Why did Mussolini take the Muslim sword?

Why did the leader of a country known as Christmas Heart take this sword?

Benito Amilcare Andre Mussolini was known for many things. As the original creator and the fascism father, Italy's dictator and the extremist leader left its influence on the Italian people and the history books.

Although his exploits and failures in World War II are known, there is another less known part of the dictator we will explore today.

To do that, we will see Mussolini's life before World War II and how the Catholic leader became the Protector of Islam.

Italian Libya

With Mussolini's coming to power, Italy's Kingdom managed to accommodate fewer colonies in comparison with other rivals, such as Britain or France.

One of the few colonies Italy controlled was known as Italian Libya, an area that is now largely under the control of the modern Libyan state.

Although Italy faced riots by local residents because of their desire for independence, in the early 1930 ' s, Italy had relatively full control of the entire territory.

In an effort to calm the region, Mussolini realized that he had to do something that would show him in a more favourable light for the Muslim people he already ruled.

To accomplish this, although Mussolini was a devout Christian, he sought to get a prestigious title within the Muslim faith to show the people that, despite his rulership, he also had a personal commitment to their faith.

Taking possession of Othoman Libya, Mussolini declared it would already inherit Califi's authority (Khalif means leader of one khalifat or Islamic State.

As such, this gave Mussolini the right to give himself the title “The Protector or Protector of Islam”.

This title was further legitimised with its right to “The sword of Islam”, another title of honor given to him by Iusuf Keriscm, a barber leader who was kind of an Italian invasion in North Africa.

But the ceremony Mussolini received “The sword of Islam” did not go according to plan.

To further design his power and dedication over his Muslim subjects, Mussolini planned a photo session that would harden in history the moment this honor was presented to him.

Many of the photos of this event were useless because they did not show the dictator in good light. One of the only photos that was shown to the public is the one seen above, which was widely modified to leave out one of Mussolini's helpers carrying his horse.

After the initial ceremony, Mussolini also passed through Libya's capital, Tripoli, to further strengthen his status among the people he ruled in North Africa.

During this parade, the Italian dictator confirmed to Libya's people that he would guard “peace, justice, welfare and respect for the laws of the Prophet”.

After this display of power ended, the sword was put on display at Mussolini's summer home, where it remained until 1943, when Italian resistance troops took over and robbed his residence.

Since then, the location of the sword has remained a mystery.