Islam in Bahrain is the state religion . Almost all Bahrain citizens are Muslims, however, due to the influx of immigrants and migrant workers from non-Muslim countries (in particular, from India , the Philippines and Sri Lanka ), the total percentage of Muslims in the country has been declining since the end of the 20th century . According to the 2010 census, 70.2% of the population of Bahrain are Muslims [1] . Moreover, according to some estimates [2], more than 60% of the population of Bahrain are Shiites , while the ruling al-Khalifa dynasty in the country is Sunni.
History
Before the advent of Islam, the inhabitants of Qatar and Bahrain practiced paganism , believed in the goddess Allat . In 628, the Prophet Muhammad sent his companion to , the ruler of historic Bahrain, who then included territory from Kuwait in the north to Qatar in the south, including Al-Has , El Katif and the islands of Bahrain, urging him to convert to Islam. Munzir accepted the offer of Muhammad and announced the conversion to Islam of all Arabs and Persians of Bahrain and Qatar, which marked the beginning of the Islamic era in Bahrain.
In 899, a large branch of the Karmatians separated from the Ismailis , who created their utopian community in Bahrain. The Karmatians believed that God allows them to rob property with impunity and shed the blood of their Muslim adversaries. They raided neighbors, robbed, led the inhabitants into captivity, imposed ransoms and instilled panic in fear, becoming the scourge of Arabia , Syria , Iraq and Persia . In 930, the Karmatians, led by Abu Tahir al-Jannabi, looted Mecca and Medina , desecrated the Zamzam well, and having stolen the Black Stone , returned with him back to Bahrain. Only in 951, the shrine was returned to Mecca for a huge ransom. In 976, the Karmatians were defeated by the Abbasid Caliphate .
The defeat of the Karmat state led to the weakening of Ismailism . At the same time, the Sunni rulers began to strengthen, as well as the Shiite branch of the Isnaasharites . Sunni rulers supported the absorption of the Karmatians by the more peaceful Isnaasharites. This led to the fact that the Isnaasharites gradually began to dominate in Bahrain [3] . In the 13th century , the “Bahraini School” emerged, incorporating philosophical and mystical practices that it integrated into traditional Shiite dogma. The school gave many famous Shiite imams , in particular the most famous sheikh [4] .
Current position
There are no official data on the ratio of Shiites to Sunnis in Bahrain, however, according to various estimates, from 60% to 70% of Bahrain citizens are Shiites. The ruling dynasty of Al Khalifa and the tribes supporting it belong to the Malikite madhhab of Sunniism. Among the migrants there are many Muslims from South Asia , most of whom belong to the Shiites, the Twelve and the Sunnis of the Hanafi madhhab . In 1990, the House of the Quran was built in Bahrain, which became one of the most famous Muslim museums.
Public holidays in Bahrain include Kurban Bairam , Uraza Bairam , Mawlid and the Muslim New Year .
Notes
- ↑ General Tables (inaccessible link) . Bahraini Census 2010. Archived March 20, 2012.
- ↑ Bahrain Drain | Foreign affairs
- ↑ Juan Cole, Sacred Space and Holy War, IB Tauris, 2007 pp32
- ↑ Ali Al Oraibi, Rationalism in the school of Bahrain: a historical perspective, in Shīite Heritage: Essays on Classical and Modern Traditions by Lynda Clarke, Global Academic Publishing 2001, p. 331