Hisham Matar's search for his father unfolds within the political context of the divisive rule over Libya from 1969 to 2011 by Muammar Qaddafi (also referred to as “Gadhafi” and “Gaddafi” in the West). A military officer and self-styled political theorist, Qaddafi bloodlessly overthrew the previous Libyan government and initially led the country along Arab nationalist and socialist lines. He also incorporated elements of sharia—a body of Islamic law derived from the Qur'an, the Hadith, and centuries of jurisprudence—into Libyan governance, though its application remained partial and inconsistent alongside his own idiosyncratic ideology. He openly criticized the West and colonial forces, including the UK, USA, and Israel, and he funded foreign revolutionaries through his nationalization of Libya's oil industry, including the Irish Republican Army (IRA). This profitable industry caused a surge in Libya's national development, spurring economic reform, combatting homelessness, and improving access to education, food, and clean drinking water. Combined with his support for Arab and African unity, he generated significant support among certain anti-imperialist groups and sub-Saharan Africans, though domestic support was always more complicated and became increasingly coerced over time.

However, he also received widespread criticism for authoritarianism and human rights violations, some of which are explored in Matar’s The Return. After seizing power, Qaddafi consolidated control by eliminating political opposition, dismantling state institutions, and creating a vast security apparatus to suppress dissent. His regime systematically used extrajudicial detention and violence against perceived enemies at home and abroad. This campaign included the practice of enforced disappearance, a tactic defined by the United Nations as a crime against humanity where individuals are secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state, which then refuses to acknowledge their fate or whereabouts. The memoir’s central emotional struggle is a direct product of this state-sanctioned policy of erasure. Partially in response to the unethical detention and disappearance of Libyans, uprisings occurred in 2011, leading to the First Libyan Civil War. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) contributed military support to the National Transit Council (NTC), opponents of the regime, and NTC militants tortured and killed Qaddafi after his government was overthrown.