# Abdullah Al-Nafisi

Abdullah Fahad Al-Nafisi (in Arabic عبد الله فهد النفيسي - born 1945 in Kuwait) is a Kuwaiti politician and academic. He graduated from The University of Cambridge in 1972. He was a member of the National Assembly of Kuwait in 1985.

## Early life

Abdullah Fahad Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Nafisi was born on 1945 in Freej Soud, Jibla, Kuwait. Al-Nafisi is from the Al-Nafsiah family that originated from Mutayr tribe. In 1951, Abdullah and his brother Ghazi moved to Egypt to study in Victoria College in Alexandria. Initially, Abdullah went to study medicine in Manchester. In 1962, Abdullah read Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell, which caused him to question his faith. It caused him to leave Manchester and go back to Kuwait to learn and research more about Islam.

## Education and academia

He earned his Bachelor's degree from the American University of Beirut in 1967 and a PhD in Political Science from Churchill College at Cambridge University in Britain in 1972.
Abdullah Al-Nafisi has worked as a professor of political science and president at the College of Political Science of Kuwait University and at Al Ain University in the United Arab Emirates. He has a doctorate in political science from the University of Cambridge. Between 1973 and 1980, he was active as a visiting professor at Peking University, Moscow State University, Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford and the University of Exeter.

## Parliamentary Career

Abdullah Al-Nafisi decided to run in the 1985 Kuwaiti general election in the Eighth District. He was considered to be a candidate closely affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait. He got first place in that district with 951 votes. He was a member of majority anti-government bloc in parliament. On 23 June 1986, Abdullah Al-Nafisi and Jassim Al-Qatami decided to interrogate Minister of Oil Ali Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah regarding Santa Fe International oil exploration company. Three other interrogations were announced on the same week leading to the unconstitutional dissolution of 1985 session, ending Al-Nafisi’s career as MP on July 3, 1986.

## Works

Al-Nafisi wrote at least 17 published books and multiple articles in Al-Mugtama magazine.
His first publication was called The role of Shi’a in the modern political development of Iraq for his PhD Thesis in 1972 for Cambridge University. While he was a professor at Kuwait University, Al-Nafisi had a deep interest in the Dhofar War. It caused him to study the conflict in the battlefield documenting it in his book Conflict in Dhofar (1975).
After the unconstitutional dissolution of the 1975 National Assembly, Abdullah wrote a dissenting book about the political situation in Kuwait which was published in 1978 called Kuwait, the other opinion. The book was later banned from publication in Kuwait.
In 1980, Al-Nafisi wrote two books about Islam in politics called Islam Rule and Sharia Policy. After the founding of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1981, Al-Nafisi immediately authored a book regarding the future of institution called Gulf Cooperation Council: The Strategic Framework (1982).
Al-Nafisi authored two books in 1986 called The Islamic Movement: Gaps in the Road and The role of students in political work. He authored his autobiography called From the days of the past in 2014.