Islam is the state religion in Bahrain. 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. Bahrain's 2010 census indicated that 70.2% of the population is Muslim. The last official census (1941) to include sectarian identification reported 52% as Shia and 48 per cent as Sunni of the Muslim population.
Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, or Al-Wefaq for short, is a Shia Bahraini political party. Although from 2006 to 2011 it was by far the single largest party in the Bahraini legislature, with 18 representatives in the 40-member Bahraini parliament, it was often outvoted by coalition blocs of opposition Sunni parties and independent MPs reflecting gerrymandering of electoral districts. On 27 February 2011, the 18 Al-Wefaq members of parliament submitted letters of resignation to protest regime violence against pro-reform Bahraini protestors.
Women's rights have been a cornerstone of the political reforms initiated by King Hamad, with women gaining the right to vote and stand as candidates in national elections for the first time after the constitution was amended in 2002. The extension of equal political rights has been accompanied by a conscious drive to promote women to positions of authority within government.
The Council of Representatives, sometimes translated as the "Chamber of Deputies", is the name given to the lower house of the Bahraini National Assembly, the national legislative body of Bahrain.
Sheikh Adel Al Mouwda was the second deputy chairman of Bahrain's parliament of 2002, the Chamber of Deputies, and the former leader of salafist party, Asalah. Sheikh Al Mouwda is considered the leading spokesman for political Islam in Bahrain and is known for his forthright views, which has seen him often quoted in the international press.
Sheikh Mohammed Khalid Ibrahim is a Bahraini Islamist politician and a member of the Al-Menbar Islamic Society in Bahrain. He was an MP in the lower house of the Bahraini parliament, having been elected in the 2002 Bahrain parliamentary elections representing a constituency from the Northern Governorate. Khalid is a known outspoken critic of the Bahraini government over conservative issues such as the selling of alcohol.
The Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society is a Bahraini human rights organization established in November 2004 which claims to protect housemaids, and to fight for women's rights.
Faisal Hassan Fulad is an international Human Rights Activist and he was a member of Kingdom of Bahrain's upper chamber of parliament, the Consultative Council, since 1996. Fulad was appointed to parliament by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa from 1996 to 2010.
Women candidates of the 2006 Bahrain election, which took place on the November 25, 2006 were reported to have received numerous threats from Islamic salafist and other factions to prevent them taking part. In all, eighteen female candidates of various political stances and views took part after recent changes to the political system in 2001 allowed women to not only become candidates, but also gave them the right to vote.
The Al Bander report refers to a political conspiracy by government officials in Bahrain to foment sectarian strife and marginalize the majority Shia community in the country. The conspiracy was led and financed by Ahmed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and head of the Civil Informatics Organization and member of the Al Khalifa royal family. The allegations were revealed in September 2006, in a 240-page document produced by the Gulf Centre for Democratic Development, and authored by Dr Salah Al Bandar, an adviser to the Cabinet Affairs Ministry. Following the distribution of the report, Bahraini police forcibly deported Dr Al Bandar to the United Kingdom, where he holds citizenship.
Dr Salah Al Bander is a British citizen of Sudanese origin known for his role in revealing the Bandargate scandal in Bahrain. Al Bander had been working as a strategic planning adviser to the Royal Court of Bahrain since January 2002, then he was seconded to Ministry of Cabinet Affairs in January 2006. On 13 September 2006 he was arrested and deported to London by Bahraini security officials after he distributed a report revealing a conspiracy to suppress the Shia in Bahrain. The scandal that ensued was named Bandargate, after him. Al Bander is also the Secretary General of the MOWATIN: Gulf Centre for Democratic Development, a London-registered non-governmental organisation.
Al Menbar National Islamic Society is the political wing of the Sunni Islamist Al Eslah Society in Bahrain and Bahrain's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The president and patron of the Al Eslah Society is Shaikh Isa bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, a member of the Al Khalifa royal family and former labor minister of Bahrain. Prominent members of Al Menbar include Salah Abdulrahman, Salah Al Jowder, and outspoken MP Mohammed Khalid. The party has generally backed government-sponsored legislation on economic issues, but has sought a clampdown on pop concerts, sorcery and soothsayers. Additionally, it has strongly opposed the government's accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
General elections were held in Bahrain in November and December 2006 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives. The first round of voting was held on 25 November, with a second round on 2 December 2006.
The Al Asalah Islamic Society is the main Sunni Salafist political party in Bahrain. The party is the political wing of the Islamic Education Society which funds the party. Asalah's leader is Ghanim Al Buaneen, who took over in 2005 from Adel Mouwda, who was sacked because he was perceived to be too close to Shia Islamists, Al Wefaq. Asalah is most popular in the conservative bastions of Muharraq and Riffa. Asala often aligns with Al-Menbar to outvote Al Wefaq.
Bahrain's record on human rights has been described by Human Rights Watch as "dismal", and having "deteriorated sharply in the latter half of 2010".
General elections were held in Bahrain in October 2010 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives. The first round of voting was held on 23 October, with a second round on 30 October. Amidst boycotts and arrests, Al Wefaq won 18 of the 40 seats. Four women were elected.
The Bahraini uprising of 2011 was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some sunni minority Bahraini Opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and 2011–12 Iranian protests and escalated to daily clashes after the Bahraini government repressed the revolt with the support of Gulf Cooperation Council and Peninsula Shield Force. The Bahraini protests were a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of non-violent civil disobedience and later some violent resistance in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain. As part of the revolutionary wave of protests in the Middle East and North Africa following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the Bahraini protests were initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and equality for the majority Shia population, and expanded to a call to end the monarchy of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa following a deadly night raid on 17 February 2011 against protesters at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama, known locally as Bloody Thursday.
Sectarian violence among Muslims is the ongoing conflict between Muslims of different sects, most commonly Shias and Sunnis, although the fighting extends to smaller, more specific branches within these sects, as well as Sufism. It has been documented as having gone on from Islam's beginnings up until now.
Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Ahmed Qassim is Bahrain's leading Shia cleric and a politician. He is the spiritual leader of Al Wefaq, Bahrain's biggest opposition society. He was the leader and is the founders of Islamic Enlightenment Institution.
Mohamed Yousif Rashid Albuflasa is a Bahraini poet, writer, former independent candidate for the Bahraini Parliament in the 2010 Parliamentary elections and a member of the Bahraini youth parliament. He belongs to the Albuflasa Bedouin clan. Formerly a Bahrain Defence Force officer, he is now employed at the court of Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
