/45f1476611.html |title=Libya: Situation of Muslims who have converted to Christianity; treatment by society and the authorities |publisher=refworld |access-date=5 February 2013 |archive-date=15 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230915170317/https://www.refworld.org/docid/45f1476611.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Since the [[First Libyan Civil War|fall of Gaddafi]], ultra-conservative strains of Islam have reasserted themselves in places. [[Derna, Libya|Derna]] in eastern Libya, historically a hotbed of [[jihad]]ist thought, came under the control of militants aligned with the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/derna-islamic-state-emirate-egypt-s-borders|agency=Egypt Independent|title=Derna: An Islamic State emirate on Egypt's borders|date=15 October 2014|access-date=20 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221072405/http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/derna-islamic-state-emirate-egypt-s-borders|archive-date=21 February 2015}}</ref> Jihadist elements have also spread to [[Sirte]] and [[Benghazi]], among other areas, as a result of the [[Second Libyan Civil War (2014–present)|Second Libyan Civil War]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-state-gained-strength-in-libya-by-co-opting-local-jihadists-1424217492|title=Islamic State Gained Strength in Libya by Co-Opting Local Jihadists|date=17 February 2015|access-date=20 February 2015|work=The Wall Street Journal|first1=Benoît|last1=Faucon|first2=Matt|last2=Bradley|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221032623/http://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-state-gained-strength-in-libya-by-co-opting-local-jihadists-1424217492|archive-date=21 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/al-qaeda-islamic-police-patrol-libyan-city-contested-isis-302961|work=Newsweek|title=Al-Qaeda 'Islamic Police' on Patrol in Libyan City Contested With ISIS|date=29 January 2015|access-date=20 February 2015|first=Jack|last=Moore|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220011433/http://www.newsweek.com/al-qaeda-islamic-police-patrol-libyan-city-contested-isis-302961|archive-date=20 February 2015}}</ref>

Prior to independence, Libya was home to more than 140,000 Christians (mostly of [[Italian settlers in Libya|Italian]] and Maltese ancestry). Many Christian settlers left to Italy or Malta after the independence.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Greenberg|first1=Udi|last2= A. Foster|first2=Elizabeth|title=Decolonization and the Remaking of Christianity|year=2023|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Pennsylvania|isbn=9781512824971|pages=105}}</ref> Small foreign communities of Christians remained. [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic Orthodox Christianity]], the predominant Christian church of Egypt, is the [[Coptic Orthodox Church in Africa#Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco|largest and most historic Christian denomination in Libya]]. There are about 60,000 Egyptian [[Copt]]s in Libya.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.islamopediaonline.org/country-profile/libya/religious-minorities/christian-communities |title=Christian Communities |publisher=Islamopedia Online |access-date=1 April 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326235402/http://www.islamopediaonline.org/country-profile/libya/religious-minorities/christian-communities |archive-date=26 March 2016  }}</ref> There are three Coptic Churches in Libya, one in Tripoli, one in Benghazi, and one in Misurata.

The Coptic Church has grown in recent years in Libya, due to the growing immigration of [[Copts in Egypt|Egyptian Copts]] to Libya. There are an estimated 40,000 [[Roman Catholic]]s in Libya who are served by two bishops, one in Tripoli (serving the Italian community) and one in [[Benghazi]] (serving the [[Maltese people|Maltese]] community). There is also a small [[Anglican]] community, made up mostly of African immigrant workers in Tripoli which is part of the [[Anglican Diocese of Egypt]]. People have been arrested on suspicion of being [[Christian missionaries]], as proselytising is illegal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Foreigners held in Libya on suspicion of proselytising|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21488976|work=BBC News|date=16 February 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217024228/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21488976|archive-date=17 February 2013}}</ref> Christians have also faced the threat of violence from radical Islamists in some parts of the country, with a well-publicised video released by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in February 2015 depicting the mass beheading of Christian Copts.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/02/17/386986424/isis-beheadings-in-libya-devastate-an-egyptian-village|publisher=NPR|date=17 February 2015|access-date=20 February 2015|title=ISIS Beheadings in Libya Devastate An Egyptian Village|first=Leila|last=Fadel|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219160959/http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/02/17/386986424/isis-beheadings-in-libya-devastate-an-egyptian-village|archive-date=19 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/20/egyptians-captured-libya-isis-christians-families-campaign-cairo|work=The Guardian|title='We want our sons back': fears grow for Egyptians missing in Libya|first=Jared|last=Malsin|date=20 February 2015|access-date=20 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220165250/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/20/egyptians-captured-libya-isis-christians-families-campaign-cairo|archive-date=20 February 2015}}</ref> Libya was ranked fourth on [[Open Doors]]' 2022 World Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/libya/ |title=Serving Persecuted Christians Worldwide - Libya - Open Doors UK & Ireland |work=Open Doors UK & Ireland |publisher=Opendoorsuk.org |date= |accessdate=2022-06-24 |archive-date=24 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624143521/https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/libya/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Libya was once the home of one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, dating back to at least 300 BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/libyajew/LibyanJews/thejews.html |title=History of the Jewish Community in Libya |publisher=University of California at Berkeley |access-date=5 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425114822/http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/libyajew/LibyanJews/thejews.html |archive-date=25 April 2013 }}</ref> In 1942, the Italian Fascist authorities set up forced labour camps south of Tripoli for the Jews, including [[Giado]] (about 3,000 Jews), [[Gharyan]], Jeren, and Tigrinna. In Giado some 500 Jews died of weakness, hunger, and disease. In 1942, Jews who were not in the concentration camps were heavily restricted in their economic activity and all men between 18 and 45 years were drafted for forced labour. In August 1942, Jews from Tripolitania were interned in [[Sidi Azaz labor camp|a concentration camp at Sidi Azaz]]. In the three years after November 1945, more than 140 Jews were murdered, and hundreds more wounded, in a series of [[pogrom]]s.<ref name="harris">{{cite book|last=Harris|first=David A.|title=In the Trenches: Selected Speeches and Writings of an American Jewish Activist, 1979–1999|url=https://archive.org/details/intrenches00davi_0|url-access=registration|date=2000|publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc.|isbn=978-0-88125-693-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/intrenches00davi_0/page/149 149]–150}}</ref> By 1948, about 38,000 Jews remained in the country. Upon Libyan independence in 1951, most of the Jewish community emigrated.