Bio
Abdul Rahman Muhammad Al Ibrahim is a researcher in the history of the Gulf, and he holds a PhD from the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
Synopsis
The history of the Gulf in general still has aspects and angles that were not given enough scientific research, astound example of such oblivion, is the relationship of the sheikhdoms that prevailed and vanished with others. The lecture explores that part of history scarcely discussed. The sheikhdom of Al-Zubair al-Najdiyah in southern Iraq was not given enough historical analysis and criticism. Despite its influential economic, political, cultural and legal role in the history of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, its presence under the organization of the Ottoman Empire and the presence of greater powers in the same geographical region as the Emirate of Al-Muntafiq reduced the serious research efforts that would have highlighted this sheikhdom. Another factor that contributed to the failure to dust off the history of this Najd sheikhdom is the emigration of its people, and their return to their original homeland in Najd or Kuwait after the establishment of the Iraqi Republic and the establishment of the Saudi state, which contributed to greater interest in researching it further.
The geographical proximity of Kuwait to some of the surrounding metropolises contributed directly to the cultural, political, social and economic impact on Kuwait, such as the influence of Basra, Najd, Al-Ahsa and the eastern coast of the Arabian Gulf, as well as Iran. Al-Zubayr as a sheikhdom had a share of this influence on Kuwait. The cultural similarity between Kuwait and Al-Zubayr through the migration of many residents of the two sheikhdoms from Najd and the adoption of most of the students of Sharia science in Kuwait the Hanbali school of thought in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries encouraged these people to travel to seek knowledge in Zubair.
Epidemics and political events, for example, had an impact on the consolidation of relations between Kuwait and Al-Zubayr, such as the first plague epidemic that occurred in 1247 AH when men traveling at sea returned to seek livelihood in Kuwait and found that the plague destroyed their families. At that time, many of them married from the people of Zubair and Najd, as mentioned by the renowned historian, Abdulaziz Al-Rasheed.
