Bahrain Mirror: Four of the most prominent Shia clerics in Bahrain strongly criticized the issuance of a personal status law for the followers of the Shiite sect, stressing that making such a move without the approval of the highest Shiite authority in the country is considered an attack on the sect itself.

"Issuing a family law like this will not ensure abiding by the tenets of the [Shia] sect and prevent violations, for if it were to do so, its supporters wouldn't have accepted to issue it without the approval of the sect's high religious authority," noted Sheikh Isa Ahmad Qassim, Sayed Abdullah Al-Ghoureify, Sheikh Abdulhussein Al-Sitri and Sheikh Mohammad Saleh Al-Rabie'i in a statement issued on Saturday (October 22, 2016).

This comes after the Bahraini Justice Minister Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa declared that the Jaafari (Shiite) section of the personal status law will be issued soon and in a separate manner. The top Shia clerics in Bahrain demand that the said law be issued with the approval of the Shiite high religious authority in the country, yet the authorities refuse to do so.

The signatories of the aforementioned statement highlighted that the followers of a certain religious sect cannot have their marriage, divorce, family, inheritance affairs be governed by rules and regulations that would violate their sect's laws, adding that they cannot accept submitting to a law that might allow the tampering of their religious "family related" rights.

"Any law that might lead to such outcomes cannot be accepted by the followers of the doctrine of Ahlulbayt at all," they further stressed.

Arabic Version