Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Since its construction in 1983, the Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque in Diraz has been a milestone in Bahrain's modern history, as it was the most important platform for the most important religious and national discourse throughout several stages.

On June 4, 2023, the government published what could be considered a public threat to those in charge of Friday prayers in this mosque, accusing them of what it claims to be a crisis rhetoric approach and politicization of the religious platform, while threatening them "not to be complacent".

What is the story of this platform?

The Diraz Mosque platform was the stage from which Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim addressed the Bahraini people for many years, followed by great leaders such as the late Sheikh Abdulamir Al-Jamri and Sheikh Ali Salman.

It is the platform from which calls were launched in the 1990s for the restoration of the constitution, the reintroduction of parliament, the abolition of the State Security Law, calls for political and economic reform, demands for equality and rapprochement between different spectrums of the homeland, and absolute support for the cause of Palestine and Al-Quds. These are the things that the authorities hated about this platform and what made them detest every Friday prayer held in it.

Since the 1970s, calls have been led by His Eminence Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, who won a seat in the Constituent Assembly that drafted the country's first constitution, known as the 73rd Constitution, and attained membership in the first parliament after the independence.

His Eminence Sheikh Ali Salman and the late scholar Sheikh Abdulamir Al-Jamri, may God have mercy on him, also ascended this podium in the 1990s, an important stage in the history of the people of Bahrain. Both of the leaders were arrested by the regime.

This platform witnessed milestones, among which was the announcement of the decision to go and vote in favor of the National Action Charter in 2001.

This platform supported the people's rightful demands in 2011 despite all security threats, and from this platform the lie of "causing division" was refuted, as hundreds of thousands took to the streets in the famous historic March 9 demonstration to show their great numbers to the authorities, who seemed like a small group rejecting reform.

The authorities arrested Sheikh Ali Salman in the 1990s and the famous uprising erupted, and later arrested the late scholar Sheikh Al-Jamri, and then imposed a siege on His Eminence Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Ahmed Qassim for two years and then carried out a massacre in Diraz in 2017, after which five young men were martyred.

In 2016, during the siege of Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qasim's house, Friday prayers were stopped following pressure from the government, which summoned the Friday imam, scholar Sheikh Mohammad Sanqour, and pressed hard to make him back down. Prayers were suspended until May 2022, when Bahrain's scholars, without negotiating with the authorities, decided to resume Friday prayers and named their Friday Imams, so the two sheikhs, Ali Al-Sadadi and Mohammad Sanqour, took turns leading the Friday prayers.

On May 22, the authorities arrested Sheikh Mohammad Sanqour for declaring explicit stances against normalization with the Zionist occupation entity, and demanding to put an end to the issue of political prisoners. Now the government is publicly threatening those in charge of the Friday prayers at the mosque.

Several stances prove that the authorities in Bahrain are always targeting the platform of the Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque in Diraz, noting that the targeting is accompanied by misinformation and smear campaigns, such as the one carried out by the government at the moment, accusing it of repeating crisis discourse. However, no one is worsening the situation in Bahrain but the government and its security apparatuses, which are headed by the one who is benefiting the most from the crisis that has been ongoing in the island kingdom since 12 years ago.

Arabic Version