IOR/R/15/2/823

This file contains correspondence between British officials that is related to two distinct topics as follows:

• an underground, Pan-Arab and Islamic organisation called Al Ansar. This organisation is said to have been active throughout the Arab world, especially in Egypt. Two Bahrainis that were sent to Cairo for their studies are mentioned in the correspondence as having been influenced by the movement while in the country. The file contains an account of a meeting held by Al Ansar in Cairo on 5 December 1945 that was written by Britain's Defence Security Officer in Egypt (ff 13-14). Also enclosed is an extract from the Egyptian Gazette, 1 December 1946, that discusses Al Ansar and contains an interview with a man said to be the movement's leader in Iraq (ff 23-24);
• the entry into Bahrain of two books published in Iran that were said to be critical of the Shia branch of Islam. The two books are named as The Shia' Faith and the Shia's by Ahmed Al Kisrawi and The Blessed Plank by Shaikh Mohammad Taqi Mojtahid Isfahani ("Nafafi"). A digest of Al Kisrawi's book, written by J E H Hudson (Assistant Political Agent, Bahrain), is contained on folio 16.