Al Asalah

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Al-Asalah Islamic Society
جمعية الأصالة الإسلامية
0 / 40
Website
alasalah-bh.org

The Al-Asalah Islamic Society (

Al-Menbar
to outvote Al-Wefaq.

Ideology

Asalah seeks to promote a hardline interpretation of

Falluja
.

On the issue of women's political rights, Buaneen told the Bahrain Tribune on 18 January 2006 that the party disagrees with them having any. Buaneen said that this position reflects the party's "honesty" while other parties support women's participation only in their statements. Buaneen said: "If women make it to parliament, then we would cooperate with them, but our society wouldn’t support any woman candidates".

The party's ideology has seen it at the forefront of debate on the Bahrain's national heritage, arguing, especially during Adel Mouwda's leadership, that the country should consider the destruction of all sites that pre-date Islam. During a parliamentary debate on 17 July 2005, Asalah deputies clashed with other MPs over government plans to build a national museum to showcase the Dilmun burial mounds.[2] Adel Mouwda told MPs that the money should be invested in building houses over the burial mounds. "Housing for the living is better than the graves for the dead. We must have pride in our Islamic roots and not some ancient civilisation from another place and time, which has only given us a jar here and a bone there."

Adel Al-Mouwda's approach to the preservation of Bahrain's historic sites differs markedly with that of his successor, Ghanim Al Buaneen, who in March 2006 criticized the government for not doing enough to protect the dilapidated, but historic centre of Muharraq and demanding more government money for restoration work.[3] The less ideological approach of Buaneen towards the preservation of the Kingdom's history is a reflection of a more conciliatory attitude on his part towards modernity in general.

The party has been actively campaigning against

BD500 fine for offenders. MP Ali Mattar, who has taken a lead, told the English language Gulf Daily News: "It's becoming more popular for people coming to Bahrain to turn to fortune tellers and sorcerers to find out what their future holds or to act as mediums to harm others or make people fall in love with them. There are many homes around the country with foreign deviants that are known to be practising black magic and if you drive past them a large number of cars from around the GCC would be found parked outside."[4] However, the move has been resisted by these sorcerers who described the plan as 'unfair', with a fortune teller responding: "I can understand the MPs' feelings because there are fraudsters out there, but it's not fair for those who truly have the gift of seeing the future and dealing with the supernatural".[5]

The relationship with Bahrain's

Sunni
Islamist voters, but, as with Al Wefaq, they are willing to informally work together to pursue particular objectives.

The party has a bad relationship with MP Jassim Al Saeedi who was rejected as a member for being 'too extreme'.

Electoral history

The group won seven seats in the Bahraini Council of Representatives (parliament) at the 2002 election, four seats at the 2006 election (when three Sunni independents generally voted with Asala), three seats at the 2010 election and two seat at the 2014 election. It won three seats at the 2018 election.

Council of Representatives elections

Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position
2002 Adel Mouwda
7 / 40
Increase 2 Increase 2nd
2006 Ghanim Al Buaneen
5 / 40
Decrease 2 Decrease 3rd
2010 5,277
3 / 40
Decrease 2 Increase 2nd
2014
2 / 40
Decrease 1 Increase 1st
2018
3 / 40
Increase 1 Steady 1st

See also

References

  1. ^ "Election Profile:Bahrain". IFES Election Guide. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  2. ^ debate
  3. ^ Bahrain heritage to be preserved Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Khaleej Times Online, 9 March 2006
  4. ^ Fortune-telling clamp sought
  5. ^ Move 'unfair to those with the gift'

External links