Prime Minister Fayez Serraj has been trying to convince controversial General Khalifa Haftar and his political allies in eastern Libya to compromise and unify under the GNA banner. Other elements in Tripoli have, however, been exacerbating the differences.

There are few more divisive figures than the elderly Grand Mufti Sadiq al-Ghariani.  He has called on his loyal supporters to engage in jihad against Haftar since the latter launched Operation Dignity in mid-2014. Although officially sacked by the House in 2014 for his inflammatory remarks and fatwas, al-Ghariani continues to operate out of Tripoli, after having been barred entry to the UK for these remarks in October 2014.

At a local level, people may have had enough of the mufti when al-Ghariani commended the Benghazi Defence Forces’ attacks on Haftar’s forces in Ajdabiya on 20 June, and called on the militias to continue on to Benghazi to fight Haftar in the city after Sirte was liberated from Islamic State (IS).

Members of the Bayda-based League of Libyan Ulema — a parallel institution to al-Ghariani and his associated Dar Al-Ifta in Tripoli — condemned al-Ghariani’s statements and actions, and said that they did not comport with Islamic values. They also accused the Grand Mufti of promoting civil war, and of being complicit in crimes in Tripoli, including the Al-Rwimy prison killings earlier this month.

Even among the League of Libyan Ulema, however, there is division. Its Tripoli-based leadership has shied away from taking ownership of these condemnations. This fitna, or internal conflict among Muslims, reveals Libya’s religious complexity, even though over 96% of the population are Sunni. Some Libyans genuinely still believe that, as Grand Mufti, al-Ghariani is the religious legal expert to whom they should look for judgements on how to live piously according to their faith. But, when he abuses this role, it sends the country’s conservative population into confusion, and it could even provoke individuals — who might not otherwise have done so — to commit crimes, including terrorist activities.