Editing Islam in Libya (section)

===Senusiyya===
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The [[Senusiyya]], or Senussi movement, was a [[sufism|sufi]] religious revival adapted to desert life. Its [[zawiya (institution)|zawiyas]] could be found in [[Tripolitania]] and [[Fezzan]], but its influence was strongest in [[Cyrenaica]]. The Senusiyya's first theocracy was in the city of [[Bayda, Libya|Bayda]], Cyrenaica and that was their center in 1841. After the Italian occupation, the focus turned from government to seminary education and then to the creation of an Islamic University which became in 1960 the University of Mohammed bin Ali al-Sanusi. The arrival of Gaddafi's rule changed the course of the university. It is now known as the [[Omar Al-Mukhtar University]]. 

The Senussis formed a nucleus of resistance to the [[Italian colonization of Libya]]. As [[Libyan nationalism]] fostered by unified resistance to the Italians gained adherents, however, the religious fervor of devotion to the movement began to wane, particularly after the Italians destroyed Senussi religious and educational centers during the 1930s. Nonetheless, [[Idris of Libya]] was the grandson of the founder of the Senussi movement, and his status as a Senussi gave him the unique ability to command respect from the disparate parts of the [[Kingdom of Libya]].

Despite its momentary political prominence, the Senussi movement never regained its strength as a religious force after its zawiyas were destroyed. A promised restoration never fully took place, and the Idrisid regime used the Senussi heritage as a means of legitimizing political authority rather than to provide religious leadership.

After unseating Idris in 1969, the revolutionary government placed restrictions on the operation of the remaining zawiyas, appointed a supervisor for Senussi properties, and merged the Senussi-sponsored Islamic University with the [[University of Libya]]. The movement was virtually banned, but in the 1980s occasional evidence of Senussi activity was nonetheless reported. Senussi-inspired activists were instrumental in freeing Cyrenaica from Gaddafi's control during the [[2011 Libyan Civil War]].