The Growth of Salafism in Kuwait

Today, Kuwait is known to be among the countries with active Salafists in the international arena. The present paper making a descriptive-analytic method deals with the expansion of Salafism in Kuwait, as well as with the growth and emergence of political thoughts among them and their becoming antagonistic to the government. The hypothesis is that this group first appeared as the supporters of the government and then they came to power with the help of Saudi Arabia. Later, following the freedom of Kuwait from the occupation of the Ba'athist regime of Iraq, the Salafists grew into the most powerful opposition in the country. In a bid to maintain its stability, at present, Kuwait's main concern is to control the active Salafist movement inside and outside of the country.  To contain the pressure by Salafist groups and create a balance, the non-despotic nature of the Kuwaiti government requires it to make use of the Salafists' opponents such as the liberals and Shia Muslims in the country.