Centre for Islamic Shi‘a Studies A History of Shiʿism in Bahrain: 630 – 1524 Adam Ramadhan Centre for Islamic Shi’a Studies Research Series | 02 A History of Shiʿism in Bahrain: 630 – 1524 Adam Ramadhan Centre for Islamic Shiʿa Studies Research Series | 02 June 2017 A History of Shiism in Bahrain: 630 – 1524 Timeline (After Hijra/Current Era) 8/630 The Prophet Mu ammad sends al- - a representative to Bahrain to invite the people to Islam. ḥ Ala al Ḥ ḍramī as his 11/632 The Prophet Mu ammad dies resulting in a disagreement over succession and the beginning of the ḥ 249/863-864 ibn Mu ammad, the leader of theShī Zanjī – rebellionSunnī schism. arrives in Bahrain trying to win support for his cause. Alī ḥ 286/899 Most of the region of Bahrain c - omes under the rule of Abū Saīd al 469/1076 Jannābī marking- the beginning of the Qarmatian state in Bahrain. QarmatianAbd Allāh alinfluenceUyūnī bringsin Eastern the region Arabia. of Bahrain under his rule marking the beginning of the Uyūnid dynasty and the end of 633/1235 of internal power struggles, Bahrain comes under the rule of the PersianAs a result Selghurids. of the weakening of the Uyūnid state through a series 651/1253 Se dynasty. The Uṣfūrids manage to reclaim Bahrains independence from the 705/1305-1306 Bahrainlghurids comes and underestablish the the rule Uṣfūrid of the s. 843/1440 Jarwānid s. 931/1524 TheJabrid Sunnī rule Jabrids ends. take over control of Bahrain from the Jarwānid 1 | Centre for Islamic Shi’a Studies A History of Shiism in Bahrain: 630 – 1524 Introduction The history of Sh ism in Bahrain has long been a neglected area of academic attention; partly due to a lack of easily accessible sources. While significant work has been undertaken on certainī aspects of this history, such as the Sh Qarmatian period, little has been written on the Twelver dynasties that came afterwards. The aim of this paper is to provide a clear and coherent narrative ofIsmāīlī this history īī from the earliest days of ism up until just before theShī beginningī of the Portuguese colonisation of Bahrain to show how ism in its different manifestations became established in Bahrain. ShīTo do this, attention shall be paid to the early connections of the country with proto- ism, the stringShī of Sh dynasties that ruled Bahrain and the contribution of Bahraini ulamā1 to thought. Shī īī Historically, BahrainShīī was the name used to refer to the region of Eastern Arabia which stretched from Southern Iraq to the mountains of Oman while the islands of Bahrain were known as Awal. While Bahrain was referred to as Awal during the time period of Althoughthis papers thefocus, intention for the of purposethis paper of isclarity, to show Bahrain the development shall be used of throughoutism on thisthe islandspaper to of referBahrain, to the the islandshistories while of neighbouring the region areasof Bahrain such as shall Ahsa b ande specified Qatif shall as oftensuch. be taken into account to place Bahrain in a broader historical context. Shī The Advent of Islam in Bahrain Prior to the advent of Islam, Bahrain came under the rule and influence of numerous foreign powers that were attracted by the strategic location of the islands as a trade centre and by the arability of its lands2. This contributed to the ethnic and religious diversity of the islands and, as a result, Jews, Nestorian Christians and Zoroastrians of Persian, Indian and Arab descent, as well as idol worshipping Arab Bedouin could be found on the islands. Islam arrived in Bahrain in the year 8/630 when the Prophet Mu ammad sent al- al- a as his representative to the Sasanian governor of the region of Bahrain, Mun , to invite the people of the region to the new ḥreligion. Ibn Alā, a Christian,Ḥ ḍramī accepted the invitation along with most of the inhabitants of Bahrain3. However,ẓir ibn there Sawā remained several who did not convert but did agree to pay tributeSawā to the Prophet. The Abd al-Qays, a tribe inhabiting Bahrain and the surrounding coastal areas who were apparently Christians prior to their conversion4, sent out a delegation of twenty individuals headed by al- j, Munqi ibn - d to Medina to meet the Prophet and gain knowledge of the new religion5. Abd Allāh Ashaj ḍ Ḥayyān and al Jārū 1 Plural of the Arabic ālim meaning a learned or scholarly one. 2 Hassan M. al-Naboodah, ‘THE COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY OF BAHRAIN AND OMAN IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES’ in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, (22), 1992, pp81-96. 3 James H. D. Belgrave, ‘A brief survey of the history of the Bahrain Islands’ in Journal of The Royal Central Asian Society, 39(1), 1952, pp57-68. (p59). 4 Pierre Oberling, ‘ABD-AL-QAYS’ in Encyclopædia Iranica, 2011. 5 Ali al-Oraibi,. Shīʿī renaissance: a case study of the theosophical school of Bahrain in the 7th/13th century. Ph.D. thesis, McGill University, 1992. (p11). 2 | Centre for Islamic Shi’a Studies A History of Shiism in Bahrain: 630 – 1524 Early Connections with Shīʿism If sympathy towards the cause of the family of the Prophet Mu ammad is taken to be the most basic principle of ism; it can be said that Bahrain has been connected with ism since its emergence. The governor of the region of Bahrainḥ at the time of the Shī d ibn al- s. When news reached him of the Shī Bakr to the role of Caliph, Aban did not initially give him his allegiance. ItProphets was only passing after waiting was Abānto see theibn reactionSaī of theĀ , that accession would of Abū pay allegiance6. Banū Hāshim, the Prophets tribe Aban also had numerous supporters and allies in Bahrain. During his C bad ibn Abb s and Umar ibn Ab Salama as governors of Imām Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib mm Salama who is reportedaliphate, tohe have appointed had a Mastrong affection ā for the family of theī Prophet and to have professedthe region of Bahrain. Thelegitimate latter was right the to son assume of the leadership Prophets 7wife. The U preaching of these governors seems to have ingrained fervent loyalty to among the Abd al- Qays8. ThisImām loyalty Alīs is evidenced by the fact that members of the Abd al-Qays tribe, which included prominent members such as the brothersImām Alī n and Zayd ibn Sa al- Abd , fought alongside in the Battle of Jamal. Some of the women of the tribe even escorted from Basra to Medina afterṢ theaṣ aendah, ofSayhā the Battle9. uhān ī Imām Alī It is also known that ShĀishahulamā were present in Bahrain in the earlier years of Islam. The scholar Na r ibn Na - resided in Bahrain in the 2nd/8th century and transmitted ḥadīths onīī the authority of his father who in turn transmitted on the authority of ṣ ibn ṣīr al Bahrāal- nī , a companion of both the Prophet and . Another scholar by the name of Mu ammad ibn Sahl al- transmitted hadiths through an JābirintermediaryAbd Allāhon the Ānsārīauthority of - who diedImām in 184/765Alī 10. ḥ Bahrāni Imām Jafar al Ṣādiq After death, Bahrain was ruled by the succeeding Caliphs of the Umayyad and Caliphates for the next 350 years. However, despite Umayyad and Imāmdomination Alīs , and as shall be seen in the following, Sh influence in the region grew.Abbāsid Abbāsid īī The Zanj Rebellion The ultimate downfall of the Caliphate was partly due to repeated uprisings within their territories which weakened the state financially and affected their military capabilities due to a significantAbbāsid loss of manpower. One such uprising was the Zanj slave rebellion of Basra. It began in 255/869 lasting around fifteen years before the army finally defeated the rebels in 270/883. Despite the rebellion taking place in Basra and the surrounding areas, it can trace its roots back to the region of Bahrain whereAbbāsid the leader of this rebellion, ibn Mu ammad, first tried to incite a rebellion against the Caliphate. While there were various reasons behind the rebellion, we can Alī ḥ Abbāsid6 Ibid (p15). 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid (p16). 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid (p16-17). 3 | Centre for Islamic Shi’a Studies A History of Shiism in Bahrain: 630 – 1524 ascertain that religion was a catalyst for the movement, with ibn Mu ammad first making use of Sh and subsequently rijite arguments to try and attract supporters to his cause. Alī ḥ īī Khā ibn Mu ammad claimed to be a descendant of but this was a claim which was often rejected by his contemporaries11. It is reportedAlī byḥ the historians early backgroundal- that is unclear. ibn He Mu ineage descendedImām Alī from the Ban sad bin Khuzaima12 while his paternal grandmother was a Sindhi slave woman and his paternalṬabarī grandfather Alī a descendanḥammadst of the mothersAbd al-Qays l tribe of Bahrain13. He is knownū toĀ have spent some time in Samarra mixing with a group close to the Caliph al-Munta ir14. Then, in the year 249/863-864, he left Samarra and headed to the region of Bahrain where he started planting the seeds of rebellion. It was here where he first claimedṣ his descent from . ibn Mu claim to this lineage could be interpreted as an attempt to appeal to the population s Sh sympathies to garner support for the rebellion. WhateverImām theAlī reasonsAlī for thisḥammads claim were, a large amount of people did support his cause to the extent that land taxes wereīī collected in his name15. In the end, his attempts at incitement in the region of Bahrain failed and he was forced to move to Basra where, after altering his stance to one more in line with rijite ideas, he eventually found the support he needed to mount a serious challenge to the d Caliphate.