The Sword of Islam (Arabic: سيف الإسلا, translit. Sayf al-Islām) was a ceremonial melee weapon given in 1937 to Benito Mussolini, who was pronounced as the Protector of Islam (Arabic: حامي الإسلام, translit. Hāmī al-Islām).
History:
Benito Mussolini promoted a policy for encouraging comparisons with Islam, calling the local population of what is now modern Lybia "Italian Muslims of the fourth shore of Italy", building and restoring mosques and Koranic schools, preparing service facilities for the pilgrims going to Mecca and even making a High School for Islamic Culture in Tripoli.
On March 20, 1937, Benito Mussolini received the Sword of Islam during a ceremony in the outskirts of Tripoli from Iusuf Kersic, a leading Berber.
After entering Tripoli, being welcomed with cannon salutes and at the head of a rank of 2,600 cavalrymen, Mussolini reaffirmed his closeness to the Muslim population, guaranteeing "peace, justice, wellness and respect for the laws of the Prophet."
The historical event shows Mussolini on the saddle of a horse.
The following year, a monument was inaugurated in the main square of the Libyan capital in honor of Mussolini. Its inscription read: "To Benito Mussolini, peacemaker and redeemer of the Libyan Land, where the Sword of Islam blazed, the grateful and appreciative people solemnly swear in the name of the Lictorian fasces a loyality that defies fate“.
After 1937: the sword, decorated in arabesque, equipped with a double-edged straight blade and with a hilt and solid gold friezes, was guarded in a small glass reliquary at Rocca delle Caminate, summer residence of Mussolini.
There were no more signs of the precious object after July 25, 1943, when Rocca delle Caminate was ravaged and plundered by anti-fascists.
In 1939, laws were passed that allowed Muslims to be permitted to join the National Fascist Party and in particular the Muslim Association of the Lictor (Associazione Musulmana del Littorio).
official website of MFL:
http://fascismoeliberta.info/
BOOKS ON FASCISM:
Benito Mussolini - The Birth of the New Democracy:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0857CGSPH/
What Italy owes to Mussolini:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086PPHRMV
Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera: The Foundations of the Spanish Phalanx:
https://www.amazon.com/Jose-Antonio-Primo-Rivera-Foundations/dp/1724155768/
