Editing Islam in Bahrain (section)

==Present day (2021)==
Unofficial sources estimate sectarian identification to be approximately 55% [[Shia]] and 45% [[Sunni]].<ref name=":0">[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]: [], 1973, retrieved 14 February 2021</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Joyce|first=Miriam|title=Bahrain from the Twentieth Century to the Arab Spring|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2012|isbn=978-1-137-03178-5|location=New York, NY|pages=121}}</ref> There has been a massive increase in Sunni Muslim population in Bahrain as of 2021 due to the increasing rates of political naturalisation of Sunni migrants, as well as Sunni Muslims in Bahrain having a high proportion of young people, and a high fertility rate.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=abbas |date=2006-09-04 |title=Political Naturalization in Bahrain: Various Violations of Citizens and Foreign Workers Rights |url=https://bahrainrights.net/?p=243 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=BCHR |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Gudaibiya Mosque.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Gudaibiya]] mosque, in [[Manama]].]]
[[File:Adliya Mosque, Bahrain.jpg|thumb|300px|Adliya mosque in Bahrain]]
The country observes the Muslim feasts of [[Eid al-Adha]], [[Eid al-Fitr]], Muhammad's birthday ([[Mawlid]]), and the [[Islamic New Year]] as national holidays.

"Political liberalisation" under [[Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa|King Hamad]] has seen Islamist parties contest [[Elections in Bahrain|Bahrain's elections]] and become a dominant force in [[Council of Representatives of Bahrain|parliament]]. Sunni Islamist parties, the [[Salafi]] [[Asalah]] and the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] affiliated [[Al-Menbar Islamic Society]] are two of the largest parties in parliament, while the Shia [[Al Wefaq]] was expected to become the dominating party after 2006's general election having boycotted the 2002 poll. In the [[Bahraini parliamentary election, 2006|2006 election]] Wefaq received the backing of the Islamic Scholars Council which helped it win seventeen of the eighteen seats it contested. In the [[Bahraini parliamentary election, 2010|2010 election]], they increased their representation by one seat, winning all the constituencies they contested, to take 18 of the 40 available parliamentary seats.<ref>[http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=290557 Independents the biggest winners] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403090737/http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=290557 |date=2015-04-03 }} – Gulf Daily News, 1 Nov 2010</ref> Since then, Shias have no representatives in the [[Rubber stamp (politics)|Bahraini rubber stamp parliament]].

The government made successful efforts to erode the Shia citizen majority and tip the country's demographic balance in favor of the Sunni minority, which has now become the majority. This was due to the governmental recruitment of foreign-born Sunnis to serve in the security forces and become citizens. Meanwhile, hundreds of Bahrainis have had their citizenship revoked in recent years, including a number of Shiite leaders and activists. Since 2011, the government has maintained a heavy security presence in primarily Shia villages. Security personnel restrict the movements of Shia citizens and periodically destroy their property.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/bahrain |title=Bahrain &#124; Freedom House |access-date=2018-11-23 |archive-date=2018-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719054455/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/bahrain |url-status=dead }}</ref>