Outside the Libyan towns, the ulama might…

Outside the Libyan towns, the ulama might often be replaced as the spiritual guides of the people by wandering holy men known as marabouts, mystics and seers whose tradition antedate Islam.

Called "men of the soil," the marabouts of popular Islam are incorporated into intensely local cults of saints.

They have traditionally acted as arbiters in tribal disputes and, whenever the authority of government wanes in a particular locale, the people turn to the marabouts for political leadership as well as for spiritual guidance.

Islam has thus taken shape in Libya as a coexisting blend of the scrupulous intellectualism of the ulama and the sometimes frenzied emotionalism of the masses.