Islamic Awakening in Bahrain: An Examination of al-Vefagh's Success as Compared to Other Parties

In spite of its small size, numerous political parties are active in Bahrain, though they have seen ups and downs in their activities. Gradually Islamic parties preceded secular parties, demonstrating their popularity in the Bahraini society in the 2002 parliamentary elections. Within less than a decade, the Shia political parties led by al-Vefagh overran other Sunni and Salafist parties, gaining a strong majority in the Parliament in 2010. When the recent uprising started in Bahrain, al- Vefagh as the representative of the parliamentary majority left the Parliament, joining the revolutionaries. Reviewing the most important parties in each faction, this paper seeks to study the reasons behind the success of al-Vefagh Shia party. This article indicates that following an Islamic awakening pattern inspired by the Iranian Islamic Revolution, al- Vefagh became able not only to gain the majority of seats in the parliament, but also it became the largest political party in the country in terms of the number of members.