Mosques from Libya 20 JULY 2014 ISSUE

Mosques from Libya  20 JULY 2014 ISSUE

Islamic Tourism is defined as promoting tourism of and to Islamic countries. There are those who oppose it and there are those who suppose it. These issues were discussed at the International Conference on Tourism in Islamic Countries, held in Tehran, Iran, on March 2007, and a number of recommendations were accordingly made relating to Infrastructure Development Management, Foreign Policy & Tourism Development, and Media & The Development of Tourism.

However, Islamic Tourism as defined in this webpage has nothing to do with the above definition, because, for example, visiting Egypt (which is an Islamic country) to see the pagan pyramids and the Sphinx has nothing to do with Islamic heritage as such. What is meant by Islamic Tourism in this page is very simple: visiting Islamic archaeological sites, seeing Islamic monuments and mosques, and getting to know more about Islamic heritage, history, art and culture as a whole. The following data therefore will attempt to introduce the various historical Islamic sites in Libya, including photos of some of the most ancient mosques in Libya.

The Arrival of the Muslims in Libya:

The Muslims arrived in North Africa during the first half of the 7th century AD. In 640 AD Amr ibn al-Ās (عمرو بن العاص‎) took Egypt before he advanced towards Cyrenaica in 641 AD, where he established his base at Barqa. He then moved on towards Tripolitania, where he removed the remaining Byzantine garrisons and took control of Tripoli in 642 AD.  He was followed by Uqba (or Oqba) ibn Nafi, who moved towards Fezzan in 663 and took Germa, before claiming the Roman province of Africa in 670 AD and establishing his military base at Kairouan (Qayrawan), in preparation for the subsequent demolition of Byzantine Carthage.