ABSTRACT
The primary source of inspiration for Mu’ammar al-Qadhdhafi’s Third Universal Theory is the Islamic ideal of equality and justice on which the Islamic polity was founded. Muslim historians and traditionalists have regarded the age of the first four ‘rightly-guided’ caliphs as the only age of true caliphal succession. Colonel Qadhdhafi’s relationship with other Arab heads of state is one of conflict and confrontation. From Qadhdhafi’s point of view, it is a confrontation between right and wrong, progress and reaction. From the viewpoint of his detractors, it is a confrontation between atheism and faith, between Islam and non-Islam. Qadhdhafi’s view of education is an integral part of his theory of the ‘free new society’ as presented in the third part of The Green Book. Many Western academics, journalists and United Nations observers have noted, sometimes reluctantly, the phenomenal transformation of Libya since the revolution.
