Shia Population In Bahrain: What's The Number?

Bahrain is a small island nation in the Persian Gulf with a population of about 700,000 people, 90.2% of whom are Muslim. While the country is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, the Shia population is estimated to be the majority, with numbers ranging from 49% to 62% of the total population. The Shia community in Bahrain has faced oppression and discrimination, with Shia leaders and activists having their citizenship revoked and being targeted by security forces.

Shia Muslims made up 55-60% of Bahrain's Muslim population as of 2021

Shia Muslims comprise approximately 55-60% of Bahrain's Muslim population as of 2021, making up the majority of the country's Muslim citizens. This percentage has changed over time due to various factors, including the increasing rates of naturalization of Sunni migrants and the political naturalization of Sunni migrants, as well as the higher proportion of young people and higher fertility rate among Sunni Muslims in Bahrain.

Historically, the origins of Shia Islam in Bahrain can be traced back to the caliphate reign of Ali ibn Abi Talib in 656–661 AD. The Islamic prophet Muhammad sent an envoy to the ruler of Bahrain, inviting him to Islam. The ruler and the Arab inhabitants of Bahrain, including some Persians, converted to Islam, marking the beginning of the Islamic era in the region. The Ismaili Shia sect known as the Qarmatians seized power in Bahrain in 899 AD but were eventually defeated by the Abbasids in 976 AD. Over the next four hundred years, Twelver Shia Islam became entrenched in the country.

In more recent times, the percentage of Shia Muslims in Bahrain has fluctuated. In 1979, Shias were estimated to make up approximately 55% of Bahraini citizens. A 2011 estimate placed the percentage of Shias in Bahrain near 60% of the Muslim population. However, due to the increasing rates of naturalization of Sunni migrants, this number is no longer accurate. The most recent official Bahraini estimate from 2011 showed that 51% of the country's citizens were Sunni, while the Shia population had declined to 49%.

Despite the changes in percentages over the years, Shia Muslims still constitute a significant portion of Bahrain's Muslim population, estimated at 55-60% as of 2021. This majority Shia population coexists with a Sunni royal family, the Al Khalifa, who govern the country and arrived in Shia Bahrain from Najd in 1783. The Shia population in Bahrain has faced various challenges and tensions, including protests, detentions, and the destruction of Shia mosques and cemeteries. Despite these difficulties, Shia Muslims continue to be a prominent part of the religious landscape in Bahrain.

The country's ruling family, Al Khalifa, are Sunni Muslims

The Al Khalifa family arrived in Shia Bahrain from Najd in 1783. The Sunni Al Khalifa family govern the country despite the fact that Shia Muslims make up the majority of the Muslim population. The last official census in 1941 to include sectarian identification reported 55% of the population as Shia and 45% as Sunni. In 2011, the most recent official Bahraini estimate revealed that 51% of the country's citizens are Sunnis, while the Shi'ite population had declined to 49% of the citizen population.

The Sunni-Shia divide in Bahrain has led to political tension and conflict. In 2011, Shia activists named February 14 as the Day of Rage, asking the people to protest against the Al-Khalifa government. This led to a widespread wave of Al-Khalifa's actions against Shiites, including the detention and torture of men, women, and children, as well as the destruction of Shia mosques and cemeteries.

The government has made efforts to erode the Shiite citizen majority and tip the country's demographic balance in favor of the Sunni minority. This has been done through recruiting foreign-born Sunnis to serve in the security forces and become citizens, while also revoking the citizenship of hundreds of Bahrainis, including Shiite leaders and activists.

Shia citizens face worse economic circumstances than Sunnis

Shia citizens in Bahrain face worse economic circumstances than Sunnis. While it is not true that all Sunnis are rich or that all Shias are poor, Bahrain's Shia majority is losing out in the country's economic boom.

The country's political, social, and economic system operates by offering privileges to some groups at the expense of others, creating a vast disparity in wealth. This is largely due to the success of the Bahraini regime's strategy of dealing with challenges to its legitimacy by promoting and reinforcing identity politics within a system of privileges. In other words, discrimination.

High-ranking official positions are disproportionately held by Sunnis, with only a few positions given to Shias. This has been the case since the Sunni al-Khalifa family took power in 1783, when they appropriated land from indigenous Shia owners, effectively turning them into peasants.

The government has also actively recruited foreign-born Sunnis to serve in the security forces and granted them citizenship, while simultaneously revoking the citizenship of hundreds of Shia citizens, including leaders and activists. Shia citizens also face restrictions on their movements and periodic destruction of their property by security forces.

Electoral gerrymandering further disadvantages Shias. In past elections, the Shia-dominated northern governorate, with over 91,000 voters, elected nine members of parliament, while the Sunni-dominated southern governorate, with only 16,000 voters, elected six.

The economic disparity between Shias and Sunnis in Bahrain is a result of the government's discriminatory policies and promotion of identity politics, which has created a divided society.

The Shia majority in Bahrain has faced oppression, including detention, torture, and the destruction of mosques and cemeteries

Shia Muslims in Bahrain have faced oppression, including detention, torture, and the destruction of mosques and cemeteries. While they are estimated to constitute around half of the country's Muslim population, the ruling class is Sunni. This has led to political and economic discrimination against the Shia community.

The Shia majority in Bahrain has a long history of facing oppression and discrimination. The Shia community has been subjected to various forms of oppression, including detention, torture, and the destruction of their religious sites and cemeteries. Shia activists have been detained and tortured for protesting against the Sunni ruling family, the Al Khalifa, and demanding political participation.

One prominent incident of oppression against the Shia community in Bahrain was the destruction of Shia mosques and cemeteries during the 2011 uprising. As many as 43 Shia mosques and tens of other religious structures, including graves and shrines, were intentionally destroyed or damaged by the ruling Sunni authorities. The Barbagi Mosque, an historic Shia mosque over 400 years old, was bulldozed on the orders of the government, despite the Shia community's insistence that it be rebuilt in its original location. The government has justified the demolitions by citing zoning and safety concerns, but the Shia community sees this as a symbol of their oppression.

The oppression of the Shia majority in Bahrain has been widely recognised by international human rights organisations and governments. Human Rights Watch has documented torture and abuse of Shia detainees, with security officials suspending detainees by their limbs and using electro-shock devices. The US State Department and President Barack Obama have also expressed concern over the destruction of Shia religious sites, with Obama stating that "Shia must never have their mosques destroyed in Bahrain."

The oppression of the Shia community in Bahrain has had a significant impact on the country's politics and society. Shia leaders and activists have been imprisoned and tortured for their involvement in protests and their opposition to the government. The Shia community continues to face economic and political discrimination, with high-ranking official positions predominantly held by Sunnis. The tension between the Shia majority and the Sunni ruling class remains unresolved, with little progress made towards reconciliation.

Shia and Sunni citizens in Bahrain share similar views on coexistence and the importance of good ties with Washington

The small but strategically important island nation of Bahrain, located just off the Saudi Gulf coast, has witnessed a great deal of sectarian tension throughout much of the past decade. The country has a Sunni-dominated monarchy and elite, which is often in opposition to the Shia majority of the population.

Despite the usual focus on sectarian differences, a rare new public opinion poll reveals that the country's Sunni elite and Shia "street" actually hold very similar, generally positive views about coexistence, both with each other and with their Arab neighbours. They also tend to agree about the importance of good ties with Washington, and about promoting Palestinian-Israeli peace.

On the question of coexistence, three-fourths of both sects say that "Arabs should work harder on behalf of coexistence and cooperation" between them. A narrower majority of each community, 56%, also agree that "right now, internal political and economic reform is more important for our country than any foreign policy issue." And around half of the country's Sunnis and Shia alike—considerably more than in most other Arab countries polled lately— say that "we should listen to those among us who are trying to interpret Islam in a more moderate, tolerant, and modern direction."

On the issue of relations with the US, a mere 15% of either Sunnis or Shia voice a favourable view of American Middle East policy. However, a much larger proportion, around half in both communities, say it is "important for our country to have good relations with the United States." This bodes well for the future of that relationship, which includes a major American naval base, despite continuing domestic political and sectarian tensions on the island.

On a follow-up question about their desired priority for US foreign policy, Bahrainis of both sects divide their votes among several regional challenges: Iran, Yemen, Palestine, and terrorism, in that order of preference. Notably, only a small minority of either sect—11% of Sunnis and 16% of Shia—say their top priority is for the US to "reduce its interference in the region."

These intriguing areas of consensus offer a dramatic contrast with other areas, where the views of Bahrain's two major Muslim sects are very sharply at odds. For example, precisely 2% of Bahraini Sunnis voice even a "somewhat positive" attitude towards Iran's regional policies, while 68% of their Shia compatriots view them favourably. Similarly, a mere 5% of Sunnis, but 60% of Shia, say it is important for Bahrain to maintain good relations with Iran.

All in all, these survey findings paint a significantly more nuanced picture of the well-known sectarian cleavage in this mixed and "politically polarised" society. On some key questions, a surprising degree of convergence is evident, despite the prevailing tensions—though not necessarily in favour of existing government policy. Iran and related issues, however, remain real bones of contention on which the Shia majority of the population clearly differs, both from official policy and from the views of the country's ruling Sunni minority. At the same time, there is relatively little sympathy among Bahrain's Shia for Iran's violent militia allies in the ongoing sectarian proxy wars elsewhere in the region. The common popular desire for compromise and coexistence could, therefore, be a basis for relative stability, and perhaps ultimately even for political reconciliation.

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