Kuwait
Kuwait the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia; as of 2016, Kuwait has a population of 4.5 million people: 1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 3.2 million are expatriates. Expatriates account for 70% of the population. Oil reserves were discovered in commercial quantities in 1938. From 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization. In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability and an economic crisis following the stock market crash. In 1990, Kuwait was invaded, annexed, by Saddam's Iraq; the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait came to an end in 1991 after military intervention by a military coalition led by the United States. Kuwait is a major non-NATO ally of the United States, it is a major ally of ASEAN, while maintaining a strong relationship with China. Kuwait is a constitutional sovereign state with a semi-democratic political system.
Kuwait has a high-income economy backed by the world's sixth largest oil reserves. The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest valued currency in the world. According to the World Bank, the country has the fourth highest per capita income; the Constitution was promulgated in 1962. Kuwait is home to the largest opera house in the Middle East; the Kuwait National Cultural District is a member of the Global Cultural Districts Network. In 1613, the town of Kuwait was founded in modern-day Kuwait City. Administratively, it was a sheikhdom, ruled by local sheikhs. In 1716, the Bani Utub settled in Kuwait, which at this time was inhabited by a few fishermen and functioned as a fishing village. In the eighteenth century, Kuwait prospered and became the principal commercial center for the transit of goods between India, Muscat and Arabia. By the mid 1700s, Kuwait had established itself as the major trading route from the Persian Gulf to Aleppo. During the Persian siege of Basra in 1775–79, Iraqi merchants took refuge in Kuwait and were instrumental in the expansion of Kuwait's boat-building and trading activities.
As a result, Kuwait's maritime commerce boomed, as the Indian trade routes with Baghdad, Aleppo and Constantinople were diverted to Kuwait during this time. The East India Company was diverted to Kuwait in 1792; the East India Company secured the sea routes between Kuwait and the east coasts of Africa. After the Persians withdrew from Basra in 1779, Kuwait continued to attract trade away from Basra. Kuwait was the center of boat building in the Persian Gulf region. During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, vessels made in Kuwait carried the bulk of trade between the ports of India, East Africa and the Red Sea. Kuwaiti ships were renowned throughout the Indian Ocean. Regional geopolitical turbulence helped foster economic prosperity in Kuwait in the second half of the 18th century; the biggest catalyst for much of Kuwait becoming prosperous was due to Basra's instability in the late 18th century. In the late 18th century, Kuwait functioned as a haven for Basra's merchants, who were fleeing Ottoman government persecution.
Kuwaitis developed a reputation as the best sailors in the Persian Gulf. In the 1890s, Kuwait began to feel threatened by the Ottoman empire. In a bid to address its security issues, the ruler, Sheikh Mubarak Al Sabah signed an agreement with the British government in India, subsequently known as the Anglo-Kuwaiti Agreement of 1899 and became a British protectorate; the Sheikhdom of Kuwait remained a British protectorate from 1899. Following the Kuwait–Najd War of 1919–20, Ibn Saud imposed a trade blockade against Kuwait from the years 1923 until 1937; the goal of the Saudi economic and military attacks on Kuwait was to annex as much of Kuwait's territory as possible. At the Uqair conference in 1922, the boundaries of Kuwait and Najd were set. Ibn Saud persuaded Sir Percy Cox to give him two-thirds of Kuwait's territory. More than half of Kuwait was lost due to Uqair. After the Uqair conference, Kuwait was still subjected to a Saudi economic blockade and intermittent Saudi raiding; the Great Depression harmed Kuwait's economy.
International trading was one of Kuwait's main sources of income before oil. Kuwaiti merchants were intermediary merchants; as a result of the decline of European demand for goods from India and Africa, Kuwait's economy suffered. The decline in international trade resulted in an increase in gold smuggling by Kuwaiti ships to India; some Kuwaiti merchant families became rich from this smuggling. Kuwait's pearl industry collapsed as a result of the worldwide economic depression. At its height, Kuwait's pearl industry had led the world's luxury market sending out between 750 and 800 ships to meet the European elite's desire for pearls. During the economic depression, luxuries like pearls were in little demand; the Japanese invention of cultured pearls contributed to the collapse of Kuwait's pearl industry. Historian Hanna Batatu explains how the British threatened to take the Kurdish area and Mosul out of Iraq provided that King Faisal granted Britain control of the oil in the region. In 1938 the Kuwaiti Legislative Council unanimously approved a request for Kuwait’s reintegration with Iraq.
A year an armed uprising which had raised the integration banner as its objective was put down by the British. With the end of the world war, increasing need for oil across the world, Kuwait experienced a period of prosperity driven by oil and its liberal atmosphere; the period
Salman, Crown Prince of Bahrain
Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Deputy King, Crown Prince of Bahrain is the heir apparent and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain. He is the deputy Supreme Commander of the Bahrain Defence Force. Prince Salman is the eldest son of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain and his first wife, Princess Sabika bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa; the Prince completed his high school education at Bahrain School, went on to earn a BA degree in Political Science from the American University in Washington D. C. followed by a M. Phil degree in History and philosophy of science from the Queens' College, University of Cambridge, England. Prince Salman established the Crown Prince’s International Scholarship Programme in 1999 to guide Bahrain’s young people into the 21st century. Under the programme, the most able high school students from Bahrain are awarded scholarships to continue their higher education overseas, return to productively contribute to the development of Bahrain. More than 140 students from across Bahrain's society have been awarded the scholarship, have had the opportunity to study abroad - including the UK, US and France Prior to assuming the duties of crown prince, Salman was vice-chairman of the Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research, Undersecretary of Defence at the Ministry of Defence and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the BCSR.
Salman was sworn in as Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Bahrain on 9 March 1999 and held the post of commander-in-chief of the Bahrain Defence Force from 22 March 1999 to 6 January 2008. On 24 February 2001, Prince Salman was appointed as chairman of the committee for the implementation of the National Action Charter; the Charter was approved by over 98% in a referendum held in February 2001 and provided a comprehensive blueprint for Bahrain’s future development based on transparency and popular participation. The committee proposed a number of laws to implement the National Charter, including laws on government procurements and freedom of the press. On 3 March 2002, Prince Salman was appointed chairman of the Economic Development Board, responsible for formulating and overseeing the Bahrain’s economic development strategy, aims to attract foreign direct investment into Bahrain, he chairs the following committees: Government Executive Committee Natural Resources and Economic Security Committee Higher Urban Planning CommitteeOn 6 January 2008, King Hamad issued a royal decree appointing Salman as deputy supreme commander of the Bahrain Defence Force to oversee the management and implementation of public policy as well as military, administrative and financial plans of the Bahrain defence force and the national guard.
In March 2013, Prince Salman was appointed by the King as First Deputy Prime Minister, charged with overseeing the ongoing development of executive agencies and government institutions in the kingdom. Prince Salman was married to Shaikha Hala bint D'aij Al Khalifa until 2005. Shaikha Hala is the youngest daughter of Shaikh Duaij bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance and National Economy. Hala is honorary president of the Information Centre for Women and Children, Chair of the Bahrain Society for Mental Retardation, they have two sons and two daughters: Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, attended American University in Washington DC, graduated in 2012. Married, has a son Hamad. Mohammed bin Salman Al Khalifa, educated at Bahrain School, he graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2011 and went on to graduate from King's College London in 2015. Married, has a son Ahmad. Fatima – Al Dana bint Salman Al Khalifa Al Jude bint Salman Al Khalifa 21 October 1971 – 9 March 1999: His Excellency Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa 9 March 1999 – 21 October 2009: His Highness Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain 21 October 2009 – 11 March 2012: His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain 11 March 2013 – present: His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain, First Deputy Prime Minister to the Kingdom of BahrainHis Royal Highness Prince Salman was appointed as Heir Apparent and invested with the title of Crown Prince of Bahrain, at the Rifa’a Palace, on 9 March 1999.
He was raised to the personal title of Prince, with the style of "His Royal Highness", on 21 October 2009. His Royal Highness Prince Salman has been awarded a number of honours, these include: An honorary doctorate in conjunction with the Order of the Eagle Exemplar by the United States Sports Academy. Bahrain: Order of Sheikh Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifa, First Class Bahrain: Order of Ahmad the Conqueror, First Class Bahrain: Order of Bahrain, First Class Bahrain: Hawar Medal, First Class Jordan: Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance Kuwait: Order of the Liberation, First Class UAE: Collar of the Order of Etihad Media related to Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at Wikimedia Commons
Muharraq Island
Muharraq Island known as Moharek, is the second largest island in the archipelago of Bahrain after Bahrain Island. It lies 4 km east of Manama, on Bahrain Island, it is named after the former capital of Bahrain. The Al Khalifa dynasty settled there in the nineteenth century and resided there until 1923; the island dominated trade and pearls industries in Bahrain. The Pearl center was made a UNESCO world heritage site in 2012. In recent years, north of Muharraq Island have a major reclamation of some artificial islands like Amwaj Islands; the south of the island, at Hidd district, the new Bahrain International Investment Park of the free zone was built. And in the far south, new Khalifa bin Saruman harbor, which opened in 2009. There are several towns and villages located on the Island, including: Al Muharraq Al Dair Arad a separate island of its own Busaiteen Hidd Galali Halat Bu Maher Samaheej The island belongs to Muharraq Governorate; the island has the 4,000 metres. The island has the 900 metres Muharraq Airfield adjacent to Bahrain International Airport.
There are three causeways connecting Muharraq Island with Manama on Bahrain Island: Shaikh Hamad Bridge: From Muharraq City to Diplomatic Area Shaikh Isa bin Salman Causeway: From Muharraq City/Busaiteen to Diplomatic Area Shaikh Khalifa Bridge: From Hidd to Juffair Baynes, T. S. ed. "Bahrein", Encyclopædia Britannica, 3, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 240. Holdich, Thomas Hungerford, "Bahrein Islands", in Chisholm, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3, Cambridge University Press, p. 212
Prime Minister of Bahrain
In Bahrain, the Prime Minister is the head of government of the country. According to the Constitution of Bahrain, the Prime Minister is appointed directly by the King, needs not be an elected member of the Council of Representatives. Bahrain has had only one Prime Minister since the country's independence, Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the uncle of the reigning King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Politics of Bahrain
Brill Publishers
Brill is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston and Singapore, Brill today publishes 275 journals and around 1200 new books and reference works each year. In addition, Brill is a provider of primary source materials online and on microform for researchers in the humanities and social sciences. Brill publishes in the following subject areas: The roots of Brill go back to May 17, 1683, when a certain Jordaan Luchtmans was registered as a bookseller by the Leiden booksellers' guild; as was customary at the time, Luchtmans combined his bookselling business with publishing activities. These were in the fields of biblical studies, Oriental languages, ethnography. Luchtmans established close ties with the University of Leiden, one of the major centers of study in these areas. In 1848, the business passed from the Luchtmans family to that of a former employee. In order to cover the financial obligations that he inherited, E. J. Brill decided to liquidate the entire Luchtmans book stock in a series of auctions that took place between 1848 and 1850.
Brill continued to publish in the traditional core areas of the company, with occasional excursions into other fields. Thus, in 1882, the firm brought out a two-volume Leerboek der Stoomwerktuigkunde. More programmatically, however, in 1855 Het Gebed des Heeren in veertien talen was meant to publicize Brill's ability to typeset non-Latin alphabets, such as Hebrew, Samaritan, Coptic, Arabic, among several others. In 1896, Brill became a public limited company, when E. J. Brill's successors, A. P. M. van Oordt and Frans de Stoppelaar, both businessmen with some academic background and interest, died. A series of directors followed, his directorship marked a period of unprecedented growth in the history of the company, due to a large extent to Folkers' cooperation with the German occupying forces during World War II. For the Germans, Brill printed foreign-language textbooks so that they could manage the territories they occupied, but military manuals, such as "a manual which trained German officers to distinguish the insignias of the Russian army".
In 1934, the company had a turnover of 132,000 guilders. After the war, the Dutch denazification committee determined the presence of "enemy money" in Brill's accounts. Folkers was arrested in September 1946, deprived of the right to hold a managerial post; the company itself, escaped the aftermath of the war unscathed. Brill's path in the post-war years was again marked by ups and downs, though the company remained faithful in its commitment to scholarly publishing; the late 1980s brought an acute crisis due to over-expansion, poor management, as well as general changes in the publishing industry. Thus, in 1988–91 under new management the company underwent a major restructuring, in the course of which it closed some of its foreign offices, including Cologne, its London branch was closed by then. Brill, sold its printing business, which amounted "to amputat its own limb"; this was considered necessary to save the company as a whole. No jobs were lost in the process; the reorganization managed to save the company, which has since undergone an expansion that as as 1990 had been inconceivable.
As of 2008, Brill was publishing around 600 books and 100 journals each year, with a turnover of 26 million euros. Brill publishes several open access journals and is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot. In 2013, Brill created the IFLA/Brill Open Access Award for initiatives in the area of open access monograph publishing together with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Brill is a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association. List of Brill academic journals Books in the Netherlands The most up-to-date history of the company is Sytze van der Veen, Brill: 325 Years of Scholarly Publishing, ISBN 978-90-04-17032-2 Tom Verde, "Brill's Bridge to Arabic", Aramco World, 66, nr. 3, pp. 30–39 online edition. Brill Annual Report 2012 Official website A list of books published by E. J. Brill Leiden
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam, followed by nearly 90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word sunnah; the differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagreement over the succession to Muhammad and subsequently acquired broader political significance, as well as theological and juridical dimensions. According to Sunni traditions, Muhammad did not designate a successor and the Muslim community acted according to his sunnah in electing his father-in-law Abu Bakr as the first caliph; this contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad announced at the event of Ghadir Khumm his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor. Political tensions between Sunnis and Shias continued with varying intensity throughout Islamic history and they have been exacerbated in recent times by ethnic conflicts and the rise of Wahhabism; as of 2009, Sunni Muslims constituted 87–90% of the world's Muslim population. Sunni Islam is the world's largest religious denomination, followed by Catholicism.
Its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ahl as-sunnah wa ahl as-sunnah for short. In English, its doctrines and practices are sometimes called Sunnism, while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis and Ahlus Sunnah. Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as "orthodox Islam". However, other scholars of Islam, such as John Burton believe that there is no such thing as "orthodox Islam"; the Quran, together with hadith and binding juristic consensus form the basis of all traditional jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. Sharia rulings are derived from these basic sources, in conjunction with analogical reasoning, consideration of public welfare and juristic discretion, using the principles of jurisprudence developed by the traditional legal schools. In matters of creed, the Sunni tradition upholds the six pillars of iman and comprises the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of rationalistic theology as well as the textualist school known as traditionalist theology. Sunnī commonly referred to as Sunnīism, is a term derived from sunnah meaning "habit", "usual practice", "custom", "tradition".
The Muslim use of this term refers to living habits of the prophet Muhammad. In Arabic, this branch of Islam is referred to as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah, "the people of the sunnah and the community", shortened to ahl as-sunnah. One common mistake is to assume that Sunni Islam represents a normative Islam that emerged during the period after Muhammad's death, that Sufism and Shi'ism developed out of Sunni Islam; this perception is due to the reliance on ideological sources that have been accepted as reliable historical works, because the vast majority of the population is Sunni. Both Sunnism and Shiaism are the end products of several centuries of competition between ideologies. Both sects used each other to further cement their own doctrines; the first four caliphs are known among Sunnis as the Rashidun or "Rightly-Guided Ones". Sunni recognition includes the aforementioned Abu Bakr as the first, Umar as the second, Uthman as the third, Ali as the fourth. Sunnis recognised different rulers as the caliph, though they did not include anyone in the list of the rightly guided ones or Rashidun after the murder of Ali, until the caliphate was constitutionally abolished in Turkey on 3 March 1924.
The seeds of metamorphosis of caliphate into kingship were sown, as the second caliph Umar had feared, as early as the regime of the third caliph Uthman, who appointed many of his kinsmen from his clan Banu Umayya, including Marwan and Walid bin Uqba on important government positions, becoming the main cause of turmoil resulting in his murder and the ensuing infighting during Ali's time and rebellion by Muawiya, another of Uthman's kinsman. This resulted in the establishment of firm dynastic rule of Banu Umayya after Husain, the younger son of Ali from Fatima, was killed at the Battle of Karbala; the rise to power of Banu Umayya, the Meccan tribe of elites who had vehemently opposed Muhammad under the leadership of Abu Sufyan, Muawiya's father, right up to the conquest of Mecca by Muhammad, as his successors with the accession of Uthman to caliphate, replaced the egalitarian society formed as a result of Muhammad's revolution to a society stratified between haves and have-nots as a result of nepotism, in the words of El-Hibri through "the use of religious charity revenues to subsidise family interests, which Uthman justified as "al-sila"."
Ali, during his rather brief regime after Uthman maintained austere life style and tried hard to bring back the egalitarian system and supremacy of law over the ruler idealised in Muhammad's message, but faced continued opposition, wars one after another by Aisha-Talhah-Zubair, by Muawiya and by the Kharjites. After he was murdered his followers elected Hasan ibn Ali his elder son from Fatima to succeed him. Hasan, shortly afterwards signed a treaty with Muawiaya relinquishing power in favour of the latter, with a condition inter alia, that one of the two who will outlive the other will be the caliph, that this caliph will not appoint a successor but will leave the matter of selection of the caliph to the public. Subsequently, Hasan was poisoned to death and Muawiya enjoyed unchallenged power. Not honouring his treaty with Hasan he however nominated his son Yazid to succeed him. Upon Muawiya's death, Yazid asked Husain the younger brother of Hasan, Ali's son and Muh
