SHAFAQNA (International Shia News Association) – Ayatollah Isa Qasim, the leader of Bahrain’s majority Shi’ites, has condemned the abolition of the identity of the famous al-Khamis (Thursday) Mosque by the Al-Khalifah regime, who seek to turn it into a tourist attraction. The al-Khamis Mosque is believed to be the first mosque in Bahrain, built during the era of the Umayyad caliph Umar II. It has historically been a Shi’ite mosque.
Ayatollah Qasim, who is the leader of the Bahraini opposition party, al-Wefaq, explained that transforming the mosque from a place from a place of worship of God and the reciting of the Holy Quran into a place frequented by one who is ritually unclean or an idol worshiper is revolting.” He stated that the regime is attempting to eradicate and falsify history through their strategy to hide all Shi’ite landmarks in this country.
His Eminence explained the Al-Khalifah regime has a policy to target and weaken the people and marginalize them and erase their identity. The Bahraini regime has been implementing a policy of deportation of native Shi’ite citizens and bestowing nationality on large numbers of foreign Sunnis in order to change the demography of the largely Shi’ite Arab country. It has put restrictions on religion and has thrown thousands in prisons, excluded and denied them from political participation, silenced their voices on the media and has propagated lies and insults about their revolutionary aims. He encouraged the youth to continue their revolution against the great injustice facing them.