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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Bahraini Shia Arabs of Bahrain

The Bahraini Shia Arabs of Bahrain, numbering approximately 741,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous Arab ethnolinguistic community of Bahrain who speak Baharna Arabic and maintain a distinct identity shaped by Shia Islam, Gulf maritime heritage, village traditions, and deep historical roots in Eastern Arabia. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Baharna Arabic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Bahraini Shia Arab

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Bahrain
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Baharna Arabic (abv)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 741,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011297
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Pray for the Bahraini Shia Arabs of Bahrain

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

84%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Baharna Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Baharna Speakers

Media Resources in Baharna Arabic:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Baharna Arabic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Baharna Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bahraini Shia Arabs are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Bahraini Shia Arabs:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Bahraini Shia Arabs of Bahrain

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
readIsaiah 42:8

Pray that lost people will turn from worthless idols to worship the one true God, recognizing that He alone is worthy of all glory and praise.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
readPsalm 34:8

Pray that the gospel will advance and that many will have the opportunity to taste and see the goodness of God and entrust their lives to Him.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
readRomans 8:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the God who has given them freedom from fear so that they will trust Him completely as their good Father who meets all their needs.

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
readMark 1:17-18

Pray that God will raise up believers from this place and/or other cultures nearby to proclaim the gospel to those who desperately need to encounter it.

Arab, Bahraini, Shia Across Countries (ROP3 - 100772) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Bahraini Shia ArabsPG011297Bahraini Shia ArabsBahrain741,000Engaged yet UnreachedBaharna ArabicShia Islam
Bahraini Shia ArabsPG011871Bahraini Shia ArabsOman20,500Unengaged and UnreachedBaharna ArabicShia Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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