Abdul Amir al-Jamri

Sheikh Abdul Amir al-Jamri ( pronunciation; SHAYK-AHB-dehl-ah-MEER-al-JAHM-ree Arabic: شيخ عبدالأمير الجمري‎;1 March 1938 – 18 December 2006) was one of the most prominent Shia clerics and opposition leaders in Bahrain. He was also a writer and a poet.
Born in the village of Bani Jamra, al-Jamri became a Hussaini khatib (Shia preacher) after finishing primary school. At the age of 21, he began his Islamic studies, first in Bahrain and later in the religious institute of Al Najaf, Iraq, where he remained for 11 years. He returned to Bahrain in 1973 and was elected to the newly formed parliament. The parliament was dissolved two years later by the Emir, Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, after it had rejected the State Security Law. In 1977, al-Jamri was appointed as a judge at the High Religious Court of Bahrain. He held the position until 1988, when he was briefly arrested due to his criticism of the government.
Al-Jamri is most notable for his...