Sheikh Issa Qassim slams regime for religious oppression

An outspoken advocate for inter-faith tolerance and religious freedom, Sheikh Qassim has always condemned Al Khalifa royals’ bias against Bahrain Shias, calling on the government to end its senseless crusade against its own citizens.

Keen to speak the truth, the cleric declared on Friday that the regime’s decision in Late January to dissolve the Islamic Scholars Council was unlawful.

The court ruling came against the backdrop of a lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, against the Islamic Scholars Council in September 2013. At the time, the ministry petitioned for "the liquidation of the council's assets and the closure of its headquarters considering it is an illegal organization that was established in violation of the provisions of the constitution and the law." The lawsuit further accused the members of the council of "exploiting it to conduct political activities under the cover of religious sectarianism."

The council was founded in 2004 under the leadership of the prominent Bahraini Shiite religious scholar Issa Qassim, the most revered of Shiite clerics in Bahrain.

Sheikh Qassim’s comments came after Sayed Majeed Mesha’al announced last week that a petition of 282 Bahraini religious figures to Ban Ki Moon, concerning the dissolution of the Islamic Council of Scholars. Mesha’al is the president of the Council.

Speaking during a side event at the 26th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mesha’al said the decision to dissolve the Council has removed the right of thousands of Bahrainis access to Shia teachings. This is despite Shi’ites making up the majority of the Bahraini population. He announced that he led a delegation to the Geneva Office of the UN Secretary-General to deliver the petition that urges Ban Ki Moon to call on Bahrain to reverse the decision to dissolve the Council. Signatories include Sheikh Issa Qassim and Sayed Abdullah Al-Ghuraifi, both senior Shia Bahraini clerics.

In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Qassim reiterated that al Khalifa’s attempt to attack Shia Islam will fail as its people will continue to oppose tyranny as they did for centuries, guided by their faith and the conviction of their beliefs.