Islamic Action Society
The
Islamic Action Society (
Arabic جمعية العمل الإسلامي
Jamʿiyyat al-ʿAmal al-Islāmī) is one of the main Islamist political parties in
Bahrain, and mainly appeals to Shīˤa followers of the Najaf-based
Āyatu l-Lāh,
Hādī al-Mudarrisī, who are known as "the Shirāzī faction".
The party is the direct descendent of the
Iran-based terror organisation, the
Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, whose members were pardoned after wide ranging political reforms instigated by King
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in 2001 [
1]. With the reforms, they returned from exile or were released from prison and formed the Islamic Action Society.
As with the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, the party's spiritual leader is Iraqi cleric al-Mudarrisī, who was given asylum in Bahrain in the 1970s and acquired Bahraini citizenship while preaching religious awareness. He was though expelled to Iran after he set up the Front, but in 1981 he attempted to return to Bahrain as the head of a theocratic government in a
failed coup d'état.
The Front was responsible for a series of terror attacks on civilian targets in the 1990s including a bomb attack on the Diplomat Hotel in Manana in 1996. A spokesman claiming responsibility for the bombings told the Associated Press "We put a bomb in the Diplomat hotel 20 minutes ago... after the feast... tell the government that we will destroy everyplace."[
2]
The party often calls for public demonstrations and political seminars focusing on the issues affecting the majority Shīˤa, who have been ruled by the minority Sunnis for many decades. It has also taken a strong line against women's rights activists such as the
Supreme Council for Women, and has directly opposed demands for equal women's rights. In September 2005, its license was temporariliy suspended after a crowded festival was held honouring those imprisoned by the government on suspicion of involvent in an alleged 1981 coup. The party resumed activities after the temporary suspension.
The current president of the party is
Shaykh Muħammad ˤAlī al-Mahfūð, a long time opposition figure and a close aid to
Āyatu l-Lāh al-Mudarrisī. Its vice-president is Salah al-Khawāja, while his brother ˤAbd al-Hādī al-Khawāja is another prominent figure attached to the party and who has led a political campaign calling for the current prime minister and paternal uncle to the king to resign and face procecution on charges of engaging in widespread corruption and misuse of power.
These calls by Abdulhadi al Khawaja, who heads the affiliated
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, which have gained more intensity and momentum after the general referendum of Bahrain in 2001, have amassed much public support to the party. Al-Khawāja was sentenced to prison when he issued a religious invocation calling for the
Prime Minister's death, but was later pardoned for his public demands.
While the party is allied with fellow Shīˤa Islamists
al Wefaq, Shaykh al-Mahfūð has said that attempts were being made by
ˤAlī Salman and others to marginalise the party into its "Shirāzī base". The Islamic Action has demanded al-Wefaq's support in several constituencies if it is to take part in the 2006 election, although the Islamic Action's spokesman Jawad ˤAbdu l-Waħab has said that no decision has yet been made because they want further constitutional reforms. This led one commentator to accuse the party of having a stance "
based on self-serving interests but under glossy principles to boost its prestige". Discussion about participation in elections prompted Vice President Salah Khawaja to resign from the party in March 2006 and announce his retirement from politics.
*
IAC website*
Al-Ayam interview with Shaykh Muħammad ˤAlī al-Mahfūð, translated into English*
Religious body floats demands for elections Gulf News, 8 March 2006
