Abdul Rahman Al Bakir
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Abdul Rahman Al Bakir (; 1917–1971) was a leading activist and one of the independence leaders in the
Arab Gulf states The Arab states of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Gulf Arab states (), refers to a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi ...
in the 20th century. He was the founding member and secretary of the National Union Committee (NUC), a
non-sectarian Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group. Academic sphere Many North American universities identify themselves as being nonsectarian, such as B ...
and
pan-Arab Pan-Arabism () is a pan-nationalist ideology that espouses the unification of all Arab people in a single nation-state, consisting of all Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is ref ...
independence group established in Bahrain in 1954.


Early life

Al Bakir was born in
Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...
, Bahrain, in 1917. His family were
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
lived in
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
who later converted to
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. The parents of Al Bakir were from Qatar. Al Bakir received a law degree from an Indian University.


Activities and arrest

Al Bakir was employed at the
Bahrain Petroleum Company The Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) is an integrated petroleum company that is the national oil company of Bahrain. It was founded in 1929 and discovered the first oil field in the Persian Gulf outside of Iran in 1932. Shipments of crude oil co ...
in 1936 and then worked in Dubai, Qatar and in some African countries. During this period he also visited various regions, including
Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
,
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
and
East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
where he observed the effects of the British colonial policies which were very different from those in the Gulf states. In the late 1940s he settled in
Doha, Qatar Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It is also Qatar's ...
, where he involved in ice business, but in 1952 he returned to Bahrain. He was given a Bahraini passport in 1948. In a meeting of the Bahraini political activists led by Al Bakir it was decided to launch a nationalist journal, '' Sawt al-Bahrain'', which laid the basis of High Executive Committee. Al Bakir published articles in ''Sawt al-Bahrain'' using a
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
, ''Ibn Taymiyyah''. One of his articles was about
slavery in Islam Islamic views on slavery represent a complex and multifaceted body of Islamic thought,Brockopp, Jonathan E., "Slaves and Slavery", in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. ...
. He joined the editorial team of the weekly newspaper '' Al Qafilah'' in 1952. In 1954 Al Bakir and other progressive intellectuals established the High Executive Committee which would be later renamed the National Union Committee, and he was elected as its secretary. The authorities asked Al Bakir to leave the country after the start of the large-scale demonstrations in country, and he left Bahrain for Cairo where he stayed between the end of March and September 1956. In fact, the authorities ordered him to go to Lebanon. Following the demonstrations in 1956 the Bahraini authorities arrested three founders of the NUC, namely Abdul Rahman Al Bakir, Abdulaziz Al Shamlan and Abdul Ali Aliwat, who were accused of attempting to assassinate the ruler,
Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (born 21 October 1969) is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain. He is also the deputy supreme commander of the Bahrain Defence Force. Early life and education Prince Salman is the eldest son of King ...
, three members of the
ruling family A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...
, and
Charles Belgrave Sir Charles Dalrymple Belgrave KBE (9 December 1894 – 28 February 1969) was a British citizen and advisor to the rulers of Bahrain from 1926 until 1957, as "Chief Administrator" or "adviserate". He first served under Shaikh Hamad ibn Isa Al ...
, advisor of Salman on 6 November 1956. They were detained and sent to Jidda Island. After the trial they were sentenced to fourteen years in prison on 23 December 1956. They were sent to exile into the island of
Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...
on the orders of Salman bin Hamad on 27 January 1957. Al Bakir and others made an application to the Supreme Court of St Helena and to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to use the
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...
which was admitted. Although the Council rejected his petition in the early 1960, on 7 April their case was reopened which was also rejected. In June 1960 two Labor Party members of the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
and some British newspapers, including ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', began to call for the release of three NUC members claiming that the court did not impartially deal with the case. In the late 1950s the Labour Party members demanded that these three men should be released and not to be sent to Bahrain. On 13 June 1961 Al Bakir, Al Shamlan and Aliwat were freed and went to London with their St Helena passports. Each of them was paid £15,000 for compensation and £5,000 for expenses.


Later years

After his short stay in London Al Bakir settled in
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, Lebanon. There he published a book entitled ''min al-bahrain ila al-manfa~Sant Hilanah'' () in 1965.


Personal life and death

Al Bakir was married and had four children, two sons and two daughters. As of 2002 his wife and daughters were living in Qatar. One of his daughters married Jassim Buhejji, cofounder of the National Union Committee. Al Bakir died in Beirut on 8 July 1971. His body was brought to Bahrain, but the Bahraini authorities did not allow his family to bury him there. Instead, he was buried in a cemetery in Doha, Qatar.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakir, Abdul Rahman 20th-century Bahraini politicians 20th-century journalists 1917 births 1971 deaths Bahraini democracy activists Bahraini expatriates in the United Kingdom Bahraini journalists Bahraini people of Iraqi descent Iraqi Jews People from Manama Bahraini expatriates in Lebanon Bahraini prisoners and detainees