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This study examines the religious and cultural history of Kuwait as part of a broader process of constructing the national narrative in the post-independence period. It argues that, in recent scholarship, documents are no longer treated merely as a source of facts but are instrumentalized in the production of national meaning, aimed at establishing a cultural and religious origin predating the modern state. The study argues that the issue lies not in whether a scholarly or religious presence existed in Kuwait, but in how this presence has been transformed into a foundational depth within a later national discourse. It therefore scrutinizes the conditions under which Kuwait has been described as a "seat of learning," and rereads the geographical attributions in manuscripts as flexible historical indicators rather than fixed national identities. It also examines the construction of the "founding father" in Kuwaiti cultural and religious history, interrogating the case of Uthman ibn Sanad, which reflects a modern effort to anchor the state's legitimacy and memory more than it does a pre-existing historical reality. Accordingly, advancing historical scholarship requires restoring a critical approach to documents, rather than using them to reproduce dominant narratives.

Introduction

Since independence, the writing of Kuwait’s national history has been the subject of considerable debate, owing to the central role of historical narratives in constructing the identity of the modern state. Accordingly, this study argues that certain post-independence writings on Kuwait’s cultural and religious history have not treated the document solely as a tool for historical inquiry; instead, they have employed it to construct a national narrative that seeks to establish a cultural and religious depth predating the modern state, and to identify “founding fathers” who lend this past an image more consistent with the logic of the nation-state.[1]

This study adopts a historiographical approach focused on analysing the formation of this specific mode of historiography and the epistemological mechanisms that have guided how some researchers concerned with Kuwait’s cultural and religious history engaged with the document within the logic of the modern state. In this sense, the document is not treated merely as a source of facts, but as an active agent in shaping national consciousness and reproducing the legitimacy of the state.

However, this narrative has faced distinct challenges within the field of cultural and, more particularly, religious history. Material inconsistent with official orientations, whether regarding sectarian divisions (Shi’i and Sunni) or cultural diversity, has been marginalized in favour of consolidating a monolithic “Kuwaiti identity”, despite the ethnic and cultural pluralism of modern Kuwaiti society. This study seeks to elucidate this dynamic by critiquing the historiographical methods employed to document Kuwait’s cultural and religious history.

This approach aligns with what modern scholarship terms “nationalist history”: historical writing that seeks to establish a collective image of the past, thereby endowing the modern state with a cultural and religious depth predating its actual formation. In this context, the nationalist narrative is constructed by interpreting documents through a narrow national lens, endowing historical accounts with a retrospective national significance that they did not necessarily possess in their original contexts. This trajectory can be understood in light of critiques directed at “methodological nationalism”, in which the nation or state is treated as a self-evident unit of analysis, thus broadening the significance of certain concepts, leading to the selective use of evidence, and conflating a cultural presence with the existence of an identity. Thus, the document transforms from a mere record of memory into a tool for reordering narratives; voices aligning with the national discourse are highlighted, while others which represent dissent or which challenge that discourse recede into the background.[2]

This brings us to Kuwait’s religious and scholarly history. The current study takes as its starting point a specific corpus – primarily the works of Khalifa Al-Wuqayan (b. 1941) and Adnan Al-Rumi (b. 1946), due to their precedence. Al-Wuqayan was among the first scholars to dedicate an extensive study to the history of culture in Kuwait, while Al-Rumi was among the first to compile the biographies of prominent Kuwaiti scholars and personalities in a standalone volume.[3] Consequently, the value of these books to the present study lies not in their comprehensive nature, but in the insights they offer into the early language of classification that shaped Kuwait’s cultural and religious narrative following the establishment of the modern state.[4] Works by subsequent authors are cited here merely for reference, rather than as a parallel corpus.[5] These earlier texts treated the document as the conclusion of a discussion rather than its starting point. They emphasized the collection and presentation of texts over the deconstruction of the concepts they contained, the examination of the contexts in which they were produced, or scrutiny of their inherent biases. In other words, the document was not studied for its own sake, but as a means to access the past.

The gap addressed by this study becomes most apparent when comparing Kuwaiti scholarship, such as that of Al-Wuqayan and Al-Rumi, with modern writings from Najd (central Saudi Arabia) and Al-Zubayr (southern Iraq). The latter did not face the same difficulty in establishing the existence of scholarly depth prior to the rise of the modern state, owing to these states’ links to centres of learning.[6] This presents us with a key methodological question: How did the emergence of the modern state alter conceptions of the scholarly and geographic affiliations of key religious and cultural figures in Kuwaiti history?

Historical writing in Kuwait faces two fundamental challenges. The first is the absence of a clear mechanism enabling researchers to access official and family archives. This has led to a monopolization of historical knowledge by historians who adhere to the national narrative, or by those who adopt a narrative not seen as problematic. The second challenge is methodological. Discourse regarding religious history has remained confined to the binary of affirmation versus denial, rather than analysing or broadening political, social, and cultural interpretations of concepts. Accordingly, this study seeks to analyse the problem of the document’s central status as a tool of verification for the researcher who follows the post-independence national methodology, and draws a link between this practice and attempts to construct a monolithic historical identity that excludes the plurality of historical narratives concerning Kuwait.

This study does not aim to dispute the Kuwaiti identity of individuals, nor to deny the existence of a scholarly or religious presence in Kuwait prior to the establishment of the state. Furthermore, it does not concern itself with studying the operational dynamics of scholarly networks in the Arabian Peninsula. Rather, it tests the limits of what documents, manuscripts, and scholarly biographies allow when they are utilized to produce a foundational cultural or religious asset within Kuwait’s modern national narrative, tracing how a piece of evidence can be transformed from a partial clue with limited significance into a foundational claim that transcends the limits of the original material.

Positivist Historiography in the Service of the National Narrative

In his book A Sea of Debt, translated into Arabic as Baḥr min al-Duyūn, Fahad Ahmad Bishara argues for the adoption of what he terms “oceanic history”, paving the way for new narratives regarding the history of the Gulf and enabling a re-reading of sources and the posing of questions that transcend narrow nationalist frameworks. He notes that while some historians in the Gulf have attempted to integrate local/official archives with family archives,[7] this trend has frequently devolved into the use of such archives as symbols of social prestige and status-seeking, rather than as tools for generating critical knowledge.[8]

This raises immediate issues regarding the methodologies of historical writing in the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula – particularly works written in Arabic. Many academic studies claim to employ a descriptive, analytical approach, whereas in practice, their treatment of documents remains confined to the mere reproduction of information, rather than its use to construct a broader explanatory framework.[9]

Another issue lies in the fact that Kuwaiti positivist historiography differs radically from its European counterparts – specifically the schools of France and Germany. The Sorbonne school, for instance, formulated a methodology that casts the historian in the role of a judge: gathering documents, subjecting them to critique from within and without, and verifying their authenticity before building upon them. In this sense, the French historian is an analyst of documents rather than merely their transmitter.[10] In the Kuwaiti context, however, many historians have contented themselves with amassing great volumes of documents, while neglecting to adhere to clear critical standards. Herein lies the paradox: the historian who approaches a document with apparent neutrality unwittingly transforms into a guardian of the national narrative. Consequently, the research problem is obscured, and the discussion devolves into a dispute over the precedence or authenticity of one document versus another, rather than serving as a gateway to a deeper interpretation of the social and political factors that gave rise to the events they relate.[11]

Some writers on Kuwaiti cultural and religious history who have defended the national or state-centric narrative have limited the historian’s role to verifying the authenticity and veracity of events. As Abdelahad Sebti notes, this tendency has fostered a subservience to surface-level facts and a clear bias toward the strategies of the contemporary state.[12] Thus, positivist Kuwaiti historians have evolved into historians of the modern nation-state, incorporating its strategies into their historical writings, whether consciously or inadvertently. This outcome is hardly surprising, given that historical writing in Kuwait is a relatively recent innovation; the first locally written historical work on the country, by Abdulaziz Al-Rashid (1887–1938), was only published in 1926.

One can draw parallels between this evolution among positivist historians of Kuwait and the trajectory of the French positivist school, which emerged in the wake of the French Revolution (starting in 1789), alongside the establishment of archives. The institutionalization of the French archive continued until the establishment of the Historical Monuments Commission (La commission nationale des monuments historiques) in 1837, which served as a resource for the founding fathers of the French positivist school, such as Ernest Lavisse (1842–1922) and Charles Seignobos (1854–1942).[13] In this context, Wajih Kawtharani notes that contemporary French historians have observed a link between French positivists and the politics of the Third Republic; these historians battled the Catholic Church to defend secular laws, and highlighted French national history with a sentiment of antipathy toward German nationalism. Thus, they chronicled the history of the French state while upholding the idea of French nationalism.[14]

Tareq Alrebai has addressed a parallel issue: the attempt to “nationalize” transnational literary figures and transform them into national symbols. He has demonstrated that the question of origins in Kuwaiti literary history has been directly linked to nationalist discourse. Khaled Saud al-Zaid regarded Abd al-Jalil al-Tabataba’i (1775–1853) as the founder of Kuwaiti literature, despite the fact that the latter was born in Basra (modern Iraq) and lived in Kuwait for only a few years. Al-Wuqayan, however, rejected this view, arguing that Al-Tabataba’i’s influence on Kuwaiti poetry was negligible; he later proposed Uthman Ibn Sanad (1766–1826) as an alternative founder, citing his birth on Kuwait’s Failaka Island and his chronological precedence.[15]

As Alrebai explains, these debates are neither innocent nor neutral. Both Al-Tabataba’i and Ibn Sanad moved between Basra, Al-Ahsa’, Qatar, and Bahrain, yet their respective biographies were adapted to position each one of them as the national founder of Kuwaiti literature. As Alrebai argues, the objective was not to critique, but rather to respond to a national need: the establishment of a historical starting point that would provide Kuwaiti literature with solid roots.[16]

Al-Wuqayan acknowledges that Ibn Sanad was primarily a religious scholar rather than a poet, and that aesthetically, he fell short of his contemporaries, exerting negligible influence on Kuwait’s literary movement, an approach that Alrebai suggests reflects an urgent need to establish a national-historical origin – even at the expense of a more authentic literary starting point.[17] Alrebai further views this trend as a direct consequence of Kuwait’s post-independence need to compensate for the state’s modernity and political boundaries by formulating a deeply rooted literary history. This was not merely a matter of cataloguing poets and texts; it included efforts to convince younger generations that Kuwait had a long-standing literary tradition. This gave rise to a persistent need for a “founding father” of Kuwaiti literature, even if the choice between Al-Tabataba’i and Ibn Sanad remained subject to debate. Alrebai’s analysis thus reveals that the writing of Kuwaiti literary history was not divorced from the project of building the nation-state, but was an integral part thereof. The selection of a literary founder reflected a process of “nationalization” aimed at consolidating a national identity and imbuing it with cultural and historical depth. Thus, literature was transformed into a tool in the service of the legitimacy of the nation-state, rather than being about literary creativity.[18]

The discussion now turns from the construction of the “founding father” figure in literary history to a parallel question in the realm of religious and cultural history: How have scholars expanded upon disparate pieces of evidence, such as geographical lineages, manuscripts, and biographical accounts, in their efforts to establish the authenticity and deeper roots of Kuwait’s cultural and religious history, in a manner befitting the modern state?

Dār al-ʿilm: Centres of Scholarship in the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula: The Case of Kuwait

Kuwait emerged, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries, as a centre of politics and commerce, rather than a hub of scholarship. This is reflected in the works published by the Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait (CRSK), which largely focus on documenting commercial and political life. These publications covered the records of prominent merchant families – such as Al-Nisf, Al-Khalid, Al-Hamad, and Al-Abd al-Jalil – as well as works detailing the political histories of key figures like Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah (1844–1915) and certain post-independence rulers. In the cultural and religious spheres, CRSK has published books on the pioneers of Kuwait’s modern intellectual renaissance, such as Abdullah Ibn Khalaf Al-Dahayyan (1875–1931), Abdulaziz Al-Rashid, and Muhammad Al-Jarrah (1904–1996).[19]

However, the influence of such figures was confined to the period from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries, and does not reflect the existence of an established scholarly hub. Thus, it is evident that Kuwait remained primarily a political and economic hub during that era, and Islamic scholarship there was limited. This undermines the notion of Kuwait bearing the epithet dār al-ʿilm (pl. diyār) despite indications that copyists (nassākha) were active there.[20]

It is worth noting that nassākha and book artisans (warrāqūn) were not necessarily scholars themselves. The profession of wirāqah combined scholarly and artistic elements, including the copying, binding, and selling of books, as well as the trade in paper and writing implements. The warrāqūn were responsible for copying, binding, and proofreading books, as well as handling various aspects of the writing craft – a definition illustrating the profession’s comprehensive role across the different stages of book production and dissemination.[21] The duties of the warrāq encompassed four main areas: copying texts, selling writing materials, bookbinding, and general trade in books. In the Islamic era – particularly in Abbasid Baghdad – the warrāqūn constituted a distinctive class that combined manual craftsmanship with scholarly intellect; they served as the vital link between authors and readers, and acted as the guardians who preserved books from being lost.[22] Consequently, the designation Dār ʿilm (“house of knowledge” or “centre of learning”) was applied to any town known for its abundance of scholars, jurists, and the students who gathered around them.

For instance, the author of Nuzhat al-Anẓār fī ʿAjāʾib al-Tawārīkh wa-al-Akhbār (A Promenade for the Eyes: On the Wonders of History and Chronicles), citing Dhayl Bashāʾir Ahl al-Īmān bi-Futūḥāt Āl ʿUthmān (The Glad Tidings of the Faithful Regarding the Conquests of the House of ʿUthman), describes Abd al-Aziz al-Furati (1641–1719) by stating: “He hails from a Dār ʿilm of long standing; he is the tenth of them, all of them eminent scholars.”[23] In this case, dār ʿilm refers to the scholarly family of which al-Furati was the scion; it also signifies that he came from a town where learning flourished, where scholars resided, where people travelled to seek knowledge, and where there were resources for reading and study. Ninth century historian Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi, for instance, noted that Jarir Ibn Abd al-Hamid and his peers transformed the town of Al-Rai into such a centre: “It became a seat of learning through Jarir Ibn Abd al-Hamid and his like, followed by Ibn Hamid, Ibn Mihran al-Jammal, Ibrahim Ibn Musa, and Sahl Ibn Zanjala; then by Ibn Warah, Abu Zur’ah, Abu Hatim and his son, continuing into the mid-fourth century [AH].”[24]

Arab writers and intellectuals have employed the term dār ʿilm to refer to universities with rich scholarly heritages. Muhammad Kurd Ali (1876–1953), in a biography of French statesman-philosopher Jules Simon (1814–1896), wrote: “He moved from one seat of learning to another in his educational journey until he arrived at the great Sorbonne in Paris, where he was entrusted with teaching advanced philosophical disciplines.”[25]

The presence of a dār ʿilm in Arab lands is also characterized by the presence of scholars, mujtahidūn (jurists capable of independent legal reasoning), fuqahāʾ (jurists), and ḥuffāẓ li-l-madhhab (experts in a specific school of jurisprudence), This aligns with the classifications established by scholars of jurisprudence, who categorized mujtahidūn into five types: absolute (al-mujtahid al-muṭlaq); affiliated (al-mujtahid al-muntasib); the mujtahid within a school of jurisprudence (mujtahid al-madhhab); the mujtahid of legal ruling and preference (mujtahid al-fatwā wa-al-tarjīḥ); and the master of the school’s established rulings (al-Ḥāfiẓ li-al-Madhhab al-Muftā bihi).[26]

The Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula were distinguished by several prominent scholarly centres, including Al-Ahsa’, Najd, Basra, Baghdad, Al-Zubayr, and the Hijaz. Evidence of the stature of these urban centres is found in the saying: “A seeker of knowledge does not reach maturity until he graduates from – or attends lessons at – seven schools in seven different lands: the madrassa of Al-Duwaihis in Al-Zubayr, that of Al Abi Bakr in Al-Ahsa’, that of Al-Alusi in Baghdad, Egypt’s Al-Azhar, and the school of Al-Muradiyya in Damascus; then he proceeds to the Two Holy Mosques [...] making a stop at Unaizah in Al-Qassim.”[27]

The absence of Kuwait’s name from historical lists of prominent centres of learning suggests that during the 18th and 19th centuries, it was something of a stretch to classify it alongside established diyār ʿilm like Al-Ahsa’, Al-Zubayr, Basra, and so on. This absence is insufficient on its own to refute the claim that Kuwait had any scholarly or religious presence. However, it reveals the limitations of the available evidence and explains why some modern writings have sought to broaden the interpretation of that evidence in search of greater cultural and religious depth that predates the modern state.

With the formation of nation-states in the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, certain emerging polities – such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iraq – were easily able to establish cultural and religious depth, thanks to the incorporation of historic centres of learning into their modern political boundaries. The Hijaz and Al-Ahsa’ became part of Saudi Arabia, while Basra, Al-Zubayr, and Baghdad were incorporated into Iraq. Yet the emergence of national narratives led to the marginalization of certain aspects of cultural and religious history in favour of others. In the Saudi case, for instance, Salafist-Wahhabist history came to dominate the national narrative, while other histories – such as Shi’i, Sufi, or Ashʿari history – faded into the background or were marginalized. The same process took place in Bahrain, and to a lesser extent in Iraq.[28]

The same holds true for historians who wrote about the sheikhdom of Al-Zubayr. While they did not claim that certain prominent jurists and scholars had their origins there, they nonetheless included biographical accounts of them due to their connections with Al-Zubayr’s scholars and the influence they exerted there. A case in point is the treatment of Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Fayruz (or simply Ibn Fairuz), a leading Hanbali jurist, by the authors of Imārat al-Zubayr bayna Hijratayn (The Emirate of Zubayr: Between Two Migrations). They note: “We are presenting a biography of Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Fayruz – while acknowledging that he was neither born, raised, nor educated in Al-Zubayr – because of his close ties to the town’s scholars, particularly the fact that he served as a mentor to some of them: hence why we mention and chronicle his life.”[29] This methodological approach can likewise be applied to Al-Ahsa’ and the Hijaz.

Geographic epithets (e.g. Al-Basri, indicating origins in Basra) in the manuscripts and documents discussed here should not be interpreted as fixed national identities in the modern sense. Rather, they serve as limited historical indicators that hint at a person’s place of birth, residence, education, or sphere of scholarly activity. Consequently, the appearance of an attribution such as Al-Najdi, Al-Basri, or Al-Ahsa’i is not sufficient on its own to prove or disprove a national affiliation in the modern sense. Instead, such terms are useful for revealing the fluidity of affiliation in the pre-modern era, and facilitate the critique of national narratives.

From the publication of Al-Rashid’s book on the history of Kuwait in 1926 through to contemporary academic studies, historical writings on Kuwait have tended to seek out “founding fathers” of culture and poetry. The same applies to studies of religious history in Kuwait, and particularly to efforts to construct a national history that aligns with Kuwait’s post-independence geographical boundaries. The book Al-Subul al-Sawiyya ilā Manāsik al-Ḥajj al-Kuwaytiyya (The Correct Paths to Kuwaiti Hajj Rites)[30] serves as a prime example; the author attributes several manuscripts to individuals described as Kuwaitis – some of whom indeed became citizens of the modern State of Kuwait following its independence, such as Yusuf Ibn Isa al-Qana’i (1878–1973) and Abd al-Wahhab al-Faris (1900–1983). However, the most important text it cites is the Hajj rite manual (mansik) of Hamad Ibn Abdullah al-Faris, who died in 1289 AH (around 1872 CE).

The manual of Al-Faris is the oldest text featured in the book. Although the author appends the descriptor “Al-Kuwaiti” to the name of Al-Faris’s name on the cover, the manuscripts themselves do not conclusively establish this attribution; instead, they offer descriptive details regarding his birthplace, place of residence, and scholarly affiliation.[31] Al-Faris described himself in 1281 AH as “Al-Najdi al-Hanbali” (from Najd, of the Hanbali school) and in 1284 AH as “Najdi by birth, Kuwaiti by residence”, whereas in 1271 AH, he simply stated his name without any additional epithet.[32]

The book’s editor himself questions whether Al-Faris was indeed the author of the manual, asking: “Is Sheikh Hamad Ibn Abdullah al-Faris the author or the copyist? [...] There is evidence suggesting he was the copyist, yet there is also evidence suggesting he was the author.”[33] The editor refrains from definitively identifying Al-Faris one way or the other, but the distinction is of considerable importance, given the difference in scholarly status between the two professions.

As for the remaining manāsik (rite manuals) mentioned in the volume, they all date to the 20th century CE. The earliest among them is that of Al-Dahayyan, dated around 1930 CE – some six decades after that of Al-Faris – while the others are linked to the emergence of the modern state of Kuwait. Thus, labelling Al-Faris as “Kuwaiti” was less a matter of historical precision than an attempt to establish a legitimate cultural depth by creating a “founding father” from the 19th century, thereby retrospectively constructing a national narrative.[34]

This pattern recurs in certain government publications; for instance, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs has released a critical edition of Ibn Sanad’s book, Sharḥ Anfās al-Saḥar fī Aqsām al-Ḥadīth wa-al-Athar (“An Explanation of The Breaths of Dawn regarding the Categories of Hadith and Athar [brief reports from early Islam]”), describing the author on the cover as “Al-Failakawi [i.e. from Failaka island] Al-Kuwaiti.” Yet images of the manuscripts included within the edition itself cite attributions such as “Al-Ahsa’i” and “Al-Basri” – descriptors that reveal Ibn Sanad’s networks of geographical and scholarly affiliation without, in themselves, conclusively settling the question of his national identity in the modern sense.[35]

Scholarly life in Kuwait was thus not particularly renowned during the 18th and 19th centuries CE; indeed, most of Kuwait’s judges and senior scholars were arrivals from elsewhere, having received their education in major centres such as Al-Ahsa’, Najd, the eastern coast of the Arabian Gulf, and Iraq. Prominent examples include the judge Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Fayruz Al-Wushayqiri (d. 1723) and Ahmad Ibn Abd al-Jalil; followed by Muhammad Ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Adsani (d. 1783) – who came from Al-Ahsa’ – and his son Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Al-Adsani;[36] and finally, Ali Ibn Sharikh, who was born in Al-Zubayr.[37]

The presence of religious judges in Kuwait did not necessarily imply the existence of a thriving scholarly movement there. Indeed, most of these judges travelled to neighbouring Diyār ʿilm to deepen their knowledge of Islamic law. A judge’s choice of destination was generally determined by his affiliation to a school of jurisprudence. For instance, Al-Dahayyan studied under Hanbali scholars in Al-Zubayr, Najd, and Medina,[38] whereas Al-Qana’i travelled to Al-Ahsa’ to study Shafi’i jurisprudence and other disciplines.[39] Ahmad Atiya Al-Athari and Abdulaziz Hamada also sought knowledge elsewhere: the former travelled to Al-Ahsa’, Basra, and Bahrain, while the latter went to Al-Ahsa’ to study Maliki jurisprudence. All these journeys took place during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[40] These examples suggest that the judiciary in Kuwait fulfilled a function or office, rather than representing a flourishing scholarly environment; the existence of a judicial system did not necessarily equate to the presence of a scholarly movement. Al-Qana’i, himself a Kuwaiti judge, described some of those who held judicial office in the late 18th century as having assumed the role “by inheritance, rather than through scholarship and competence”, noting that “judicial rulings in their time became a farce and a mockery”.[41] This reinforces the view that scholarly knowledge was scarce in Kuwait. Nevertheless, the fact that many judges and scholars were expatriates or had travelled elsewhere for their education does not mean their impact on the Kuwaiti environment was negligible. Their presence signifies the existence of religious, educational, and judicial functions that contributed, to varying degrees, to the religious and cultural education of society. However, acknowledging this impact is not the same as claiming that a local scholarly community existed in Kuwait; there remains a distinction between the mere presence of scholars – or individuals holding specific roles, such as judges – and the formation of a stable scholarly centre that attracted students and had organized circles for teaching, authorship, and the issuance of religious rulings.

Nor was this phenomenon limited to judges; it also extended to scholars regarded as Kuwaiti by researchers of cultural and religious history. These individuals did not receive their religious education within Kuwait, but for the most part arrived there having thoroughly studied their subjects at established scholarly centres across the Arabian Peninsula. Prominent examples include Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Faris, Ahmad Ibn Abdul-Jalil al-Tabataba’i, and Ahmad al-Farsi, among others.

Muhammad Ibn Faris, for instance, referred to himself as “al-Najdi” (from Najd); nor did the scholars who taught him originally hail from Kuwait.[42] The same applies to Ahmad al-Farsi, who hailed from the eastern coast of the Arabian Gulf, studying in towns such as Lingeh and Kohij, where he learned Shafi‘i jurisprudence, before continuing his education in Egypt.[43]

Even with the advent of formal education in Kuwait, via the establishment of the Mubarakiya School, there remained a clear reliance on talent from outside the sheikhdom. In his historical account of the school, Abdulaziz Al-Rashid listed the teachers employed there, such as Muhammad Nuri al-Mawsili (1868–1927), Umar Asim al-Izmiri (1870–1950), Abdul-Malik al-Mubayyad (1891–1946) from Al-Zubayr, Hafiz Wahba from Egypt, Abdulqadir Al-Baghdadi, and Najm al-Din al-Hindi. In total, nine out of the 12 names listed were of individuals not originally from Kuwait.[44]

It is evident from this that, during the 18th and 19th centuries, Kuwait was not considered dār ʿilm in the sense typically associated with established intellectual hubs; rather, it relied on visiting scholars or on individuals who had travelled abroad for their education. Even when the Mubarakiya School, the country’s first such formal establishment, was founded in 1912, non-Kuwaitis predominated among the teaching staff and administrators. This suggests that the notion of a deep-rooted Kuwaiti scholarly tradition is largely a retrospective construct, generated by the demands of a modern national narrative. The writings of Al-Munais allude to this, and it will become further apparent in the forthcoming discussion of writings by Al-Wuqayan and Al-Rumi.

The Transformation of Cultural Life in Kuwait in the Early 20th Century

Early historical accounts of Kuwait highlight the extent to which ignorance and backwardness pervaded the sheikhdom during the early 20th century. Al-Rashid, for instance, notes:

From its birth until 20 years ago, Kuwait was submerged in a sea of stagnation and mired in the slough of backwardness, a place where no intellectual or scholarly movement had any impact. The extent of knowledge common among its people was limited to the basics of Islamic jurisprudence and the Arabic language, rudimentary penmanship, and arithmetic. Meanwhile, modern sciences, beneficial initiatives, and progressive ideas had no impact among them. Had any such element appeared at the time, the populace would have recoiled from them and their proponents with intense aversion, branding anyone who engaged with them as a heretic or an atheist. This is hardly surprising, [given Kuwait’s] distance from civilized lands, the lack of interaction with thinkers and dedicated scholars, and the presence of charlatans falsely and deceitfully claiming to possess knowledge [...] For that long period, Kuwait and its people floundered in utter ignorance, mistaking the intellectually insignificant for the profound, and literary mediocrity for greatness.[45]

In his descriptions, Al-Rashid highlights the state of education and culture in the early 20th century, a time when intellectual life was limited and characterized by wariness and suspicion of modern scholarship. Al-Qana’i, who served as a judge and as the director of both the Mubarakiya and Ahmadiya schools, asserts that there was no significant formal education in Kuwait at its founding; there were only katātīb (traditional religious schools), where children learned the basics of writing, arithmetic, and Quranic recitation through traditional methods, taught by an instructor known as a muṭawwiʿ.[46] The writings of both Al-Rashid and Al-Qana’i point to a modern cultural renaissance driven by the arrival of newspapers and magazines, as well as visits from Arab intellectuals such as Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865–1935) and Abdulaziz al-Tha’alibi (1876–1944).

Regarding education specifically, Al-Qana’i maintains that the standard of schooling in Kuwait was not advanced prior to the founding of the Mubarakiya School. He states:

From the time of its founding until the year 1330 hijri [around 1912 CE], there was no significant education in Kuwait; there were only katātīb for teaching children [...] The number of people proficient in reading and writing was small relative to the population, and the majority of Kuwaitis at that time were illiterate. The muṭawwiʿ himself lacked proficiency in tajwīd [the rules of Quranic recitation] and calligraphy, and could not distinguish between the Arabic letters qāf and ghayn; consequently, Kuwaitis made no distinction between the two in either their writing or their pronunciation.[47]

As previously mentioned, nine of the 12 early teachers listed by Al-Rashid bore surnames indicating their origins, such as Al-Masri (Egyptian), Al-Zubayri, Al-Izmiri, Al-Ahsa’i, and Al-Mawsili (from Mosul). This demonstrates that the founders of modern education in Kuwait – even though they included individuals considered Kuwaiti by the standards of that era, such as Al-Rashid and Al-Qana’i – were not predominantly locals, although their children and grandchildren would obtain Kuwaiti citizenship following the establishment of the modern state, and would become integral parts of contemporary Kuwaiti society. This leads us to examine the evolution of historical writing among Kuwaiti cultural researchers – most notably Al-Wuqayan. In his 1970s book Al-Qaḍiyya al-ʿArabiyya fī al-Shiʿr al-Kuwaytī (The Arab Cause in Kuwaiti Poetry), Al-Wuqayan cites Al-Rashid’s observations regarding Kuwait’s cultural backwardness at the time, and comments:

Al-Rashid may have been pessimistic about the state of the cultural movement in the past, or perhaps he viewed it through the lens of his own enlightened aspirations and desire to see the situation improve. Nevertheless, his opinion confirms that the situation was far from ideal, even though we might not fully agree with his claim that there was no trace of a scholarly or intellectual movement in the 20 years preceding his writing of History of Kuwait; after all, Kuwait was home to a number of religious scholars and poets prior to that period, even if their activity was subdued.[48]

In his book Al-Thaqāfa fī al-Kuwayt (Culture in Kuwait), Al-Wuqayan returns to the claims of Ismail Fahd Ismail (1940–2018), who had stated in 1980 that the Kuwaiti population was illiterate until 60 years prior earlier, and that education was restricted to a small elite of wealthy families. Al-Wuqayan critiques this view, arguing that the historical sources point to a broader educational and cultural movement, noting that modern scholarship had entered the educational landscape in Kuwait and was not confined to a specific social class. As evidence, he noted the existence of manuscripts copied by individuals who were not wealthy, indicating a certain spread of education and knowledge.[49]

Al-Wuqayan levelled similar criticism at another researcher who viewed the absence of formal schools during Kuwait’s formative years as proof of widespread illiteracy. He considers this conclusion inaccurate, as the presence of a significant number of scholars, judges, poets, sea captains, merchants, and intellectuals points to a level of knowledge that cannot be overlooked. These figures established important cultural and social institutions, such as the Arab Charitable Society (1913), the Ahliyah Library (People’s Library) (1922), and the Kuwaiti Literary Club (1924).[50]

The criticism directed at Ismail and other researchers regarding the prevalence of ignorance in Kuwait was not merely a matter of analysis; it was an extension of the views held by early historians of Kuwait, such as Al-Rashid and Al-Qana’i. Later researchers drew upon these early accounts, bringing broader analysis to the discussion, including the identities of scholars and the evolution of intellectual life, all while acknowledging the civilizational and cultural transformations Kuwait underwent in the early 20th century. This raises the question of why Al-Wuqayan did not critique the intellectual foundations of these earlier arguments or attempt to move beyond them – especially given that he was familiar with them and did not fully agree with them. He describes Kuwait during that era as follows: “Kuwait may have been, during that period, in a state of backwardness incompatible with the environments in which [Al-Tabataba’i] had spent most of his life; consequently, we do not find sufficient information to elucidate the nature and extent of the role he played.”[51]

Some researchers of Kuwait’s religious and cultural history have characterized the country as a place where the pursuit of knowledge was scarce; when listing centres of learning in the Arabian Peninsula, they omit Kuwait entirely. For instance, Adnan Al-Rumi, in his book ʿUlamāʾ al-Kuwayt wa-Aʿlāmuhā khilāla Thalāthat Qurūn (Kuwait’s Scholars and Prominent Figures Over Three Centuries), mentions that Ibn Sanad studied under the renowned scholars of the era in the intellectual hubs of Al-Ahsa’, Basra, and Baghdad.[52] Al-Rumi goes even further when writing about the establishment of modern education in his biographical account of Al-Izmiri, saying that the latter dismissed the likelihood of a modern school being founded in Kuwait, based on “what he knew of Kuwait’s environment, the harshness of life amidst scarce resources and a lack of interest in formal learning, and the fact that people were preoccupied with earning a livelihood on land and at sea. A people in such circumstances could hardly contemplate establishing, organizing, or sustaining institutions of learning.”[53]

Al-Rumi was not alone in his criticism. Abdullah Al-Nuri (1905–1981) expressed similar views, noting that the art of writing – or calligraphy – in Kuwait was confined to the Al-Adsani family (the country’s judges) and a handful of individuals who had acquired the skill through various means, such as travel to Al-Ahsa’ or Iraq, learning from a visiting guest, or simply copying existing texts.[54]

By examining the writings of Al-Rashid, Al-Qana’i, and their successors, one can argue that the debate was less about historical facts and more a reflection of a shift in the collective consciousness regarding the history of Kuwaiti culture itself. The discourse evolved from a diagnostic perspective, describing the country’s ignorance and backwardness, to an analytical approach that seeks to understand the nahḍa or cultural renaissance, deconstruct its significance and its limits, and explore how society constructed its own image of its cultural past.

Over time, nationalist researchers, writing within a state-centric framework, began to deal with figures such as Al-Rashid and Al-Qana’i with more caution, acknowledging their stature in the collective memory and their pivotal role in constructing the modern national narrative. Accordingly, they avoided direct criticism of these figures, for fear of undermining the symbolic foundation upon which that narrative rested.[55] Thus, the history of culture in Kuwait ceased to be merely a record of educational institutions or the manifestations of modernization; instead, it became a mirror reflecting the formation of national consciousness itself, and an incremental process of identity-building during a period of transformation. From this perspective, the search for “founding fathers” was not confined to literature alone, but extended to the realms of Islamic jurisprudence and religion. Indeed, attempts to identify a founding father of Kuwaiti literature intersect with efforts by historians to identify a founding father of Islamic scholarship; both endeavours reflect a desire to ground knowledge within a national framework that legitimizes the modern state and shapes its cultural memory.

The 20th Century – The Era of the Founding Fathers of Kuwaiti Cultural History

This study argues that the founding fathers of Kuwait’s cultural history – figures whose geographical connections, identities, and scholarly ties to Kuwait can be substantiated by proponents of the national narrative – were active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; examples include Al-Rashid, Al-Qana’i, Al-Dahayyan, Al-Nuri, and others. However, a problem arises when examining the work of certain researchers who have written on Kuwait’s cultural and religious history: the absence of a clear methodology for classifying the figures whose biographies they relate, in contrast to the approaches seen among researchers focusing on Najd and Al-Zubayr. This methodological gap points to an issue deeper than mere differences in styles of classification, one that touches upon the very nature of historical consciousness and the ways in which concepts of belonging and place were shaped within the historiography of religion in the Gulf during the 20th century and earlier. Thus, this study will seek to address another central question: To what extent did modern, 20th-century national consciousness contribute to reinterpreting Kuwaiti scholars and establishing their geographical affiliations within the national cultural narrative? This question serves as a gateway to understanding the fundamental distinction between the Kuwaiti narrative and its counterparts concerning Najd and Al-Zubayr, as well as how modern national transformations influenced historiographical approaches to religious scholars and religious culture.[56]

A review of major biographical works chronicling the scholars of Najd, Al-Zubayr, and Kuwait reveals that some authors simply neglect to outline, in their introductions, the methodologies they have used to attribute scholars to the specific locale being documented. Examples include Abdullah Al-Ghamlas in his Al-Iʿlām fī Aʿyān Balad al-Zubayr Ibn al-ʿAwwām (Prominent Figures of the town of Al-Zubayr Ibn Al-Awwam), Muhammad Al-Qadi’s Rawḍat al-Nāẓirīn ʿan Maʾāthir ʿUlamāʾ Najd wa-Ḥawādith al-Sinīn (The Garden of Observers: On the Achievements of Najd’s Scholars and the Events of the Years), and Al-Rumi’s ʿUlamāʾ al-Kuwayt wa-Aʿlāmuhā khilāla Thalāthat Qurūn (Kuwait’s Scholars and Prominent Figures Over Three Centuries).[57]

However, some other authors have offered a clear methodology that the reader can evaluate. They include Abdullah al-Bassam in his book ʿUlamāʾ Najd khilāla Thamāniyat Qurūn (Scholars of Najd Over Eight Centuries), in which he explicitly outlines his approach. In the introduction to the first edition, he writes: “In this book, I have provided biographical accounts of many scholars who opposed the Salafi movement brought about by the Islamic leader and reformer Imam Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab.”[58] In the second edition, he elaborated on his methodology, noting: “True to its title, the book is dedicated to the ‘Scholars of Najd’ – whether they were locals who later migrated elsewhere, or individuals who arrived from other regions, settled there, and made it their home; I did not limit its scope to natives of Najd who never left the region.”[59] This methodological clarity allowed Al-Bassam to sidestep the problems of attribution and affiliation; he wrote his history according to specific and clear criteria.

As for the most prominent work chronicling the sheikhdom of Al-Zubayr and documenting the lives of its scholars and notables, we can consult Imārat al-Zubayr bayna Hijratayn (The Emirate of Al-Zubayr Between Two Migrations) by Abdul-Razzaq al-Sanea and Abdul-Aziz al-Ali, the third volume of which contains biographies of notables, including scholars. The book’s methodology is clear: in the introduction to the third volume, the authors outline four fundamental criteria for relating these figures’ lives:

Those mentioned in this book [...] fall into one of the following categories: individuals who were born, raised, educated, and passed away in Al-Zubayr; those who resided or studied in the town before moving to and dying in another location; students who came to Al-Zubayr from outside for their studies before continuing their journey and passing away elsewhere; or individuals who came to Al-Zubayr specifically to study or to teach, and ultimately died there.[60]

Saud Al-Rabia dedicated an entire section of the introduction to his book, Al-Ḥaraka al-ʿIlmiyya bayna Najd wa-al-Zubayr khilāla Thalāthat Qurūn (The Scholarly Movement Between Najd and Al-Zubayr Over Three Centuries) to the topic “Research Methodology”, explaining his criteria for classifying the figures he profiles, although these criteria lack the clarity found in the works of Al-Sanea, Al-Ali, or Al-Bassam. He states:

Nor did I overlook non-Najdi scholars who – after God – contributed significantly to the town of Al-Zubayr and whose names are inextricably linked to it, such as Sheikh Muhammad Amin Al-Shinqiti [...], in recognition of their high standing and appreciation for their efforts in spreading knowledge in this town for the sake of God.[61]

When turning to researchers who have chronicled Kuwait’s scholars and religious culture, the reader notices the absence of a specific methodology or clear criteria for classifying the subjects of biographies or defining their connection to the country. While Kuwaiti efforts to document local scholarly and cultural life are valuable for gathering material and preserving names, they often lack a methodological explanation clarifying who qualifies as a “Kuwaiti scholar” or who is affiliated with Kuwait, based on geographic, educational, or social criteria. This contrasts with the approach taken by their counterparts in Najd and Al-Zubayr, who explicitly define the scope of their research and the terms of affiliation. This ambiguity makes it more difficult to evaluate the work of the former, limiting the ability of that work to reflect in an accurate manner the history of scholarship in Kuwait.[62]

Prominent among the researchers who have written about the history of culture and scholarly biographies in Kuwait are Al-Wuqayan and Al-Rumi. There is a clear distinction between their works. Al-Rumi authored a volume of biographies modelled after traditional Islamic literature, whereas Al-Wuqayan incorporated the biographies of religious scholars into his broader work on the history of culture.

Al-Rumi does not present a specific methodology for his classification, nor does he explain why he divided the book into two sections: one for Kuwaiti scholars and another for scholars from outside Kuwait who had an impact there. Furthermore, in his introduction, he does not clarify the criteria used for this categorization. The book includes biographical entries for individuals with epithets such as Al-Farsi, Al-Izmiri, Al-Mawsili, Al-Basri, and others, figures who were not born in Kuwait but arrived there after completing their education, raising the question of whether their impact, rather than their origin, was the basis for their inclusion.

Al-Wuqayan is more organized than Al-Rumi, though he too lacks a clear methodology. He outlines his reasons and motivations for writing the book, two of which are particularly relevant here: First, to address the distorted and incomplete image held by some Arab intellectuals of the Gulf region, specifically the notions that it was insignificant prior to the discovery of oil and that its people made no cultural contributions; and second, to correct misinformation and assert that it was time to recognise Ibn Sanad’s ties to Kuwait, the country in which he was born and raised.[63]

In this context, the distinction between Al-Wuqayan and Al-Rumi relates not to details, but to how a document is utilized to establish belonging. The fundamental difference between their respective narratives of Kuwait’s cultural and religious-scholarly history lies in Al-Rumi’s approach: he conveys information he deems accurate without further analysis, while remaining mindful of national history and the emergence of a distinct Kuwaiti identity. Accordingly, he does not attribute certain scholars – such as Sayyid Umar Asim al-Izmiri – to their places of origin as they appear in some sources; instead, he simply notes that Sayyid Umar Asim was born in Izmir.[64] Similarly, he mentions Muhammad Nuri al-Mawsili’s lineage and birth as being in Mosul, rather than describing him as belonging to the city.[65] This stands in contrast to Al-Rashid, and even to Al-Rumi himself, who included Muhammad Nuri’s degree certificate bearing the name “Muhammad Nuri Al-Mawsili”. Ultimately, Al-Rumi retained only the geographical attributions – such as “Al-Farsi” – that the scholars’ descendants adopted after the establishment of Kuwait within its modern national borders.[66] This raises questions about the extent to which this new form of national history has influenced the historical narrative concerning Kuwait.

The disparity in methodological clarity between researchers focusing on Najd and Al-Zubayr, on the one hand, and those interested in Kuwait’s cultural and religious history, on the other, goes beyond mere differences in precision; it reflects a deeper divergence in historical consciousness. While writings on Najd and Al-Zubayr emerged from a deeply rooted scholarly tradition that facilitated the grounding of their work, Kuwaiti scholarship developed later, within the context of a modern state seeking a foundational narrative.

At that time, Kuwait was not a major centre of learning in the region; and even those scholars who passed through it were not attracted by its status as a centre of learning, as with Basra, Al-Zubayr, or Al-Ahsa’. Consequently, the absence of a “Kuwaiti” attribution in the manuscripts is not a shortcoming, but rather an accurate reflection of Kuwait in that era, regardless of contemporary efforts to rectify this perceived gap.[67]

With the emergence of the modern state and the crystallization of a sense of national belonging, these biographies were re-examined in search of symbolic roots. Ibn Sanad was thus incorporated into the Kuwaiti identity as a founding figure of Kuwait’s religious and intellectual culture. This attribution stemmed not from evidence he himself left behind, but from a contemporary need to construct a coherent cultural narrative. In reality, Ibn Sanad’s relationship with Kuwait resembled his connection to the people of Najd or Al-Zubayr: he passed through and influenced the local population, yet – from a scholarly standpoint – he did not belong to those communities. His impact on Basra was far more significant, as we shall see.

Uthman Ibn Sanad and the Construction of the “Founding Father” in the Kuwaiti Narrative

The debate surrounding Ibn Sanad is a prime example of how historical belonging is reconstructed through the lens of the modern national narrative. The significance of this case lies in how a figure with multifaceted origins and a complex life trajectory can be reinterpreted through that lens, transforming him into a founding father of cultural history in a manner that goes well beyond the evidence available in the primary sources.

Al-Wuqayan, for instance, while acknowledging that Ibn Sanad left no precise biography detailing the course of his life, his travels between various regions, or the duration of his stays in each, leans toward attributing Kuwaiti origins to the scholar. He supports this view based on Ibn Sanad’s presumed birth on Failaka Island (located within the borders of modern-day Kuwait) and on modern texts and oral accounts. Despite acknowledging Ibn Sanad’s travels among various centres of learning, and discussing views that tie him to other places – particularly Basra – Al-Wuqayan concludes that while Ibn Sanad held multiple epithets (such as Al-Wa’ili, Al-Failakawi or Al-Failaki, Al-Basri, and Al-Najdi), the most accurate designation is the one he chose for himself and wrote on his manuscripts: simply “ʿUthman Ibn Sanad”, without any regional attribution.[68]

Yet Al-Wuqayan continues to support his thesis of Ibn Sanad’s Kuwaiti origins, asking:

Why shouldn’t his birth in Kuwait; the fact he spent about four of his six decades there; the fact he wrote a book about one of its prominent figures, Ahmad Ibn Rizq, mentioning its ruler, Sheikh Abdullah Ibn Sabah I, and his travels with him in Khor Abdullah; his biographical sketches of Kuwaiti figures in his book Sabāʾik al-ʿAsjad (Gold Ingots); and Kuwaiti scholars’ keen interest in his works; justify attributing his origins to Kuwait, just as people from Basra, Najd, Zubayr, and Al-Ahsa’ attributed him to their respective regions?[69]

Al-Wuqayan’s question is undoubtedly valid. Why should Ibn Sanad not be recognised as having Kuwaiti origins? After all, he was born on Failaka Island – according to some sources. Yet his connection to the country is not the point of contention here. Rather, the current study explores his status as a founding figure of cultural history. A question arises here regarding how Al-Wuqayan handles Ibn Sanad’s writings in Sabāʾik al-ʿAsjad. Al-Wuqayan does not analyse what Ibn Sanad wrote about Kuwait following the departure of Ahmad Ibn Rizq, a point worth noting. Al-Wuqayan was not alone in this; in his book Al-Kuwayt wa-al-ʿUtūb (Kuwait and the ‘Utūb [tribal confederation]), Faisal Al-Wazzan discusses Ibn Sanad’s account and also omits the verses Ibn Sanad wrote about Kuwait – despite acknowledging Ibn Sanad’s view that Kuwait was of too little consequence to serve as a residence for Ibn Rizq. The reason for omitting such information may lie in that fact it conflicts with the efforts of nationalist historians to assert Ibn Sanad’s “Kuwaiti identity” in accordance with modern concepts of belonging.[70] The verses reveal material that does not easily align with the re-presentation of Ibn Sanad within the Kuwaiti national narrative. Rather, they demonstrate that his relationship with Kuwait – at this specific point in the text – is not as simple as viewing him as seamlessly integrated into the place, with Kuwait as his homeland.

In his manuscript Sabāʾik al-ʿAsjad fī Akhbār Aḥmad Najl Rizq al-Asʿad, Ibn Sanad writes:

The power of the Almighty brought him forth from a pure and virtuous womb; he hailed from the noblest lineage, in a small town, which he expanded once he settled there and took charge of its affairs; yet, by my life, he was of too great a standing to make it his abode.

His noble qualities honoured it when / he rose high within its midst.

It was exalted above other lands, yet when / he despised it, it appeared to me as mere footwear.[71]

Researchers who have contributed to constructing the Kuwaiti cultural narrative are remarkably silent on these passages by Ibn Sanad, which carry implications inconsistent with his re-representation within the Kuwaiti national narrative. The above passage suggests that his view of Kuwait was tied to the presence of Ibn Rizq there; consequently, his description of the town in this text reflects less of a fixed sense of geographical belonging and more of a connection to the presence of Ibn Rizq. While this reference alone is insufficient to definitively characterize his relationship with Kuwait, it opens up an important interpretive possibility – one overlooked by readings that have re-integrated Ibn Sanad into the Kuwaiti national narrative as a founding father of its cultural history.

For most of his sources, Al-Wuqayan relies on modern accounts linking Ibn Sanad to Kuwait. He mentions meeting individuals from the Al Sanad family in Failaka, yet lacks sufficient documentation to prove a genealogical link between them. Ibn Sanad’s cousins, who carried on the scholarly tradition, were residents of the sheikhdom of Al-Zubayr, and it was based on their accounts that Al-Wuqayan asserted that Ibn Sanad was born on Failaka and educated in Basra.[72] However, the people he met on Failaka did not belong to the same family, from Al-Zubayr; rather, they were two distinct families. Here arises a methodological issue: Al-Wuqayan conflated two divergent accounts, potentially leading the reader to believe they referred to a single family, when in reality, they were two separate ones.[73]

Another issue is Al-Wuqayan’s reliance on oral tradition to confirm Ibn Sanad’s ongoing connection to Failaka. He cites the Al Sanad family as stating that the ruler of Kuwait, Abdullah Ibn Sabah, visited the island to meet Ibn Sanad – without specifying which of the two families was involved. He also lacks adequate documentation for the information he presents regarding Ibn Sanad’s visits to his family in Failaka during his time residing in Iraq.[74]

Citing Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi (1856–1924), Al-Wuqayan notes that Ibn Sanad retained his Najdi dialect; he mentions that Ibn Sanad was of Najdi origin and often spoke in the idiom of his people, such as pronouncing the phrase mā hākadhā (not like this) in the Najdi manner: “mā jadhā”.[75] However, significant as this linguistic detail may be, it remains a partial clue and insufficient on its own to definitively establish his geographical origins. A different account appears in the writings of certain Najdi historians, who describe him as having grown up in Najd – a view that contradicts the theory, often advanced by researchers of Kuwaiti cultural history, that Ibn Sanad was raised on Failaka Island. Ibrahim Ibn Isa writes: “Muhammad Ibn Abdul Mohsen Ababtain told me that Uthman Ibn Sanad was of the Al Abu Ruba’ lineage of the Anizah tribe, and that he spent his childhood in the town of Al-Dakhla [in Najd].”[76]

Another reference comes from a different Najdi historian, who states that Ibn Sanad was born in Huraymila – also in Najd – the ancestral home of the Ruba’ families (such as Al-Sanad, Al-Mubarak, Al-Rashid, Al-Duwairij, and others belonging to this sub-clan of Anizah). This historian notes: “In the year 1250 AH, the eminent scholar Uthman Ibn Sanad – of the Wa’il lineage – passed away in Baghdad; as for his birth, it took place in [Huraymila], and he was among the most learned jurists of his time.”[77]

The evidence confirms that the claim that he was born on Failaka is not based on a contemporary source, but is a later deduction. There are two possibilities for his actual birthplace – Failaka or Najd – but no conclusive proof either way. This uncertainty regarding his geographical origins appears to have left its mark on historical memory itself; the question of his origins was only settled at a later stage, coinciding with the formation of the modern national narrative. Consequently, the claim that he hailed from Kuwait – in its modern form – rests not on decisive contemporary evidence, but rather on a retrospective reading that reinterprets his biography in a way that aligns with the needs of the new identity. This study does not seek to prove or disprove that he was born and brought up in Kuwait, but aims to highlight the methodological flaws in how researchers of cultural and religious history handle historical texts in an arbitrary manner.

This debate necessitates a revisiting of the earliest available texts, those contemporary with Ibn Sanad or shortly thereafter, not in order to construct a modern national identity, but to examine the extent to which the primary source material allows us to define him within its historical contexts. These biographical accounts and manuscripts do not establish a single, stable origin; rather, they reveal multiple spheres of identity linked to his birthplace, place of residence, scholarly education, and the environment in which he gained renown. Thus, the value of this evidence is not in establishing a definitive affiliation, but in illustrating the extent of interpretive overreach that occurs when he is recast, retrospectively, as a founding figure in the Kuwaiti national narrative.

A survey of historical sources mentioning Ibn Sanad reveals that the majority describe him as Najdi (from Najd) or Basri (from Basra), while other sources refer to him as Failakawi, Quraini, or Wa’ili. This means we must trace the evolution of these attributions across sources – from the earliest to the most recent – while excluding additions made to his manuscripts after they were printed.[78]

A manuscript entitled Fukāhat al-Sāmir wa-Qurrat al-Nāẓir (The Evening Entertainer’s Delight and the Spectator’s Joy), housed in the Ahmed Pasha Taymur Library, contains the following entry: “Uthman Ibn Sanad al-Maliki al-Basri, by his own handwriting; he passed away in Baghdad in the year 1242 AH – may God grant him the mercy of the righteous.”[79] ʾUthman Ibn Mansur (d. 1282 AH) authored a treatise entitled Al-Radd al-Dāmigh ʿalā al-Zāʿim anna Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya Zāʾigh (The Crushing Rebuttal of the One Who Claims Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was a Heretic), a response to his contemporary, Ibn Sanad. In the introduction, Ibn Mansur writes, “In response to Uthman Ibn Sanad al-Faylaki, then al-Basri”, demonstrating that this dual attribution was current within his Najdi milieu.[80]

Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn Husayn Ibn Musharraf (d. 1285 AH) also refers to Ibn Sanad as “Al-Basri”; indeed, he uses this very attribution even when satirizing him, saying:

“Al-Basri has been foul-mouthed in condemning our Shaykh/and his supporters; to hell with what the scoundrel has said.”[81]

Similarly, Abdullah Ibn Humayd (d. 1295 AH) referred to him in Al-Suḥub al-Wābila ʿalā Ḍarāʾiḥ al-Ḥanābila (Torrential Rain on the Hanbali Tombs) – within the biography of Nasir Ibn Suhaym and his teachers – as “the luminary of the age, Shaykh Uthman Ibn Sanad al-Basri al-Maliki.”[82]

It is noteworthy that Ibn Mansur described him as “Al-Faylaki Al-Basri”, just as Ibn Musharraf and Ibn Humayd did when attributing Basra origins to him. All of these figures were Najdi historians from central Arabia who were aware of Ibn Sanad’s links to Huraymila, yet they did not hesitate to describe him as “Al-Basri”. This indicates the prevalence of this descriptor in certain Najdi scholarly circles during the 13th century AH, rather than a definitive assignment of a single geographical identity in the modern sense.

As for Ibn Sanad’s Naẓm al-ʿAshmāwiyya (The Poem of the ʿAshmāwiyya), only two copies of it have been found. The first states: “This poem, entitled Al-Durra al-Thamīna fī Madhhab ʿĀlim al-Madīna (The Precious Pearl on the School of the Scholar of Medina), was composed by the one seeking God’s pardon, Uthman Ibn Sanad al-Maliki – may God pardon him; Amen.” The second source is a book of the same name, in which the author states: “Uthman Ibn Sanad Ibn Rashid Ibn Abdullah Ibn Rashid – Maliki by school of thought, Qadiri by spiritual affiliation, Failakawi by birth, and Quraini by residence; may Allah Almighty have mercy on him and on those who read it – Amen. Completed successfully in the year 1315 AH.”[83] The editor of the copy of the book found in Kuwait relied on the second manuscript, choosing the epithet “Al-Failakawi” for the cover – without referencing “Al-Basri” or “Al-Najdi.”[84]

There are also manuscripts by historians from Al-Zubayr – men of Najdi origin who were well-versed in Islamic scholarship – such as Abdullah Al-Ghamlas (d. 1354 AH) and Muhammad Al-Assafi (d. 1394 AH). Both shared the same social background as Ibn Sanad; their families had migrated from Najd for various reasons and settled in Al-Zubayr – which became part of present-day Iraq – yet they ascribed Ibn Sanad’s origins to Basra.

In his biography of Ibrahim Ibn Jadid – a scholar from Al-Zubayr – Al-Ghamlas refers to Ibn Sanad as “Al-Basri Al-Maliki”. In a footnote, Al-Ghamlas adds that others, such as Jamil Al-Shatti, linked him to the Hanbali school and to Najd.[85] He reiterated this when writing Ibn Sanad's biography, adding the “Najdi” attribution: “He is Uthman Ibn Sanad – Al-Najdi, then Al-Basri, and Al-Wa’ili by lineage.”[86] Al-Ghamlas clearly distinguishes between the labels “Kuwaiti”, “Zubayri”, “Najdi”, and “Basri”; for instance, when writing the biography of Abdul Mohsen Al-Tabtabai, he notes: “A resident of Al-Zubayr, though originally from Kuwait.” He did the same when mentioning “Abdullah Al-Faraj Al-Kuwaiti”[87], the poet, and “Hamad Al-Badr Al-Kuwaiti”,[88] among others. As for Muhammad Al-Assafi, in a manuscript entitled Tarājim al-Fuḍalā (Biographies of the Distinguished Scholars), he described Uthman Ibn Sanad as “Al-Najdi, then Al-Basri; Al-Wa’ili in (familial) lineage.”[89]

Thus, a study of Ibn Sanad’s biography – and the discussion surrounding it – reveals that the historiography of religion and culture in Kuwait was not hindered by a scarcity of documents, but rather by the way they were utilized within a narrow nationalist framework. The issue lies not in the historical material itself, but in the interpretations that transformed it into a tool for reconstructing an identity. In this sense, the veneration of the document does less to generate knowledge than to ossify it.

Conclusion

This study has argued that there lies a problem, not in the absence of evidence of scholarly or cultural life in pre-20th-century Kuwait, but in the transformation of the extant evidence into a “foundational depth”. Consequently, within the logic of the modern state, the 20th century was an era for the production of figures who can be viewed – far less ambiguously than their pre-state counterparts – as the architects of Kuwait’s cultural and religious history. This study has critiqued the extant scholarship on Kuwait’s cultural and intellectual history, specifically ​challenging certain types of writing that conflate contemporary concepts with historical contexts. It has also examined how contemporary researchers specializing in Kuwait’s cultural and religious history have engaged with sources, revealing that the so-called “founding fathers” reflect not a genuine intellectual renaissance, but rather a retrospective attempt to fill a symbolic void in the modern national memory. Historical writing thus becomes a reflection of the present rather than an objective reconstruction of the past.

The discussion above has demonstrated that Kuwait’s national history was not written as an autonomous body of historical knowledge, but as a project to construct a new identity – one that reshaped the past to align with the image of the modern state. Furthermore, the concepts of nationality and citizenship have reconfigured traditional affiliations, leading to the exclusion of various lineages and affiliations that do not fit this new, contemporary national conception.

The historian’s affiliation with the official establishment, within a context of political rentierism, has transformed historical discourse into a tool for cementing the modern state’s national narrative, rather than for scrutinizing it. Consequently, the development of historical writing cannot be achieved through the mere accumulation of documents, but by rethinking the methodology through which they are approached. History is intended to analyse and comprehend transformation, not to embellish identities or establish origins. We may therefore conclude that history which abandons self-critique devolves into a closed institutional memory, and that a document stripped of its epistemological context fails to generate knowledge, serving instead to reproduce the prevailing discourse. This study thus serves as a call to historians of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula to reconsider how local histories are written, to engage in debate regarding such methodologies, and to expand the scope of critical inquiry in their work, building on that critique to foster a scholarly community capable of advancing the field of Gulf studies more broadly, and particularly in its historical dimension.

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In English:

Alrabei, Tareq. “Bidūn Poets and Kuwaiti Literary History.” Journal of Arabian Studies 8, no. 2 (2018).

Bishara, Fahad Ahmad. “The Many Voyages of Fateh al-Khayr: Unfurling the Gulf in the Age of Oceanic History.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 52, no. 3 (June 2020).

Breuilly, John (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of The History of Nationalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Bsheer, Rosie. Archive Wars: The Politics of History in Saudi Arabia. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2020.

Chernilo, Daniel. “The Critique of Methodological Nationalism: Theory and History.” Thesis Eleven 106, no. 1 (August 2011).

Iggers, Georg G. The German Conception of History: The National Tradition of Historical Thought from Herder to the Present. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2014.

Vasilev, George. “Methodological Nationalism and the Politics of History-Writing: How Imaginary Scholarship Perpetuates the Nation.” Nations and Nationalism 25, no. 2 (June 2019).

[1] This study focuses on cultural and religious history; it does not address political or social history.

[2] See: Ali Oumlil, Al-Iṣlāḥiyya al-ʿArabiyya wa-al-Dawla wa-al-Waṭaniyya [Arab Reformism, the State, and Nationalism], 2nd ed. (Beirut/Casablanca: Al-Markaz al-Thaqāfī al-ʿArabī, 2005), pp. 90–100 (in Arabic); George Vasilev, “Methodological Nationalism and the Politics of History-Writing: How Imaginary Scholarship Perpetuates the Nation,” Nations and Nationalism 25, no. 2 (June 2019); Daniel Chernilo, “The Critique of Methodological Nationalism: Theory and History,” Thesis Eleven 106, no. 1 (August 2011); John Breuilly (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of The History of Nationalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), especially Chapters 1, 8, 20, 25, and 27.

[3] Al-Rumi’s work constitutes the only biographical writing dedicated to Kuwaiti religious scholars. There are a few books concerning educators – such as Murabbūn min Baladī (Educators from My Country) and Muḥsinūn min Baladī (Benefactors from My Country), both by Abdulmohsen Al-Kharafi – but these differ from the biographical compilations prevalent in centres of learning across the Arabian Peninsula, such as Najd Al-Zubayr, and Al-Ahsa’.

[4] Khalifa Al-Wuqayan, Al-Thaqāfa fī al-Kuwayt: Bawākīr - Ittijāhāt - Riyādāt [Culture in Kuwait: Early Beginnings, Trends, and Pioneering Efforts], 6th ed. (Kuwait: Al-Faisal Press, 2016) (in Arabic); Adnan Ibn Salem Al-Rumi (ed.), ʿUlamāʾ al-Kuwayt wa-Aʿlāmuhā khilāla Thalāthat Qurūn [Kuwait’s Scholars and Prominent Figures over Three Centuries] (Kuwait: Al-Manar Islamic Bookstore, 1999), accessed on 6/6/2026 (in Arabic) at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sJV. Although other books discuss literature, poetry, or specific scholars, no other works have addressed the subject of culture in a broader manner, or provided biographies of Kuwaiti scholars.

[5] Walid Abdallah Al-Munis (ed.), Al-Subul al-Sawiyya ilā Manāsik al-Ḥajj al-Kuwaytiyya [The Correct Paths to Kuwaiti Hajj Rituals] (Amman: Dār Arwiqat al-Fikr li-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2017) (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2t0w; Muhammad Nasser Al-Ajmi, ʿAllāmat al-Kuwayt al-Shaykh ʿAbdallāh al-Khalaf al-Diḥyān: Ḥayātuhu, Murāsalātuhu al-ʿIlmiyya wa-Āthāruhu [Kuwait’s Scholar Sheikh Abdullah Al-Khalaf Al-Dahayyan: His Life, Scholarly Correspondence, and Works] (Kuwait: Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait, 1994) (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sd3

[6] See, for example: Ahmad Ibn Abdulaziz al-Muhammad Al-Bassam, Al-Ḥayāt al-ʿIlmiyya fī Wasaṭ al-Jazīra al-ʿArabiyya fī al-Qarnayn al-Ḥādī ʿAshar wa-al-Thānī ʿAshar al-Hijriyyayn wa-Athar Daʿwat al-Shaykh Muḥammad Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb fīhā [Intellectual Life in Central Arabia during the 11th and 12th Centuries Hijri, and the Impact There of the Daʿwa of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab] (Riyadh: King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives [Darah], 2005), pp. 66–88 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2stE

[7] Local archives are those affiliated with the state and its ministries, whereas family archives are the private property of the families themselves; however, family documents are sometimes published through these official institutions. See for instance publications by the Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait, such as: Faisal Adel Al-Wazzan, Rasāʾil Usrat Būdī fī Arshīf Maktab al-Sudayrāwī (1910–1918) [Letters of the Boodai Family in the Al-Sudairawi Office Archive (1910–1918)] (Kuwait: Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait, 2022) (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2t0Q; Faisal Adel Al-Wazzan and Salah Ali Al-Fadel, Al-Mashūma wa-al-ʿUqaylāt: Tijārat al-Kuwayt al-Barriyya fī al-Qarn al-Tāsiʿ ʿAshar min khilāl Daftar Ḥisābāt Fahd al-Khālid [Al-Mashouma and Al-Uqailat: Kuwait’s Overland Trade in the 19th Century as Reflected in the Account Book of Fahad Al-Khalid] (Kuwait: Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait, 2022) (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sKf; as well as other books published regarding other families, such as Al-Hamad, Al-Saqr, and Al-Abd Al-Jalil. See: Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait, accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBxMwsi

[8] Fahd Bishara, Baḥr min al-Duyūn [A Sea of Debt], translated into Arabic by Ahmed Yaqoub Al-Mazmi (Fujairah: Dar AlMuheet, 2023), introduction (while the work was originally in English, this study cites from the Arabic version); Fahad Ahmad Bishara, “The Many Voyages of Fateh al-Khayr: Unfurling the Gulf in the Age of Oceanic History,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 52, no. 3 (June 2020), pp. 397–412.

[9] Maimouna Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah, “Al-Istiqlāl: Ẓāhira Siyāsiyya Hāmma fī Tārīkh al-Kuwayt al-Ḥadīth” [Independence: A Significant Political Phenomenon in the Modern History of Kuwait], Majallat Dirāsāt al-Khalīj wa-al-Jazīra al-ʿArabiyya [Journal of the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies] 17, no. 16 (1992) (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sdn; Hamad Muhammad Al-Qahtani, “Juhūd al-Shaykh Mubārak Ibn Ṣabāḥ fī Muqāwamat al-Aṭmāʿ al-ʿUthmāniyya fī Imārat al-Kuwayt (1313–1334H/1896–1915)” [The Efforts of Sheikh Mubarak Ibn Sabah in Resisting Ottoman Ambitions in the Emirate of Kuwait (1313–1334 AH / 1896–1915 CE)], Al-Majalla al-ʿArabiyya li-al-ʿUlūm al-Insāniyya [Arab Journal for the Humanities] 30, no. 119 (Summer 2012) (in Arabic), available at: https://acr.ps/hBy2stY

[10] Muhammad Habida, Al-Madāris al-Tārīkhiyya: Barlīn – al-Sūrbūn – Istrāsbūrgh min al-Manhaj ilā al-Tanāhuj [Historical Schools: Berlin – Sorbonne – Strasbourg: From Methodology to Methodological Interaction] (Rabat: Dār Al-Amān, 2018), p. 49 (in Arabic).

[11] Al-Wuqayan, Al-Thaqāfa fī al-Kuwayt.

[12] Sebti is cited in: Khaled Tahtah, Al-Isṭūghrāfiyā [Historiography] (Cairo: Dār Ruʾya li-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2020), p. 52 (in Arabic).

[13] Habida, Al-Madāris al-Tārīkhiyya, p. 42.

[14] Wajih Kawtharani, Tārīkh al-Taʾrīkh: Ittijāhāt - Madāris - Manāhij [The History of Historiography: Trends, Schools, and Methodologies], 2nd ed. (Doha/Beirut: Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, 2013), p. 177 (in Arabic); Georg G. Iggers, The German Conception of History: The National Tradition of Historical Thought from Herder to the Present (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2014).

[15] Tareq Alrabei, “Bidūn Poets and Kuwaiti Literary History,” Journal of Arabian Studies 8, no. 2 (2018): p. 197.

[16] Ibid., p. 198.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid., p. 206.

[19] See: Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait. https://www.crsk.edu.kw/

[20] Al-Hatim identifies the first copyist as Uthman Ibn Suray al-Qana’i, who transcribed Al-Taysīr ʿalā Madhhab al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī (A Facilitator on the Shafi‘i School of Jurisprudence) in 1213 AH. See: Abdullah Khalid al-Hatim, Min Hunā Badaʾat al-Kuwayt (From Here Began Kuwait), 2nd ed. (Kuwait: n.p., 1980), pp. 60–61 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2t1a. There were other copyists, such as Musay‘id Ibn Ahmad – who transcribed Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (The Well-Trodden Path) in 1094 AH – though his lineage is also a subject of dispute; some, such as Al-Waqayan in Al-Thaqāfa fī al-Kuwayt, and also Khalid Muhammad Salim, say he is from the Al-Awazim tribe. It should be noted that little is known about the man; while members and historians of the Al-Awazim tribe tie him to the tribe, and specifically the Al-Buraykat sub-clan, the Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait, in its critical edition of Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, opted instead to use only the name appearing on the manuscript. See: Khaled Salem, “Aʿlām fī Jazīrat Faylakā, al-Shaykh Musaʿīd Ibn Aḥmad Ibn Musāʿid, Aqdam Nussākh al-Makhṭūṭāt fī al-Kuwayt [Prominent Figures of Failaka Island: Sheikh Musay’id Ibn Ahmed Ibn Musa’id, the Oldest Manuscript Copyist in Kuwait], Majallat al-Bayān [Al-Bayan Magazine] 521 (2013) (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBxMvBP. See also: Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait.

[21] For more on the trade of the warrāqīn, see Khairallah Sa’id, Mawsūʿat al-Warrāqa wa-al-Warrāqīn fī al-Ḥaḍāra al-ʿArabiyya al-Islāmiyya [Encyclopedia of the Paper Trade and Paper Merchants in Arab-Islamic Civilization] (Beirut: Arab Diffusion Company, 2011), Vol. 2, p. 258 (in Arabic), available at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sdH

[22] Ibid., pp. 258–260.

[23] Mahmud Maqdish, Nuzhat al-Anẓār fī ʿAjāʾib al-Tawārīkh wa-al-Akhbār [A Promenade for the Eyes: On the Wonders of History and Chronicles], eds. ‘Ali al-Zuwari and Muhammad Mahfuz (Beirut: Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī, 1988), p. 10 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBxMvPq

[24] Shams al-Din Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Rahman Al-Sakhawi, Al-Iʿlān bi-al-Tawbīkh li-man Dhamma al-Tārīkh [The Declaration of Reprimand for Those Who Disparage History], ed. Salem Al-Dhafiri (Riyadh: Dar Al-Somaie for Publishing and Distribution, 2017), p. 460 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sui

[25] Muhammad Kurd ‘Ali, Ṣudūr al-Mashāriqa wa-al-Maghāriba: Jūl Sīmūn (1814–1896) [Prominent Figures of the East and West: Jules Simon (1814–1896)], Al-Muqtabas 1, no. 9 (September 1906) (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBxMw31

[26] Muhammad Hasan Hito, “Al-Ijtihād wa-Anwāʿ al-Mujtahidīn” [Ijtihad and the Types of Mujtahids], Majallat al-Sharīʿa wa-al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyya [Journal of Sharia and Islamic Studies] 2, no. 4 (1985), p. 226 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sKT. The author acknowledges that there are differences among the schools of jurisprudence regarding this classification; however, the aim of the current study is not to discuss these categorizations in detail, but rather to utilize them to distinguish between the mere presence of individuals engaged in the judiciary, education, or manuscript copying, and the existence of a stable centre of learning characterized by advanced levels of scholarship, the issuance of legal rulings, teaching, and authorship.

[27] Abdul-Razzaq Al-Sanea and Abdul-Aziz Al-Ali, Imārat al-Zubayr bayna Hijratayn bayna Sanatay 979–1342 li-al-Hijra [The Emirate of Al-Zubayr Between Two Migrations (979–1342 AH)] (Kuwait: [n.p.], 1988), Vol. 3, p. 39 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2se1. Al-Bassam has emphasized the stature of these schools, adding that Al-Zubayr was known as Al-Shām al-Ṣaghīra (“the Little Levant”) due to the large number of students and the availability of financial support for them there. See: Abdullah Ibn Abdulrahman Ibn Salih Al Bassam, ʿUlamāʾ Najd khilāla Thamāniyat Qurūn [Scholars of Najd Over Eight Centuries], 2nd ed. (Riyadh: Dār al-ʿĀṣima li-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 1419 AH), Vol. 1, pp. 389–390 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2t1u.

[28] On producing narratives and archives, see Rosie Bsheer, Archive Wars: The Politics of History in Saudi Arabia (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2020).

[29] Al-Sanea and Al-Ali, Imārat al-Zubayr, Vol. 3, p.51.

[30] Al-Munis, Al-Subul al-Sawiyya.

[31] Ibid., p.10.

[32] Faris Abdul Rahman Abdul Wahab Al-Faris, ʿUlamāʾ Usrat Āl Fāris fī al-Kuwayt [Scholars of the Al-Faris Family in Kuwait], 2nd ed. (Kuwait: n.p., 2018), pp. 91–95 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2suC

[33] Al-Munis, Al-Subul al-Sawiyya, p.17.

[34] It is worth noting here that, within the hierarchy of Islamic legal scholarship, this particular manual on pilgrimage rites is not considered a seminal text, nor does it hold significant scholarly weight; rather, it is a compilation of supplications and narrations designed to assist the pilgrim in performing the rites in accordance with the relevant school of jurisprudence. There was, in fact, an earlier manual – ʿUddat al-Nāsik li-Adāʾ al-Manāsik (The Pilgrim’s Toolkit for Performing the Rites) – by Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Adasani, a judge in Kuwait. This work is not included in the present study because the editor omitted the epithet “Al-Kuwaitī” (the Kuwaiti), citing him merely as a “Judge of Kuwait”, despite the existence of manuscript copies that support the attribution of such a title. The editor did, however, note that he was alive in 1240 AH (1824 CE), a fact that is historically accurate. See: Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Al-Adsani, ʿUddat al-Nāsik li-Adāʾ al-Manāsik [The Worshipper’s Guide to Performing Rituals], ed. Aisha Al-Adsani (Kuwait: n.p., 2016), p.115 (in Arabic).

[35] Uthman Ibn Sanad Al-Failakawi Al-Kuwaiti, Sharḥ Anfās al-Saḥar fī Aqsām al-Ḥadīth wa-al-Athar [An Explanation of The Breaths of Dawn regarding the Categories of Hadith and Athar [brief reports from early Islam], ed. Riyadh Mansi Al-Issa, Majallat al-Waʿy al-Islāmī  [The Journal of Islamic Consciousness] 128 (2016): pp.10–11 (in Arabic), available at: https://acr.ps/hBy2t1O

[36] Imad Al-Atiqi, Tārīkh al-Qaḍāʾ wa-al-Quḍāt fī al-Kuwayt [History of the Judiciary and Judges in Kuwait] (Kuwait: Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait, 2022), pp. 11–22 (in Arabic).

[37] Al-Rumi, ʿUlamāʾ al-Kuwayt, p.18.

[38] Ibid., p.155 and onwards; Al-Atiqi, Tārīkh al-Qaḍāʾ, p.37; Al-Ajmi, ʿAllāmat al-Kuwayt al-Shaykh, p. 28.

[39] Al-Rumi, ʿUlamāʾ al-Kuwayt, p. 461.

[40] Al-Atiqi, Tārīkh al-Qaḍāʾ, pp. 45–47.

[41] Yusuf Ibn ‘Isa Al-Qana’i, Ṣafaḥāt min Tārīkh al-Kuwayt [Pages from the History of Kuwait] (Cairo: Dār Saʿd Miṣr, 1946), p. 37 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sel

[42] Al-Faris, ʿUlamāʾ Usrat Āl Fāris, p. 42 onwards. He sometimes describes himself in his manuscripts as “born in Najd, residing in Kuwait, or as “Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Faris,” but he does not describe himself as Kuwaiti.

[43] Al-Rumi, ʿUlamāʾ al-Kuwayt, pp. 236–237.

[44] Abdulaziz Al-Rashid, Tārīkh al-Kuwayt [The History of Kuwait], revised edition with footnotes by Yaqoub Abdulaziz Al-Rashid (Beirut: Manshūrāt Maktabat Dār al-Ḥayāt, 1978), p. 369 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2suW. These phrases have appeared in all editions of the book since 1926. For further details regarding comparisons between editions of Al-Rashid’s book, see: Abdulrahman Alebrahim, Lā Yuktab al-Tārīkh Marratan Wāḥidatan: Qirāʾāt Naqdiyya fī al-Tārīkh al-Kuwaytī wa-al-Khalījī [History Is Not Written Once: Critical Readings in Kuwaiti and Gulf History] (Kuwait: Takween Publications, 2022), p. 118 (in Arabic); Badr Abdullah Hamad Al-Zuwair, Dhikrā Murūr Miʾat ʿĀm ʿalā Taʾsīs al-Madrasa al-Mubārakiyya [Commemorating the Centenary of the Founding of Al-Mubarakiya School] (Kuwait: n.p., 2011), p. 53 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sLx

[45] Al-Rashid, Tārīkh al-Kuwayt, p. 342.

[46] Yusuf Ibn Isa Al-Qana’i, Ṣafaḥāt min Tārīkh al-Kuwayt [Pages from the History of Kuwait] (Cairo: Dār Saʿd Miṣr, 1946), pp. 31–32 (in Arabic).

[47] Ibid., pp. 37–38.

[48] Al-Wuqayan, Al-Qaḍiyya al-ʿArabiyya fī al-Shiʿr al-Kuwaytī [The Arab Cause in Kuwaiti Poetry] (Kuwait: n.p., 1977), p. 11–12 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBxMwgC. In the second edition of the book, published in 2012, such analytical phrases were removed; the author was unable to determine whether there were other editions available for comparison.

[49] Al-Wuqayan, Al-Thaqāfa fī al-Kuwayt, p. 33.

[50] Al-Wuqayan, “Khalīfa al-Waqyān Yuqaddim Qirāʾa Naqdiyya li-Kitāb 'Lā Yuktab al-Tārīkh Marratan Wāḥidatan' li-ʿAbd al-Raḥmān alebrāhīm," [Khalifa Al-Wuqayan Offers a Critical Reading of Abdulrahman Alebrahim’s Book ‘History Is Not Written Once’], Al-Jarīda, 11/3/2025 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBxMwud

[51] Al-Wuqayan did not provide a footnote or a separate source for this statement; given the book’s context, it is most likely his own opinion. See: Al-Wuqayan, Al-Qaḍiyya al-ʿArabiyya fī al-Shiʿr al-Kuwaytī, p. 22. This text was removed from the 2012 edition and replaced with a passage refuting the notion of backwardness: “Intellectual life in Kuwait was not backward when Al-Tabataba’i moved there, nor is there any basis for claiming that people previously lacked a clear understanding of traditional religious and linguistic knowledge; the manuscripts copied by Kuwaiti scholars – some dating back to 1682 and later – refute this view.” He then mentions the death of Muhammad Ibn Fayrouz in Kuwait in 1722. See: Al Wuqayan, Al-Qadiyya al-‘Arabiyya, 2012 edition, p. 34 (in Arabic).

[52] Al-Rumi, ʿUlamāʾ al-Kuwayt, p. 22.

[53] Ibid., p. 346.

[54] Abdallah Al-Nuri, Qiṣṣat al-Taʿlīm fī al-Kuwayt fī Niṣf Qarn 1300–1360H [The Story of Education in Kuwait over Half a Century (1300–1360 AH)] (Kuwait: That Al Salasil, n.d.) (in Arabic), p. 19.

[55] On the critique of Al-Qana ʿi and Rashid’s sources on the history of Kuwait, see: Abdullah Al-Hajri, “Dirāsa Naqdiyya fī Manhajiyyat wa-Maḍmūn al-Naṣṣ al-Tārīkhī li-Kitāb Tārīkh al-Kuwayt li-Muʾallifihi ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Rashīd” [A Critical Study of the Methodology and Content of the Historical Text in ‘History of Kuwait’ by Abdulaziz Al-Rashid” Ḥawliyyāt al-Ādāb wa-al-ʿUlūm al-Ijtimāʿiyya [Annals of Arts and Social Sciences] 35, no. 412 (September 2014) (in Arabic), accessed 6/6/2024 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2t28; Ahmad Najib Al-Qana’i, Dirāsa Naqdiyya fī Kitāb (Ṣafaḥāt min Tārīkh al-Kuwayt) li-al-Shaykh Yūsuf Ibn ʿĪsā al-Qināʿī (1946) [A Critical Study of the Book ‘Pages from the History of Kuwait’ by Sheikh Yusuf Ibn Isa al-Qana’i (1946 CE)], Al-Majalla al-ʿArabiyya li-al-ʿUlūm al-Insāniyya, [Arab Journal for the Humanities] 41, no. 161 (Winter 2023), pp. 71–112 and Abdulrahman Alebrahim, Lā Yuktab al-Tārīkh p83 (in Arabic).

[56] Undoubtedly, over the course of the 20th century – particularly once the modern state had started to form, and then after its formal establishment in the 1960s – Kuwait played a pioneering role in the dissemination of culture. It evolved into a genuine cultural hub through significant contributions such as Al-ʿArabī (The Arab) magazine, the ʿĀlam al-Maʿrifa (World of Knowledge) series, and other initiatives that exerted cultural influence across the Arab world, extending well beyond the local region. However, these contributions fall outside the scope of this study.

[57] Alebrahim, Lā Yuktab al-Tārīkh Marratan Wāḥidatan, p. 336.

[58] Al-Bassam, ʿUlamāʾ Najd khilāla Thamāniyat Qurūn [Scholars of Najd Over Eight Centuries], Vol. 1, p. 21.

[59] Ibid., p. 27.

[60] Al-Sanea and Al-Ali, Imārat al-Zubayr, Vol. 3, pp. 3–4.

[61] Saud Ibn Abdulaziz Al-Rabi‘ah, Al-Ḥaraka al-ʿIlmiyya bayna Najd wa-al-Zubayr khilāla Thalāthat Qurūn: Quḍātuhā - ʿUlamāʾuhā – Shuyūkhuhā [The Scholarly Movement between Najd and Al-Zubayr over Three Centuries: Its Judges, Scholars, and Sheikhs] (Beirut: Arab Encyclopedia House, 2011) (in Arabic), available at: https://acr.ps/hBy2seF

[62] For more on this idea, see: Alebrahim, Lā Yuktab al-Tārīkh Marratan Wāḥidatan, p. 336.

[63] Al-Wuqayan, Al-Thaqāfa fī al-Kuwayt, pp. 9–10.

[64] Al-Rumi, ʿUlamāʾ al-Kuwayt, p. 342.

[65] Ibid., p. 135.

[66] Ibid., pp. 231, 309, 603. The family is still known as Al-Farsi today.

[67] While this study was under review, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah in Kuwait organized a lecture on 20 October 2025 entitled “Intellectual Life in Kuwait During the 18th and 19th Centuries”, which marked a significant step in bringing to light archives and documents pertaining to this subject. While the lecture was important, it did not definitively establish that Kuwait was a centre of scholarship; however, the speaker highlighted numerous books, copies, and manuscripts that undoubtedly served to stimulate discussion on the topic. See: Yahya Abdullah Muhammad Al-Kandari, “Al-Ḥayāt al-ʿIlmiyya fī al-Kuwayt Ibbāna al-Qarnayn (12–13H/18–19M)” [Intellectual Life in Kuwait During the 12th–13th Centuries AH (18th–19th Centuries CE)], Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (in Arabic), YouTube, accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBxMvDK

[68] Al-Wuqayan, Al-Thaqāfa fī al-Kuwayt, pp. 320–334.

[69] Al-Wuqayan, “Khalīfa al-Waqyān Yuqaddim Qirāʾa Naqdiyya li-Kitāb 'Lā Yuktab al-Tārīkh Marratan Wāḥidatan'.”

[70] Faisal Al-Wazzan, Al-Kuwayt wa-al-ʿUtūb fī al-Wathāʾiq wa-al-Riwāyāt al-Shafahiyya wa-al-Kitābāt al-ʿArabiyya wa-al-Ajnabiyya 1563–1814 [Kuwait and the ʿUtūb: In Documents, Oral Narratives, and Arabic and Foreign Writings (1563–1814)] (Kuwait: n.p., 2018), p. 97, footnote 67, p. 98 (in Arabic).

[71] Uthman Ibn Sanad Al-Basri, Sabāʾik al-ʿAsjad fī Akhbār Aḥmad Najl Rizq al-Asʿad [Gold Ingots: Chronicles of Ahmad, Son of Rizq al-As’ad], ed. Hassan Ibn Muhammad Al Thani (Doha: Hassan Ibn Muhammed Center for Historical Studies, 2007), p. 126 (in Arabic), accessed 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2svg. The editor notes that the final word of the passage in the printed edition is tiʿālā, which is a corruption: the correct reading is niʿālā (footwear). I consulted the manuscript held at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (catalogued as A-1302) and verified that the text in the printed edition matches the manuscript.

[72] Al-Wuqayan, Al-Thaqāfa fī al-Kuwayt, pp. 324–325.

[73] See Al-Wuqayan’s observations (ibid., pp. 323–325). However, there is no consensus that the two families share the same lineage, and there is a significant rift between them. See for example the discussion of “Uthman Ibn Sanad Al-Failakawi,” Muntadā Tārīkh al-Kuwayt [the Kuwaiti History Forum], 20/2/2008 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBxMvRl

[74] Al-Wuqayan, Al-Thaqāfa fī al-Kuwayt, pp. 323, 331. When Al-Wuqayan sought to establish that Ibn Sanad was Kuwaiti, he cited his own contemporaries, such as Al-Rumi, Khalid Salem, and others, yet was unable to substantiate the continuity of Ibn Sanad’s connection to Kuwait using earlier sources.

[75] Ibid., p. 324, footnote 1.

[76] Ahmad Ibn Abdulaziz al-Muhammad Al-Bassam, Tārīkh Ibn ʿĪsā li-al-Shaykh Ibrāhīm Ibn Ṣāliḥ Ibn ʿĪsā [The History of Ibn ‘Isa by Shaykh Ibrahim Ibn Salih Ibn ‘Isa] (Riyadh: Al-Nāshir al-Mutamayyiz li-al-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ,2019), Vol. 3, p. 52 (in Arabic).

[77] Salih Ibn Uthman Ibn Hamad al-Qadi, Tārīkh Najd wa-Ḥawādithuhā [The History of Najd and Its Events]. 2 vols. (Al-Qassim: n.p., 1412 AH), Vol. 1 p. 56 (in Arabic). It is worth noting that there is a dispute regarding the date of Ibn Sanad’s death; however, Al-Qadi is cited here because he mentions that Ibn Sanad was born in Huraymila, not in Kuwait.

[78] I will not discuss here the claims that Ibn Sanad was from Najd, as most of those who described him as “Najdi” were Arabs, and I have sought to cite figures who share similar geographical affiliations with the Najd region. For further information regarding his connection to Najd, see: Muhammad Ibn Uthman Ibn Salih Ibn Uthman Al-Qadi, Rawḍat al-Nāẓirīn ʿan Maʾāthir ʿUlamāʾ Najd wa-Ḥawādith al-Sinīn [The Garden of Observers: On the Legacies of the Scholars of Najd and the Events of the Years], 2nd ed. (Cairo: Maṭbaʿat Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī, 1983) (in Arabic), available at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sLR; Mahmud Shukri Al-Alusi, Al-Misk al-Adhfar fī Nashr Mazāyā al-Qarnayn al-Thānī ʿAshar wa-al-Thālith ʿAshar [The Fragrant Musk: Disseminating the Merits of the 12th and 13th Centuries], ed. Abdullah al-Juburi (Beirut: Arab Encyclopedia House, 2007), p. 340 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2t2s. There are also sources that tie him to the Hanbali school, describing him as “Najdi” and subsequently as “Basri”. See: Muhammad Jamil Ibn Umar al-Baghdadi Ibn Shatti, Mukhtaṣar Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila [Abridgment of the Biographies of Hanbali Scholars], ed. Jamil Effendi al-Shatti (Damascus: Maṭbaʿat al-Taraqqī, 1921), p.149 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2seZ. Furthermore, I found a printed book entitled Aṣfā al-Mawārid [The Clearest Resources] in the library of Nasser Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, in which Uthman describes himself as “Al-Wa'ili Al-Najdi, resident of Basra Al-Fayha”. Adjacent to the title appears the seal of Nasser Al-Sabah, reading: “Property of the one hoping for his Master’s grace: Nasser Ibn Mubarak Al-Sabah.”

[79] Uthman Ibn Sanad Al-Basri Fukāhatal-Sāmir wa-Qurrat al-Nāẓir [The Evening Entertainer’s Delight and the Spectator’s Joy], Ahmed Pasha Taymour Collection, Manuscript No. 457 (Microfilm) (in Arabic), p. 1.

[80] Uthman Ibn Mansur, Al-Radd al-Dāmigh ʿalā al-Zāʿim anna Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya Zāʾigh [The Crushing Rebuttal to the Allegation that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah Deviated], ed. Sulaiman al-Kharashi (Riyadh: Dar Al Tadmuriyyah Publishing and Distribution, 2004), p. 91 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sMb

[81] Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn Husayn Musharraf, Dīwān Ibn Musharraf [The Compendium of Ibn Musharraf], 4th ed. (Al-Ahsa: Al-Falah Book Shop LLC, n.d.), p. 51 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2t2M

[82] Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Humayd, Al-Suḥub al-Wābila ʿalā Ḍarāʾiḥ al-Ḥanābila [The Heavy Rainclouds over the Tombs of the Hanbalis], Manuscript No. 1287, Riyadh University, p. 284; Manuscript No. 4951, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, handwritten by Mohammad al-Assafi (in Arabic), p.573. See also: Muhammad Ibn ‘Abd Allah Ibn Humayd Al-Najdi (later Al-Makki), Al-Suḥub al-Wābila ʿalā Ḍarāʾiḥ al-Ḥanābila [Heavy Rainclouds over the Tombs of the Hanbalis], eds. Bakr Abdallah Abu Zayd and Abd al-Rahman Ibn Sulayman al-Uthaymin (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, n.d.), p. 1146 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sfj

[83] No biographical account of the copyist is known to exist. See: Uthman Ibn Sanad Al-Failakawi Al-Kuwaiti, Al-Durra al-Thamīna fī Madhhab ʿĀlim al-Madīna (Naẓm al-ʿAshmāwiyya) [The Precious Pearl on the School of the Scholar of Medina (A Versification of the al-ʿAshmāwiyya Text)], ed. Abdul Rahman Rashid Al-Haqqan (n.p.: n.p., 2004), pp.14–15 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2svU

[84] Here, “Al-Qurain” refers to Kuwait, although there are other places bearing the same name, such as Al-Ahsa’. See: Hashim Muhammad Al-Shakhs, Aʿlām Hajar min al-Māḍīn wa-al-Muʿāṣirīn [Prominent Figures of Hajar: Past and Present], 2nd ed. (Beirut: Muʾassasat Umm al-Qurā li-al-Taḥqīq wa-al-Nashr, 1416 AH), p. 373 (in Arabic), accessed on 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sMv

[85] Abdullah Ibn Ibrahim Al-Ghamlas, Al-Iʿlām fī Aʿyān Balad al-Zubayr Ibn al-ʿAwwām [Biographical Notices of Prominent Figures from the Town of Al-Zubayr Ibn al-Awwam], ed. Al-Babtain Central Library for Arabic Poetry (Kuwait: Al-Babtain Central Library for Arabic Poetry, 2019), p. 51 (in Arabic), accessed 6/6/2026 at: https://acr.ps/hBy2t36

[86] Ibid., p. 105.

[87] Ibid., p. 188.

[88] Ibid., p. 63.

[89] Muhammad Al-Assafi, Tarājim al-Fuḍalāʾ [Biographies of Distinguished Scholars], Manuscript No. 9164, Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh. In the handwriting of Muhammad Al-Assafi (in Arabic), p.33.