T h eh i s t o r y o f theS h i'i M uslim s in the isleso f B ahrain a n d the oases of Q a tif a n d al-H asa has beenl i t t l e studied d e sp ite th e e c o n o m ic and p o litic a l im p o r ta n c e le n t th e mb y th ela r g e p e tr o le u m d e p o s its in th eir r e g io n . T he s ig n ific a n c e o f th is

c o m m u n ityh a s b e e nf u r t h e rm a g n ifie db yth e r i s ei n t h e G u lf r e g io no fS h i'i r a d ic a lis m ,a si n th eI r a n ia n R e v o lu tio no f 1 9 7 8 -1 9 7 9 a n d th e fa ile d 1 9 8 1S h i'i c o u p attem pt inB a h r a in .T he stu d y o fS h i'is m

n e a r b yg r e a t p o w e r s m adet o in c o r p o r a teth isr e g io nin to th e ir territories. Its p r o x im ityt ou n d e r s e a p e a r l fie ld s e n r ic h e d its m erchants a n d n o ta b le s w h ile a ls o a ttr a c tin gc o n q u e r o r s ;d iv e r s a n d

s h a r e dm uch, how ever,i n B ahrain's fabledp r o s p e r i t y .T he area benefitted fr o m th e tr a d e ins p i c e s betw een A sia

is le so f B a h r a in a n do n c e c o n s titu te d an eveng r e a t e r p r o p o r tio no f thep o p u la - tio n .'O th er a r e a so f S h i'is e ttle m e n t in c lu d e th ep o r t c ity a n d o a s iso f Q a tif, a n d th e oases of a l-H a sa , b o thn o wi n S a u d i A r a b ia .2 A l-H a sa c o n sists of ag r o u p o f oases in a 180sq . km

a n dla n d h o ld e r s . B u tS u n n i b e d o u in s a n dd is ta n t n a v a l pow ers o fte n conquered the Shi'itr ia n g le . Eastern A rabia form edp a r t of th em e d ie v a l Islam ic em pires. F r o m

S u n n i r u le in theS h i'ir e g io n so f eastern A r a b iar e m a in e dt e n u o u s , a n db y th e e n do f th e 1 3 thc e n tu r yh a dg r e a tlyd e c lin e d , a llo w in gS h i'it r i b a l f o r c e st o a s s e r t th e ira u to n o m y .A m ong

c e n tu r y and a h a lf,r e n e w in gS h i'ipow er th ere.Jarw an w as fo llo w e d by h is s o n N asir, th e nb y h isg r a n d so nI b r a h i m (stilla liv e in1 4 1 7 ). A l-S a k h a w i called the Jarw anids "rem nantso f th eC a r m a th ia n s ,"s u g g e s tin g thatth ey w erea n Ism acili tr ib e .7

Im am is w erep r o b a b lystillam in o r ity . T he N o rth A frican traveler IbnB a ttu ita v i s i t e dQ a tifa r o u n d1 3 3 1 , fin d in g i t in h a b ite db y A r a btr ib e s w h o m h ed e s c r i b e d a s "extrem istS h i'is "

Ib na l-M u ta w w a ja l-B a h r a n i, c a lle db y o n ee a r ly s o u r c e" th ele a d e r o f th e Im am is in h is tim e." 9 Am u jta h id , h is le g a lr u lin g s w ere renow ned in the e a s t and the w est. S h e ik h Ahm ad Ibna l-M u ta w w a jstu d ie di nI r a qa t a l-H illa w ithcA lla m aF a k h r u 'd -D in

M uham m adb . M a k k i, th e Im am i " F irstM artyr" (d. 1384),several tim es. InB a h r a in , th elo c a l Ism a 'ilir u l e r s ,th eB a n uJarw an,p u tS h e ik h A hm ad Ib n a l-M u ta w w a ji nc h a r g e o f p o lic in g m arket p r ic e s (h isb a )a n d d e c id in gle g a l q u estio n s.

As an U s u li,S h e ik hA hm adb e lie v e d th a tle g a lr u lin g sc o u ld b e derived from th eQ u r 'a nandth e Im am i oral s a y in g s ,n o t sim p ly th r o u g h fin d in gas c r i p t u r a l source andin te r p r e tin gi tlite r a lly ,b u t th r o u g hth ein d e p e n d e n te x e r c i s e (ijtih d d ) o fle g a lr e a s o n in g (C a q l,b a s e do n

w h ic hth eyliv e d ,p e r fo r m in g ju d ic ia la n da d m in is tr a tiv e fu n c tio n s , m ade them m ore usefult o the state thanw ere th ec o n s e r v a t i v e A k h b a r is . A k h b a r isi n s i s t e d o n a lite r a lin te r p r e ta tio no f th eQ u r 'a na n do r a lr e p o r t s ,a n do fte nd is a llo w e d th ec e n t r a lfu n c tio n s o f th e Islam ics t a t e in th ea b s e n c e o f th e T w e lfth Im am .