Al-Kandari

The Al Kandari is a large clan in Kuwait, while not the same as more coherent clans or families in the region who come from a single main branch, they are made up of loosely connected families; as each Kandari family may have different grandfathers, but as all have to come to Kuwait at similar times, the clan took the name after some of the first members who came to Kuwait who were working as "Kanadra" or water carriers in Kuwait. Therefore, the Al Kandari are simply a sizable Kuwaiti clan with various sub-families; closely related to each other. They are mainly composed of Sunni Muslim Larestani ancestry.

History

They are descendants from several family heads (grandfathers).

Immigration to Kuwait

The Al-Kandari Clan was first established in Kuwait, and any Al-Kandari will usually attribute their origin to Kuwait from around the 20th century.

Notable members of the clan now include

• Abdulkarim Al-Kanderi a highly prominent member of Kuwait National Assembly, Abdulkarim was first elected in 2013.

• Mohammed Al-Kandari, a member of Kuwait National Assembly; Mohammed Al Kandari was first elected in 2008.

• Abdullah Kamel Al Kandari was repatriated to Kuwait on September 9, 2006. He faced charges in Kuwatit after he was repatriated, and was acquitted.

• Hanadi Al-Kandari is a Kuwaiti actress and presenter.

• Dr. Ali Alkandari is a history professor at Kuwait University specialing in Islamist movements, social transformations, and the contemporary history of the gulf.

• Bader Abdullah Al-Kandari was Vice Chairman of Wafra International Company and a Non-Executive Director at the Bank of London and the Middle East.

• Anas Al Kandari, a militant who died fighting United States Marines on Failaka Island; Anas Al Kandari was killed in October 2002, on Failaka Island, an island off Kuwait's coast. US Marines there on a training exercise were fired upon by Anas Al Kandari and Jassem al-Hajiri. Lance Corporal Antonio J. Sledd was killed and another Marine was injured in the incident. Jassem al-Hajiri was also killed.

• Abdullah Kamel Al Kandari and Fayiz Al Kandari, two Kuwaitis who have traveled to Afghanistan to provide humanitarian aid as is a common political and religious act in Kuwait which was encouraged by Kuwait government media as part of Kuwaits image program. The ended up being sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in part, because their names, or "known aliases" were found on a "list of 324 names".

• Fayiz Al Kandari was a Kuwait prisoner at Guantanamo Bay detention camp along with Abdullah Kamel Al-Kandari, he was travelling with Kamel to Afghanistan to provide humanitarian when the Afghan war erupted and he was held in extrajudicial detention from 2002 to 2016. In May 2015, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti Minister of Interior, and Deputy Prime Minister traveled to Washington DC to renew Kuwait's interest in release. After his release, Fayiz went on television in two long series's of interview to descripe his life in Guantanamo bay and his fellow prisoners and the US violations of their rights. the first TV interviews were recorded in a program called "a promise before the departure" in 2020, while the second was recorded by Al-Qabbas TV in 2021 under the highly proclaimed political TV program in the Arab world called "the black box" he has also published a book titled "Severe Affliction And New Birth"

Al-Kandari in other countries

Some al-Kandari members have migrated into other GCC countries, such as Bahrain and the UAE but not much is documented on such cases and its significance.

The political significance for Al-Kandari clan

The political significance for the clans comes from the number of members of the clan in Kuwait; while no official estimate is available, the parliamentary elections in Kuwait has analyst consider one or two seats in the parliament for a member of the clan, some estimates go as high as 50,000 members exist in Kuwait, but official or reliable sources do not usually publish their numbers.