Bahrain
(2003)
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion;
however, there were some limits on this right. The Constitution declares
that Islam is the official
religion.
There was no change in the status of respect for religious
freedom during the period covered by this report. In the past, the Government
did not tolerate political dissent, including from religious groups
or leaders; however, in February 2001, the Amir pardoned and released
all remaining political prisoners and religious leaders. Also in 2001,
the Government registered new religious nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), including some with legal authority to conduct political activities.
In February 2002, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued a new Constitution
and announced May 2002 municipal council elections and October 2002
National Assembly elections. Candidates associated with religious political
societies won 40 of the 50 municipal council seats contested in the
May 2002 election. In the October 2002 legislative elections, candidates
associated with religious parties won more than half of the Council
of Representatives' 40 seats. In both elections, candidates from religious
political societies conducted their campaigns without any interference
from the Government. One Christian and one Jewish Bahraini were appointed
to the Shura council. The Government continues to subject both Sunni
and Shi'a Muslims to some governmental control and monitoring, and there
is some government discrimination against Shi'a Muslims. Members of
other religions who practice their faith privately do so without interference
from the Government.
Relations among religions in society generally are
amicable; however, Shi'a Muslims, who constitute the majority of the
population, sometimes resent minority Sunni Muslim rule.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with
the Government in the context of its overall dialog and policy of promoting
human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has a total area of 231 square miles,
and its population is approximately 670,000. The citizen population
is 98 percent Muslim, and Jews and Christians constitute the remaining
2 percent. Muslim citizens belong to the Shi'a and Sunni branches of
Islam, with Shi'a constituting as much as two-thirds of the indigenous
population.
Foreigners, mostly from South Asia and other Arab
countries, constitute approximately 38 percent of the total population.
Roughly half of resident foreigners are non-Muslim, including Christians,
Jews, Hindus, Baha'is, Buddhists, and Sikhs.
The American Mission Hospital, which is affiliated
with the National Evangelical Church, has operated in the country for
more than a century. The church adjacent to the hospital holds weekly
services and also serves as a meeting place for other Protestant denominations.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution states that Islam is the official
religion and also provides for freedom of religion; however, there were
some limits on this right. In the past, the Government did not tolerate
political dissent, including from religious groups or leaders; however,
in February 2001 the King pardoned and released all remaining political
prisoners and religious leaders, including Shi'a clerics. The Government
continues to register new religious NGOs, including some with the legal
authority to conduct political activities. In February 2002, the King
issued a new Constitution and announced May 2002 municipal council elections
and October 2002 National Assembly elections. Candidates associated
with religious political societies won 40 of the 50 municipal council
seats contested in the May 2002 election. In the October 2002 legislative
election, candidates associated with religious groups won more than
half of the Council of Representatives' 40 seats. In both elections,
candidates from religious political societies conducted their campaigns
without interference from the Government. One Christian and one Jew
were appointed to the Shura council. The Government continues to subject
both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims to some governmental control and monitoring,
and there is some government discrimination against Shi'a Muslims. Members
of other religions who practice their faith privately do so without
interference from the Government, and are permitted to maintain their
own places of worship and display the symbols of their religion.
Every religious group must obtain a permit from the
Ministry of Islamic Affairs to conduct religious activities. Depending
on circumstances, a religious group also may need approvals from the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Information, and
the Ministry of Education (if the religious group wants to run a school).
During the period covered by this report, 13 Christian congregations
that were registered with the Ministry of Labor were able to operate
freely. Those congregations with places of worship generally allow other
congregations to use them. Other unregistered Christian congregations
likely exist, and there is no attempt by the Government to force them
to register. There is a synagogue, four Sikh temples, and several official
and unofficial Hindu temples, located in Manama and its suburbs. Holding
a religious meeting without a permit is illegal; however, there were
no reports of religious groups being denied a permit.
In 2001 the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar India,
which is affiliated with the U.S. Episcopal Church, applied for authority
to build its own church building; however, the church had still not
received permission from all government authorities to begin construction
by the end of the period covered by this report. Members were considering
other, less satisfactory, options to obtain or construct a building
for their congregation.
The High Council for Islamic Affairs is charged with
the review and approval of all clerical appointments within both the
Sunni and Shi'a communities, and maintains program oversight for all
citizens studying religion abroad.
The civil and criminal legal systems consist of a
complex mix of courts based on diverse legal sources, including Sunni
and Shi'a Shari'a (Islamic law), tribal law, and other civil codes and
regulations. Christian and Jewish citizens are allowed to adhere to
their own laws of inheritance.
The Shi'a religious celebration of Ashura is a 2-day
national holiday in which large public processions take place. The Government
does not hinder these processions. During the period covered by this
report, the Ministry of Information provided full media coverage of
Ashura events.
Notable dignitaries from virtually every religion
and denomination visit the country and frequently meet with the Government
and civic leaders.
The following religious holidays are considered national
holidays: Eid al-Adha, Islamic New Year, Ashoora, Prophet's Birthday,
and Eid al-Fitr.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
The Government funds, monitors, and closely controls
all official religious institutions. These include Shi'a and Sunni mosques,
Shi'a ma'tams (religious community centers), Shi'a and Sunni Waqfs (charitable
foundations), and the religious courts, which represent both the Ja'afari
(Shi'a) and Maliki (Sunni) schools of Islamic jurisprudence. While the
Government rarely interferes with what it considers legitimate religious
observations, in the past it actively suppressed any activity deemed
overtly political in nature. The Government permits public religious
events, most notably the large annual commemorative marches by Shi'a,
but police closely monitor such events. At least one unregistered ma'tam
was established in February. The Government reportedly has not hindered
its activities.
In the past, the Government occasionally closed mosques
and ma'tams for allowing political demonstrations to take place on or
near their premises or to prevent religious leaders from delivering
political speeches during Friday prayer and sermons; however, there
were no reported closures of mosques or ma'tams during the period covered
by this report. In past years, the Government detained religious leaders
for delivering political sermons or for allowing such sermons to be
delivered in their mosques. The Government also has appropriated or
withheld funding in order to reward or punish particular individuals
or places of worship; however, there were no reports of such detentions
or funding restrictions during the period covered by this report.
The Government discourages proselytizing by non-Muslims
and prohibits anti-Islamic writings. However, Bibles and other Christian
publications are displayed and sold openly in local bookstores that
also sell Islamic and other religious literature. Religious tracts of
all branches of Islam, cassettes of sermons delivered by Muslim preachers
from other countries, and publications of other religions readily are
available. However, a government-controlled proxy server prohibits user
access to Internet sites considered to be antigovernment or anti-Islamic.
The software used is unreliable and often inhibits access to non-controversial
sites as well.
There are no restrictions on the number of citizens
permitted to make pilgrimages to Shi'a shrines and holy sites in Iran,
Iraq, and Syria. In the past, stateless residents who did not possess
Bahraini passports had difficulties arranging travel to religious sites
abroad; however, the Government addressed this problem the past 2 years
by granting citizenship to thousands of previously stateless residents.
During the period covered by this report, 1,000 persons were granted
citizenship. The Government monitors travel to Iran and scrutinizes
carefully those who choose to pursue religious study there.
Although there are notable exceptions, the Sunni Muslim
minority enjoys a favored status. Sunnis receive preference for employment
in sensitive government positions and in the managerial ranks of the
civil service. Shi'a citizens do not hold significant posts in the defense
and internal security forces; however, since 1999, Shi'a have been allowed
to be employed in the enlisted ranks of the Bahrain Defense Force and
with the Ministry of the Interior, two bodies in which Shi'a had been
denied employment during previous years. In October 2002, for the first
time the Government licensed a school to provide students with a Shi'a
religious curriculum designed to educate the next generation of Shi'a
religious scholars.
The political dynamic of Sunni predominance in the
past has led to incidents of unrest between the Shi'a community and
the Government. There were no reports of significant political or religious
unrest during the period covered by this report.
Shari'a governs the personal legal rights of women,
although the new Constitution provides for women's political rights.
Specific rights vary according to Shi'a or Sunni interpretations of
Islamic law, as determined by the individual's faith, or by the courts
in which various contracts, including marriage, have been made. While
both Shi'a and Sunni women have the right to initiate a divorce, religious
courts may refuse the request. Although local religious courts may grant
a divorce to Shi'a women in routine cases, occasionally Shi'a women
seeking divorce under unusual circumstances must travel abroad to seek
a higher ranking opinion than that available in the country. Women of
either branch of Islam may own and inherit property and may represent
themselves in all public and legal matters. In the absence of a direct
male heir, a Shi'a woman may inherit all property. In contrast, a Sunni
woman--in the absence of a direct male heir--inherits only a portion
as governed by Shari'a; the balance is divided among brothers, uncles,
and male cousins of the deceased. A Muslim woman legally may marry a
non-Muslim man if the man converts to Islam. In such marriages, the
children automatically are considered to be Muslim.
In divorce cases, the courts routinely grant Shi'a
and Sunni women custody of daughters under the age of 9 and sons under
age 7, although custody usually reverts to the father once the children
reach those ages. In all circumstances except mental incapacitation,
the father, regardless of custody decisions, retains the right to make
certain legal decisions for his children, such as guardianship of any
property belonging to the child, until the child reaches legal age.
A noncitizen woman automatically loses custody of her children if she
divorces their citizen father.
Abuses of Religious Freedom
In previous years, the Government held in detention
hundreds of Shi'a, including religious leaders, for offenses involving
"national security;" however, by February 2001, the Amir had
pardoned and released all political prisoners, detainees, and exiles,
including Hassan Sultan and Haji Hassan Jasrallah, two Shi'a clerics
associated with prominent cleric Abdul Amir Al-Jamri, as well as Shi'a
political activists Haasan Mushaimaa and Abdul Wahab Hussein, who had
been in detention for more than 5 years.
Sheikh Issa Qassim, a cleric and the former head of
the Shi'a Religious Party, returned to the country after an 8-year exile.
The Government permitted large crowds of celebrating Shi'a to greet
Qassim upon his return.
The Government charged seven individuals, including
lawyers, journalists, and women's activists who criticized decisions
of Shari'a court judges, in order to highlight the need for the proposed
Personal Status Law. The judges filed a criminal suit against the individuals
for slander against Islam. The case was still ongoing at the end of
the period covered by this report.
There were no reports of religious detainees or prisoners
during the period covered by this report whose imprisonment could be
attributed solely to the practice of their religion.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious conversion,
including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally
removed from the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens
to be returned to the United States.
Section III. Societal Attitudes
Although there are notable exceptions, the Sunni Muslim
minority enjoys a favored status. In the private sector, Shi'a tend
to be employed in lower paid, less skilled jobs. Educational, social,
and municipal services in most Shi'a neighborhoods, particularly in
rural villages, are inferior to those found in Sunni urban communities.
In an effort to remedy social discrimination, the Government has built
numerous subsidized housing complexes, which are open to all citizens
on the basis of financial need. In order to ease both the housing shortage
and strains on the national budget, in 1997 the Government revised its
policy to permit lending institutions to finance mortgages on apartment
units.
Converts from Islam to other religions are not well
tolerated by society, but some small groups worship in their homes.
In May 2002, 70 graves at the St. Christopher's Church
graveyard were desecrated. Crosses were uprooted and broken and headstones
were smashed, making identification of some graves impossible. The King
offered to restore the graveyard and transform it into a monument to
Christian-Muslim relations on the Island. In response to the Church's
preference only to restore the graveyard to its original condition,
the King provided $80,000 (30,000 BD).
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with
the Government in the context of its overall dialog and policy of promoting
human rights.
An official written dialog takes place between U.S.
Embassy officials and government contacts on matters of religion. One
such example is the memorandum received by the Embassy each year from
the Government in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
Sources: U.S. State Department - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor |