Islam in Bahrain

Islam is the state religion in Bahrain where the citizens are all Muslims, with the majority of the population practicing Shia Islam. However, due to an influx of immigrants and guest workers from non-Muslim countries, such as India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, the overall percentage of Muslims in the country has declined since the late 20th century. According to the CIA's "World Factbook", the country's 2001 census indicate that 81.2% of Bahrain's population was Muslim (Shi'a and Sunni), 5% were Christian, and 14% practiced other Asian or Middle Eastern religions like Hinduism. Among Muslims, Shias form around 80% of the total Muslim population of Bahrain. Sunnis are mainly Hanafi while Shias are mainly twelvers. Some Ibadi and Maliki Muslims also live on the island.

History of Islam in Bahrain

Prior to Islam, the inhabitants of Qatar and Bahrain were idol worshippers. They worshipped idol gods like Awal. Islam swept the entire Arabian region in the 7th century, overturning the idol worshippers. Muhammad sent his first envoy Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami to Munzir ibn Sawa Al Tamimi, the ruler of the historical region of Bahrain, which extended the coast from Kuwait to the south of Qatar including Al-Hasa, Qatif, and the Bahrain Islands, in the year 628 AD, inviting him to Islam. Munzir, responding to the Prophet’s call announced his conversion to Islam and all the Arab inhabitants of Bahrain and Qatar including some Persians living in Qatar also became Muslim, heralding the beginning of the Islamic era in Bahrain . They turned Bahrain into the strongest state in the Gulf and possibly, wider Middle East. They raided Baghdad and in 930 sacked Mecca and Medina, desectrating the Zamzam Well with the bodies of Hajj pilgirm and taking the Black Stone with them back to Bahrain where it remained for twenty years. The Qarmatians were eventually defeated by their Ismaili counterparts, the Abbasids in 976 and afterwards their power waned.

The defeat of the Qarmatian state saw the gradual wane of their revolutionary brand of Ismaili Islam. Instead, under a process encouraged by Sunni rulers over the next four hundred years, Twelver Shia Islam became entrenched. According to historian Juan Cole, Sunnis favoured the quietist Twelver branch of Shi'ism over the Qarmatians and promoted its development in Bahrain [Juan Cole, Sacred Space and Holy War, IB Tauris, 2007 pp32] . In the 13th Century, there arose what was termed the 'Bahrain School', which integrated themes of philosophy and mysticism into orthodox Twelver practise. The school produced theologians such as Sheikh Kamal al-Din Ibn Sa’adah al Bahrani (d. 1242), Sheikh Jamal al-Din ‘Ali ibn Sulayman al-Bahrani (d. 1271), and perhaps most famously Sheikh Maitham Al Bahrani (d. 1280) [Ali Al Oraibi, Rationalism in the school of Bahrain: a historical perspective, in Shīʻite Heritage: Essays on Classical and Modern Traditions By Lynda Clarke, Global Academic Publishing 2001 p331] .

Islam in Bahrain today

The Al Khalifa ruling family and its supporting tribes adhere to the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, while the Huwala Sunnis follow the Shafi'i school. There is also a large population of the South Asian Sunni Muslim residents who follow the Hanafi school. The Shia in Bahrain (Baharna and Ajam) are overwhelmingly Twelvers, following the Jafari school.

The Constitution states that Islam is the official religion and also provides for freedom of religion; however, there were some limits on this right. In the past, the Government did not tolerate political dissent, including from religious groups or leaders; however, in 2001 the King pardoned and released all remaining political prisoners and religious leaders, including Shi'a clerics. Members of other religions who practice their faith privately do so without interference from the Government and are permitted to maintain their own places of worship and display the symbols of their religion.

The country observes the Muslim feasts of Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, the Prophet Muhammad's birthday, and the Islamic New Year as national holidays. The Shi'a religious celebration of Ashura is a 2-day national holiday. The Shi'a stage large public processions during the holiday. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Government tried to prevent many of these processions and put many participants in jail. The Government no longer hinders these processions. The Ministry of Information provides full media coverage of Ashura events.

Political liberalisation under King Hamad has seen Islamist parties contest Bahrain's elections and become a dominant force in parliament. Sunni Islamist parties, the salafist Asalah and the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Al-Menbar Islamic Society are two of the largest parties in parliament, while the Shia Islamist Al Wefaq is expected to become the dominating party after 2006's general election having boycotted the 2002 poll.

Although there are notable exceptions, the Sunni Muslim minority enjoys a favored status. Sunnis dominate Bahrain politically and economically. They live in the cities, where they often make up the majority. Shi'as are almost totally dominant in the rural areas. Sunnis often receive preference for employment in sensitive government positions and in the managerial ranks of the civil service. Shi'a citizens do not hold significant posts in the defense and internal security forces, although they are allowed to be employed in the enlisted ranks. In 2002, the Government licensed for the first time a school to provide students with a Shi'a religious curriculum designed to educate the next generation of Shi'a religious scholars.

ee also

*Beit Al Qur'an

External links

* [http://www.bahrainrights.org/node/652 Conspiring Against the Shia of Bahrain] , Bahrain Center for Human Rights, October 2006
* [http://www.bahrainrights.org/node/29 Discrimination in Bahrain: The Unwritten Law] , Bahrain Center for Human Rights, September 2003
* [http://www.bahrainrights.org/node/467 Video: Political Naturalization in Bahrain (2002)]
* [http://bahraini.tv/?p=590 At least Bahrain is trying to address Sunni-Shiite divisions] , Daily Star editorial, 12 May 2006 (from [http://Bahraini.tv Bahraini.tv] website)

References

* [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35495.htm US State Department]