Sheikh Adel Al Mouwda was the second deputy chairman of

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

's parliament of 2002, the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, and the former leader of salafist party, Asalah. Sheikh Al Mouwda is considered the leading spokesman for political Islam in Bahrain and is known for his forthright views, which has seen him often quoted in the international press. In March 2011, Mouwda was expelled from the Asalah bloc for boycotting an extraordinary meeting of parliament voting on Al Wefaq's en-masse resignation.

Political positions

Sheikh AlMouwda's political identity aligns more closely with religious conservatism, as a Salafist Politician and graudate of Islamic Studies and is prominet for his support of national intrests, through a religious framework. One of these notable occurences, was his vocal opposition to Iranian influence in Bahrain during the 2011 Bahraini Uprising and his full support of the Bahraini Monarchy. His views reflected the wider Salafist and Gulf Arab narrative that sees Iran as a geopolitical and ideological threat. Sheikh Al Mouwda has been at the forefront of criticism of government plans to build a new national museum to showcase the ancient Dilmun Burial Mounds, telling MPs that the money should be used to construct housing over the extensive mounds, saying
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.
Along with Al-Menbar Islamic Society's Sheikh Mohammed Khalid, Sheikh Al Mouwda has clashed repeatedly with government ministers in parliament over alcohol sales and claimed credit for enforcing a ban on alcohol in five star hotels over Ramadan 2006. He has vowed to "Clean Bahrain's tourism sector from its alleged dependence on this poison

Although he has sought to reach out to Shia leaders in Bahrain, Sheikh Al Mouwda has been critical of Iranian influence in the region, telling ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'': "If Iran acted like an Islamic power, just Islam without Shiism, then Arabs would accept it as a regional Islamic power. But if it came to us with the Shia agenda as a Shiite power, then it will not succeed and it will be powerful, but despised and hated." Like other Bahraini Islamist leaders such as Ali Salman, Sheikh Al Mouwda formerly lived in London. The radicalization of his political views is said to have occurred whilst studying at the

University of North London The University of North London (UNL) was a university in London, England, formed from the Polytechnic of North London (PNL) in 1992 when that institution was granted university status. PNL, in turn, had been formed by the amalgamation of the No ...

(now

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The Un ...

References

External links

Interview with Salafi Sheikh Adel al- Moawda (English)
Asharq Alawsat, 17 September 2006
Members of the Chamber of Deputies with links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouwda, Adel Members of the Council of Representatives (Bahrain) Alumni of the University of North London Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Bahraini Islamists Sunni Islamists Al Asalah politicians