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Adnan Zahid Abdulsamad is a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the first district. Born in 1950, Abdulsamad studied political science and worked in the Oil Ministry before being elected to the National Assembly in 1981. While political parties are technically illegal in Kuwait, Abdulsamad affiliates with the National Islamic Alliance, which is a Shia party. [1]
On November 6, 2006, the parliament voted 22-15 to approve severing diplomatic ties with Denmark over the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and spending about US$50 (€39.20) million to defend the prophet's image in the West. Both votes were nonbinding, meaning the Cabinet did not have to abide by them. Abdulsamad voted in favor of cutting diplomatic ties, saying, ""We have to cut diplomatic and commercial ties with Denmark... We don't have to eat Danish cheese." [2]
On September 16, 2007, Abdulsamad and fellow Shia MP Saleh Ashour spoke out against a planned Ramadan soap opera miniseries titled ‘’Sins Have a Price’’, which was to revolve around and criticize the Shiite form of temporary marriage known as "Mutaa.” In a public statement, Abdulsamad accused the series of giving "a total distortion of Shiism ... It also incites sectarianism... It is very provocative and comes at a sensitive time amid the sectarian tension in the region."
Abdulsamad charged that besides stoking sectarianism, the serial insults and distorts the Shia faith by mocking temporary marriage, a valid, sanctioned concept in Shiism despite the controversy and social taboos surrounding the practice. [3]
On February 19, 2008, the Popular Action Bloc expelled Abdulsamad and fellow Shiite MP Ahmed Lari for taking part in a ceremony eulogizing Hezbollah's slain top commander, Imad Mughniyeh. The ceremony's description of the fugitive Lebanese militant — killed in a February 12 car bombing in Syria — as a hero sparked public outrage in a country that holds him responsible for hijacking a Kuwait Airways flight and killing two of its Kuwaiti passengers 20 years prior. The two lawmakers were only expelled from their bloc, and remained in the legislature. After the expulsions of the two, the seven member bloc was down to five members. [4]
The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq is a Shia Islamist Iraqi political party. It was established in Iran in 1982 by Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim and changed its name to the current Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq in 2007. Its political support comes from Iraq's Shia Muslim community.
The National Assembly is the unicameral legislature of Kuwait. The National Assembly meets in Kuwait City. Political parties are illegal in Kuwait, candidates run as independents. The National Assembly is made up of 50 elected members and 16 appointed government ministers.
The National Iraqi Alliance, also known as the Watani List, is an Iraqi electoral coalition that contested the 2010 Iraqi legislative election. The Alliance is mainly composed of Shi'a Islamist parties. The alliance was created by the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq to contest in the January 2005 and December 2005 under the name United Iraqi Alliance, when it included all Iraq's major Shi'a parties. The United Iraqi Alliance won both those of elections however later fell apart after several major parties left the alliance due to disputes with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Supreme Council.
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.
The 2006 al-Askari Shrine bombing occurred on 22 February 2006 at approximately 6:44 a.m. local Iraqi time, and targeted the al-Askari Shrine in the city of Samarra, Iraq. The attack on the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, has not been claimed by any group; the then President of the United States, George W. Bush, suggested from "evidence" that the bombing was an al-Qaeda plot. Although the mosque was severely damaged from the blast, there were no casualties.
The Sadrist Movement is an Iraqi Islamic national movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr. The movement draws wide support from across Iraqi society and especially from the Shi'a poor in the country. The most important person in setting the goals and the philosophy of the movement was Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. A prominent preceding influence had also been Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr. The movement is religious and populist. Its goal is a society ordered by a combination of religious laws and tribal customs.
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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 Soldiers of Heaven or Jund As-Samāʾ, were an armed Iraqi Shi'a messianic sect who suffered major losses, and their leader Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim killed, in the late January 2007 Battle of Najaf, as they allegedly attempted to start a "messianic insurrection" against the holy city of Najaf and the grand ayatollahs living there during the holy day of Ashura.
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Ahmed Lari is a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the first district. Born in 1955, Lari studied Statistics and worked in the Municipal Council before being elected to the National Assembly in 2006. While political parties are technically illegal in Kuwait, Lari is a member of the National Islamic Alliance, a Shia party.
The Popular Action Bloc is a political bloc in Kuwait headed by veteran former Speaker Ahmed Al-Sadoun. The group focuses on populist issues like housing, salary raises, and reform.
Saleh Ashour is a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the first district.
Waleed Al-Tabatabaie was a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, who represented the third district. Born on 4 April 1964, Al-Tabtabaie obtained a PhD in Islamic studies from Al-Azhar and was an assistant professor at Kuwait University before being elected to the National Assembly in 1996. Al-Tabtabaie affiliated with the Islamist deputies.
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