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Shia Islam in Kuwait

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shia Islam constitutes a significant minority in Kuwait.[1][2] In 2001, the US Department of State reported that there were 120,000 Shia Kuwaiti citizens and 820,000 Kuwaiti citizens in total thus Shias formed 16.5% of the Kuwaiti citizen population.[3] In 2002, the US Department of State reported that Shia Kuwaitis formed 15-20% of Kuwait's citizen population,[1] noting there were 675,000 Sunni citizens and 855,000 Kuwaiti citizens in total (84% Sunnis, 16% Shias).[1] In 2004, there were 100,000-150,000 Shia Kuwaiti citizens and 913,000 Kuwaiti citizens in total.[4] The Strategic Studies Institute reported that they constitute 15

% of the population in 2008.[2]

Most Shia Kuwaitis are of Iranian descent.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Contrary to the expectations of the Iraqi government, Shia Kuwaitis founded an armed resistance movement during Saddam Hussein's occupation of Kuwait (1990–91).[14][15] Many Kuwaitis arrested, tortured and executed during the occupation bore Shia names.[16] The Kuwaiti resistance's casualty rate exceeded that of the coalition military forces and hostages.[17]

According to NGOs and human rights organisations, the Shia community face marginalisation in social, economic, and political fields, including "glass ceiling" discrimination in employment. Shia are under-represented in all levels of government and parliament.[18] Kuwaiti government policy, on paper, allegedly does not discriminate citizens on a sectarian basis.[19] Several female MPs, including Rola Dashti, have been Shia.[20]

The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims and United Nations criticized the Kuwaiti authorities' treatment of the so-called "Abdali Cell".[21][22][23][24] In November 2021, Kuwait arbitrarily detained eight elderly Shia Kuwaiti men without any charges.[25][26][27][28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "International Religious Freedom Report". US State Department. 2002.
  2. ^ a b "The Evolution of U. S.-Turkish Relations in a Transatlantic Context" (PDF). Strategic Studies Institute. p. 87. Shiites comprise 60 percent of the population in Bahrain, 15 percent in Kuwait, 7 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 28 percent in Lebanon.
  3. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report". US State Department. 2001.
  4. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report". US State Department. 2004.
  5. ^ Butenschøn, Nils August; Davis, Uri; Hassassian, Manuel Sarkis (2000). Citizenship and the State in the Middle East: Approaches and Applications. Syracuse University Press. p. 190. ISBN 9780815628293.
  6. ^ Potter, Lawrence G. (June 2014). Sectarian Politics in the Persian Gulf. Oxford University Press. p. 135. ISBN 9780190237967.
  7. ^ Louër, Laurence (2011). Transnational Shia Politics: Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf. Hurst. pp. 46–55. ISBN 9781849042147.
  8. ^ Michael Herb (1999). Ethnic Conflict and International Politics in the Middle East (PDF). University Press of Florida. p. 164. ISBN 9780813016870. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Unlike the Shi'a of Saudi Arabia or Bahrain, the Kuwaiti Shi'a mostly are of Persian descent.
  9. ^ Hertog, Steffen; Luciani, Giacomo; Valeri, Marc (2013). Business Politics in the Middle East. Hurst Publishers. p. 71. ISBN 9781849042352.
  10. ^ Ende, Werner; Steinbach, Udo (2002). Islam in the World Today: A Handbook of Politics, Religion, Culture, and Society. Cornell University Press. p. 533. ISBN 0801464897.
  11. ^ Rivka Azoulay (2020). Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State. Bloomsbury. p. 115. ISBN 9781838605063.
  12. ^ Mohammad E. Alhabib (2010). The Shia Migration from Southwestern Iran to Kuwait: Push-Pull Factors during the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Thesis). Georgia State University.
  13. ^ "Political Activism Among the Shi'ah of Kuwait" (PDF). J.E. Peterson. 2009. p. 1.
  14. ^ "Saddam's Security Apparatus During the Invasion of Kuwait and the Kuwaiti Resistance". The Journal of Intelligence History. Winter 2003. pp. 74–75.
  15. ^ "Two ethnicities, three generations: Phonological variation and change in Kuwait" (PDF). Newcastle University. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2013-06-10.
  16. ^ Butenschon, Nils A.; Davis, Uri; Hassassian, Manuel (2000). Citizenship and the State in the Middle East: Approaches and Applications. Syracuse University Press. p. 190. ISBN 9780815628293.
  17. ^ "The Kuwaiti Resistance". Middle East Forum. March 1995.
  18. ^ "Shi'ites lose more than half their seats in Kuwait polls as liberals make gains". 28 Jul 2013.
  19. ^ "Kuwaiti Shia: Government Policies, Societal Cleavages, and the Non-Factor of Iran" (PDF). George Washington University. 2011.
  20. ^ "Interview with Dr. Rola Dashti, Member of the Kuwaiti Parliament". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 9 March 2010.
  21. ^ "IFEG expert issues criticism of national investigation in the Al-Abdali Cell case". International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08.
  22. ^ "Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its eighty-eighth session, 24–28 August 2020 Opinion No. 54/2020 concerning Zuhair Abdulhadi Haj al-Mahmeed (Kuwait)*" (PDF). OHCHR.
  23. ^ "KUWAIT SUBMISSION TO THE UN COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE 59TH SESSION, 7 NOVEMBER-7 DECEMBER 2016" (PDF). OHCHR. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-12-22.
  24. ^ "Zuhair Al Mahmeed sentenced to 15 years in prison in Kuwait following an unfair trial". MENA Rights. 15 August 2015.
  25. ^ "Kuwait: Authorities must release arbitrarily detained individuals". Amnesty International. 14 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Arbitrary detentions, interrogation of detainees must stop in Kuwait". Human Lives Human Rights. 15 December 2021.
  27. ^ "Kuwait: Chairman and members of charitable committee arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned without charge". Gulf Centre for Human Rights.
  28. ^ "Kuwait: State Security Bureau and Central Prison administration commit massive human rights violations". Gulf Centre for Human Rights.
  29. ^ Dénes Gazsi. "The Persian Dialects of the Ajam in Kuwait" (PDF). The University of Iowa.
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