Hawzah News Agency- Rashid bin Abdullah, the minister of detentions and prisons (interior minister), has once again decided to intensify his actions against imprisoned clerics who were sent behind bars on false charges and through injustice. His ready pretext is the “war on Wilayat al-Faqih” (Guardianship of the Jurist). In his latest remarks, the minister said: “Representatives of the Vali-e Faqih tried to dominate the Shia community in Bahrain and to infiltrate state institutions and the legislature.”
Instead of seeking a way out of the crisis or resolving the complexities in Bahrain—which began with the war against Iran and the Bahraini regime’s complicity in it—Rashid bin Abdullah is appearing with explosive and divisive policies that the government appears intent on pursuing to the end. The relentless battle against imprisoned scholars and clerics shows no sign of moving toward a settlement, as the regime insists on its actions against them and continues its oppressive policies despite all criticism rejecting any legal or security justification for these arrests.
Some believe that Rashid bin Abdullah’s recent remarks are a very negative sign and predict that, with the possibility of extremely heavy sentences being issued, the case of the imprisoned clerics will face a dangerous development. The issue is now clear: a vengeful war against authentic religious beliefs in the country. Criminalizing Shia Islamic and religious activities has become the main concern of this ministry—a ministry whose decisions are made under the direction of the country’s absolute ruler.
The minister of detentions and prisons wants to send his repeated message that the government is unable to rewrite: creating terror in society and frightening people in order to distance them from their beliefs and convictions, and perhaps even trying to distance them from the doctrine [of Wilayat al-Faqih], to the point where the name “Wilayat al-Faqih” is no longer heard in any gathering, religious lesson, mosque, mourning ceremony, or even in mourning and lamentation assemblies.
When we hear Rashid bin Abdullah’s words, nothing comes to mind but examples of sedition, damage to the social fabric, and the destruction of pluralism among different groups of people. Efforts are underway to institutionalize a state of separation from Shia religiosity in order to produce Shias over whose religious law, identity, and beliefs the government has complete control. But wait! What has happened after this volume of escalation, pursuit, and arrests against clerics shows the extent of resistance and non-submission of the general followers of this Shia faith—those who consider the activities and actions of the clerics a red line over which they will not negotiate under any threat, however great, based on the principle: “If we are all to be imprisoned, then imprison us all; we will not compromise on our religion and belief.”
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