Editing Libya (section)

=== Islamic Libya: 647–1556 ===
{{Main|Islamic Tripolitania and Cyrenaica}}
[[File:Awjila (Libia) - The Mosque of Atiq.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Atiq Mosque, Awjila|Atiq Mosque]] in [[Awjila]] is the oldest mosque in the [[Sahara]].]]

Under the command of [[Amr ibn al-As]], the [[Rashidun army]] conquered [[Cyrenaica]].<ref name="be278">[[#Bertarelli|Bertarelli]], p. 278.</ref> In 647 an army led by [[Abdullah ibn Saad]] took Tripoli from the Byzantines definitively.<ref name="be278" /> The [[Fezzan]] was conquered by [[Uqba ibn Nafi]] in 663. The Berber tribes of the hinterland accepted Islam, however they resisted Arab political rule.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Hourani, Albert|year=2002|title=A History of the Arab Peoples|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-21591-1|page=198}}</ref>

For the next several decades, Libya was under the purview of the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] [[Caliph of Damascus]] until the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]] overthrew the Umayyads in 750, and Libya came under the rule of Baghdad. When Caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] appointed [[Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab|Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab]] as his governor of [[Ifriqiya]] in 800, Libya enjoyed considerable local autonomy under the [[Aghlabid]] dynasty. By the 10th century, the Shiite [[Fatimids]] controlled Western Libya, and ruled the entire region in 972 and appointed [[Bologhine ibn Ziri]] as governor.<ref name="be202" />

Ibn Ziri's Berber [[Zirid dynasty]] ultimately broke away from the Shiite Fatimids, and recognized the Sunni Abbasids of Baghdad as rightful Caliphs. In retaliation, the Fatimids brought about the migration of thousands from mainly two Arab Qaisi tribes, the [[Banu Sulaym]] and [[Banu Hilal]] to North Africa. This act drastically altered the fabric of the Libyan countryside, and cemented the cultural and linguistic Arabisation of the region.<ref name="be202" />

Zirid rule in Tripolitania was short-lived though, and already in 1001 the Berbers of the [[Banu Khazrun]] broke away. Tripolitania remained under their control until 1146, when the region was overtaken by the [[Normans of Sicily]].<ref name="be203">[[#Bertarelli|Bertarelli]], p. 203.</ref> For the next 50 years, Tripolitania was the scene of numerous battles among [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]], the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad]] rulers and insurgents of the [[Banu Ghaniya]]. Later, a general of the Almohads, Muhammad ibn Abu Hafs, ruled Libya from 1207 to 1221 before the later establishment of the Tunisian [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsid Kingdom]]<ref name="be203" /> independent from the Almohads. In the 14th century, the [[Banu Thabit]] dynasty ruled Tripolitania before reverting to direct Hafsid control. By the 16th century, the Hafsids became increasingly caught up in the power struggle between Spain and the [[Ottoman Empire]].

After Abbasid control was weakened, Cyrenaica was under Egypt-based states such as the [[Tulunids]], [[Ikhshidid dynasty|Ikhshidids]], Ayyubids, and [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluks]] before Ottoman conquest in 1517. [[Fezzan]] acquired independence under Awlad Muhammad dynasty after [[Kanem–Bornu Empire|Kanem]] rule. Ottomans finally conquered Fezzan between 1556 and 1577.