Ali al-Sallabi

Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, or al-Salabi (; born 1963 in Benghazi) is a Muslim historian, religious scholar and Islamist politician from Libya. He was arrested by the Gaddafi regime, then left Libya and studied Islam in Saudi Arabia and Sudan during the 1990s. He then studied in Qatar under Yusuf al-Qaradawi and returned to Libya during the 2011 overthrow of Gaddafi and distributed weapons, money, and aid to Islamist groups in the country. His actions were criticized by members of the internationally recognized Libyan government under the National Transitional Council who he in turn criticized as being secular.

Sallabi has written several books which have been published and widely distributed by Saudi-based companies to English and Arabic speaking audiences. He is the son of Muhammad Salabi. He is an author of some books which are read across the globe by people of all religions.

Sallabi was placed under the Terrorist watch list and issued a travel ban by a number of Arab Nations following the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis.

Politics

During Gaddafi regime Under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, Sallabi was detained in the infamous Abu Salim prison for eight years. After being released, he studied theology in Saudi Arabia and Sudan,

As a member of the Muslim Brotherhood himself – a movement he had joined at an early age along with his father – Sallabi was welcomed by al-Qaradawi as well as by the Qatari ruling family, the most prominent patron of the international movement. Qatari-sponsored TV station al-Jazeera broadcast several appearances of Sallabi, in which he decidedly aligned himself with al-Qaradawi and his pro-Islamism ideological positions.

Sallabi is also associated with Abdelhakim Belhadj, emir of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and one of the commanders of the National Liberation Army.

The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group is a terrorist group allied with al-Qaeda, that provided some of al-Qaeda the highest ranking and most trusted operatives. Belhajd had fought in Afghanistan and contributed to the growth of al-Qaeda in the country. Burr claims that Belhadj had followed Osama bin-Laden moving al-Qaeda's headquarters from Sudan to Afghanistan in 1996. However, J. Millard Burr, a senior fellow at the American Center for Democracy, reported that Sallabi became involved with Col. Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, in a Qatar-backed series of negotiations that aimed at having Islamist prisoners released from Libyan prisons during his time in Qatar.

According to Burr, Belhaji himself was freed from prison in Libya in an amnesty negotiated by Gaddafi's son in 2010.

Sallabi acted as the key conduit to deliver Qatar's $2 billion aid through over a dozen shipments of "humanitarian aid, money, and arms" to the rebels. However, The Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher reported that this privileged relationship with the Qatari rulers, that facilitated Qatar's role in ousting Gaddafi, also raised "suspicions among some Libyans about the gulf state's motives." and would run in the country's upcoming elections.

The internationally recognized Libyan government under the National Transitional Council criticized Sallabi and the Qatari government for overwhelmingly supporting Islamist factions of the Libyan rebels. Qatar's arming of Islamists who were opposed to the secularists in the National Transitional Council was said to be one of the main reasons that the NTC was unable to establish a monopoly on security in the country following the overthrow of Gaddafi. Just like Saudi Arabia, Qatar has devoted significant efforts to spread Wahhabism around the globe and to win spheres of influence by funding mosques, schools, cultural events, and by devolving billions of dollars in military contracts and real estate investments. The Arab Spring has offered valuable opportunities as well, as demonstrated by the decisive role played by a number of Qatari-sponsored actors in Libya.

Sallabi's affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood was in fact solid and traced back to his youth. However, the Libyan National Party (LNP) founded by Sallabi also registered a high number of members of the al-Qaeda linked Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). In a November 2007 video message, al-Qaeda deputy emir Ayman al-Zawahiri announced a formal merger between al-Qaeda and LIFG.

Works Sallabi has written no less than 10 books which have been translated into English and published by two Saudi-based publishing houses with offices in the United States (Darussalam Publishers and International Islamic Publishing House).

Al-Sallabi has also gained a wide audience among Muslims in the West due to his vast writings and scholarship on the early history of Islam. His biographical works on the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the early Caliphate add up to over 8,000 pages across several volumes. They have been translated in their entirety into English by several reputable publishers.

al-Wasatiyah fi al-Qur'an al-Karim, Master's thesis, Omdurman Islamic University Noble Life of The Prophet (3 Vols), Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2005 The Biography Of Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2007 Umar bin Khattab His Life and Times (2 Vols), Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2010 The Biography Of Uthman Ibn Affan (R) - Dhun-Noorayn, Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2007 Ali ibn Abi Talib (2 Vols), Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2011 Umar bin Abd Al-Aziz (R), Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2011 Faith in Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, International Islamic Publishing House (IIPH), 2009 Salah Ad-Deen Al-Ayubi (3 Vols), IIPH Publications, 2010 al-Hasan ibn 'Ali: His Life and Times, IIPH Publications, 2014

Personal life al-Sallabi is from a family of Turkish origin.