Mohammed El Senussi

Mohammed El Senussi's great-great-grandfather, Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi, founded the Senussi order in 1837.

A scholar from Mustaghanim, Algeria who traced his ancestry to the Prophet Muhammad through the Prophet's daughter, Fatima, Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi traveled extensively across northern Africa and the Hijaz while preaching a revivalist and mystical Islamic way of life and attracting countless disciples.

Senussi ultimately settled in Cyrenaica in the early 1840s and founded the first zawiya (lodge dedicated to religious and social purposes) in al-Beida in 1842.

In 1856, Senussi relocated the center of the Order south to Jaghbub which also became the host of a new Islamic University "second only in Africa to al-Azhar."

Mohammed El Senussi's great-grandfather and the eldest son of Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi, Muhammad al-Mahdi, succeeded his father as the Grand Senussi in 1859.

Under his leadership, the Senussi Order spread to large parts of pagan and Islamic Africa, ultimately establishing approximately 146 zawaya and bringing the majority of Cyrenaica's Bedouins under the order's influence.

During this time, "the Senussiya brought law and order, curbed raiding, encouraged peaceful trade, and promoted agriculture in a remarkable, civilizing mission amid highly unpromising surroundings."

Muhammad al-Mahdi died in 1902 and his nephew, Ahmad al-Sharif assumed leadership of the Senussi Order.

Despite fighting with Ottoman support against the European colonizers, Sharif and the Senussi order struggled to oppose French, British, and Italian expansion in the Sahara.

Unlike his uncle who opted for military confrontation with the Italian and European colonialists, Muhammad Idris led the Senussi Order into negotiations with the Italians in 1916 and 1917, resulting in local autonomy for the Sanussi Order in Cyrenaica, and in 1920, the granting of the title of amir of Cyrenaica to Idris as-Senussi.

In 1918, Ahmed al-Sharif went into exile in Turkey.

Ahmed Sharif nominated Muhammad Idris as-Senussi, Mohammed El Senussi's great-uncle, who had already begun to play a leadership role in the Senussi Order, as his successor.

The Movement for the Return of Constitutional Legitimacy and its affiliated groups in Libya advocate for the reinstatement of the 1951 Constitution and the return of the Senussi constitutional monarchy under Mohammed El Senussi's leadership.

When negotiations broke down, however, Idris and the Senussi Order emerged as British-allied leaders of the resistance to Italy's colonial occupation of Libya, culminating with Libya's independence, the first African state to achieve independence from European rule, in 1951.

The United Nations authorized the formation of a federal system of government with the monarch, Idris as-Senussi, as the king and head of state.

Idris as-Senussi served as the King of Libya from 1951 until 1969 when the military coup d'état led by Muammar Gaddafi took power in Libya.

The 1951 Constitution established a hereditary monarchy based on King Idris and his male successors.

Article 44 of the 1951 Constitution states:

"subject to what has been provided in Article 40, sovereignty shall be vested by the nation in trust with the King Mohammed Idris el Mahdi el Senussi and after him to his male heirs, the oldest after the oldest, degree after degree"

Article 45 of the 1951 Constitution states:

"the Throne of the Kingdom is hereditary in accordance with the two Royal Orders promulgated on 22nd of Safar 1374 H., and the 25th of Rabi'e el-Thani 1376 H., respectively. Each of these two Orders regulating the succession to the Throne shall have the same forces as an article of this Constitution."

However, King Idris did not have any sons.

As a result, King Idris appointed his brother and Mohammed El Senussi's grandfather, Muhammad Rida Al-Mehdi al-Senoussi as Crown Prince.

"If the King were to die without a male Heir his wife not being pregnant, or if she were pregnant but the pregnancy was not to result in an Heir to the Throne, then the Crown would be retained by His Royal Highness Prince Al-Hassan Al-Rida who would become the origin of future successions to continue through His line according to the rulings of our Order to reorganise the Royal Household issues on 20 October 1954."

After the Crown Prince's death in 1955, King Idris appointed his nephew and Mohammed El Senussi's father, Hasan as-Senussi, as Crown Prince on November 25, 1956, through a Royal Decree.

Section 2 of the Royal Decree states:

Mohammed El Senussi (محمد السنوسي; Sayyid Mohammed er-Rida bin Seyyed Hasan er-Rida el-Mahdi es-Senussi; occasionally spelled as "...Al Senussi", "as-Senussi", "al/el-Senussi"; born 20 October 1962) is the son of Crown Prince Hasan as-Senussi of Libya, and of Crown Princess Fawzia bint Tahir Bakeer.

Born in Tripoli, he is considered by Libyan royalists to be the legitimate heir to the Senussi Crown of Libya.

Mohammed El Senussi has been an active commentator on Libyan affairs since the start of the Libyan Civil War.

Senussi publicly supported the demonstrations against the Gaddafi regime while advocating for the restoration of peace.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi overthrew Mohammed El Senussi's grand-uncle King Idris and his father the Crown Prince on 1 September 1969 in the Al Fateh Revolution.

Gaddafi detained the Royal Family and held them under house arrest.

On August 4, 1969, King Idris announced his planned abdication in favor of the Crown Prince (to take effect September 2, 1969) writing that "Now I hand it over to the forty-three-year-old Crown Prince el-Sayyid el-Hasan el-Rida el-Mehdi el-Senoussi, who is to be regarded from today as King el-Hasan el-Rida el-Mehdi el-Senoussi."

The 1969 coup d'état was carried out shortly after on September 1.

In 1982 their house with belongings was destroyed and the family moved into a shack on the beach.

Before being allowed to emigrate to the United Kingdom in 1988, Prince Mohammed spent some time in the early 1980s working at the Libyan Ministry of Agriculture.

Mohammed El Senussi received his education in the United Kingdom.

After seeking medical treatment in London in 1988, Mohammed El Senussi's father, Crown Prince Hasan as-Senussi, died in 1992.

On 18 June 1992, he was appointed as heir by his father to succeed him in death as Crown Prince and Head of the Royal House of Libya.

He is unmarried and speaks Arabic and English.