Hawzah News Agency- Hojatoleslam Sheikh Adel al-Shala, a Bahraini Shia cleric, stressed in remarks that what is being witnessed today in Bahrain in terms of the systematic violations of the rights of Shia citizens is no longer limited to political or security constraints but has turned into a direct violation of religious and human sanctities.
He believes the ruling authority is advancing a policy that targets the identity of the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), their sacred values, and their religious institutions, amid an intensification of unprecedented measures against the largest demographic segment of the country — the Shia population.
Sheikh al-Shala said: "The ruling authority in Bahrain has bared its teeth with the aim of destroying and striking at the religion and teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them)."
Pointing to numerous signs of this approach, he cited foremost among them the domination of the judiciary and the severe restriction of the scope of Jafari jurisprudence, while other cases are referred to a judicial apparatus that "bears no relation whatsoever to Islam or the law."
The Bahraini cleric added that among the most glaring manifestations of this targeting is the imposition of control over the endowments of the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) and the illegal seizure of their properties and assets. Furthermore, dozens of mosques — some of whose construction predates the arrival of the ruling family in Bahrain — have been razed to the ground. Meanwhile, while Shias are banned from building mosques in their own areas, permits are issued for the construction of mosques for another sect in the heart of Shia neighborhoods, reflecting an organized and hateful sectarian policy.
Sheikh al-Shala noted that the ruling authority has gone beyond targeting religious institutions, moving to detain dozens of clerics, including jurists who are prominent figures of the sect, thus targeting the religious symbols of the Shia community.
He stressed that the ruling authority holds no regard for the largest demographic segment of this land. While it considers the head of state a "figure enjoying immunity and inviolability," it treats senior Shia scholars with insult, detention, and humiliation.
Sheikh al-Shala added that the information emerging about the torture, insult, and mistreatment of imprisoned Shia clerics, along with accusations leveled against them based on "lies and slander," serves as further evidence of the scale of violations being committed against them.
He posed the question: if this is the condition of the dignitaries and scholars of the sect, what then is the state of the ordinary, deprived citizen who is arrested, beaten, humiliated, and tortured to the brink of death? He stressed that human sanctity in Islam encompasses one's life, property, honor, dignity, and privacy, yet these sanctities are today being violated in an organized manner — whether through raids on homes, the terrorizing of families, the restriction of religious rituals, or the targeting of clerics and prisoners.
Sheikh al-Shala concluded by stating that the conduct of the ruling authority confirms that "the ruling law is the law of the jungle," where the citizen is presumed guilty before his innocence is proven, rather than being presumed innocent until proven guilty — a practice contrary to the most elementary legal and religious principles. He called for an end to these policies, respect for the dignity of citizens, and the preservation of religious and human sanctities.
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