Ayatollah Qassim: the Authority has declared open war on the Shia belief
A translation of the political part of the sermon delivered by Ayatollah Sheik Issa Qassim on Friday 25th April, 2014 in the Grand Imam Sadiq Mosques in Duraz, west of Manama.
Ridiculousness or wisdom:
If one tries to gain the satisfaction of another who tenaciously targets him with a temporal non-negotiable interest of his own, whilst, you don’t offer him with anything beyond it in his life, or at least equal to what he expects, then it is kind of ridiculousness to seek his satisfaction. It is actually a foolish thing that a rational-minded will not do.
Those who know that you reject oppressive violence, based on your religious beliefs, and through your impression and repeated statements- hoping that they will respond to you calls- only to find that they insist that you are inciting and calling for violence. In this case, your attempts to satisfy them, by repeatedly rejecting and condemning violence, will be clear ridiculousness and disrespect to yourself, will be kneeling to others with either fear or subservience.
If charging someone with incitement of violence is not personal, but it is aimed to end a reforming movement, and to ignite a social strife and to block the way in front of any attempt to reform to rescue a tortured homeland from its crisis and to help people to get rid of their grievances; then it will be wise to reiterate the call against violence and categorically reject it. The bad aim embedded in the other head must be blockaded from being realized, or transformed to anti-reform voices with misleading devilish traps that might catch unaware, ignorant, irritable and shallow-minded ones.
Another strong reason to this reiteration is the serious danger of violence and terrorism. As we sadly see in the Arab and Islamic world; and other places, the toll of violence and terrorism counts so many innocents who are inhumanely murdered.
We don’t want this country to transform to a place of massacres, where no respect to religion, to intellect, to human values, to the interest of the country exists. This is sadly the current case in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Nigeria and others.
Those who respect the religion, the humanity of the human-being, and love their country; will have the justification to loudly reiterate the call against the violence, to reject it, to condemn it, and to keep warning about its evil and danger.
No to explosions. No to sabotage. No to destruction. It is a steady insistence on demanding rights and reform. It is an immovable adherence to nonviolence.
But, what about the stance of the authority regarding violence perpetrated from its side?
Four evidences on ground prove its violence against peaceful protests:
First: the ongoing arrests and home raids. The extrajudicial murders, casualties, causing of serious disabilities, whether in or outside custody. An increasing pace of nonstop trials followed by harsh sentences. These cases are also considered as violence. It is a very clear evidence of State violence.
Second: issuing consecutive oppressive laws to face the peaceful movement with repression.
Third: refraining reform, and thus tightening the iron fist – if the authority refrains reform it has to resort to something else- along with disproportionate repression as a tool to support its blockage of reform and to make the people give in, because the Authority sees no other way to silence the people’s refusals to the continuous corruption and refraining of reform.
Fourth: the terror-media adopted by the authority and its silence towards the expulsion-from-Islam-Fatwas against a main sect of this people. While at the same time, it knows that no other motivation or fuel to bloody attacks and terror against the targeted sect will be stronger than these Fatwas.
These are four matters by which we can confirm that the authority practices terrorism, without justifying the use of violence, by any side, to confront the authority’s violence. We stress our refusal of violence and terrorism.
There is no doubt that if the authority continues the oppression and persecution it practices, and if an exchange of violence occurs, this will be a major destructive disaster to the people and country. On the other hand, reform can save the country, but it is in the hands of the authority. And the authority lacks the desire to reform and is strongly refraining to move towards it.
As to the popular movement, it must become stronger and stiffer and remain peaceful without a jot of violence. It is obvious that those who do not believe in violence and who are aware of the risk behind it do not think of inciting violence and terrorism and they are not looking for its tools and methods and would not bear the responsibility of such acts.
This is fair:
Suspicious explosions and talks of conspiracies are becoming a repeated occurrence. This is followed by controversy over the existence of these conspiracies and the actors behind these incidents. Thus, those who have called for investigation into these matters are being very fair and their request is most just.
If the authority is sure of the persons and plots it has mentioned to be behind these explosions, than it in its best to accept this offer because it will get a hold of evidence by the confirmation of an commission, as long as neutral sides can not be certain of its allegations. All sides will accept the conclusions set by a neutral investigation commission. If it concluded that the actors are from the people, the people’s skepticism will end. So would it do so? As long as it doesn’t, it will continue to give way for skepticism and those who exchange accusations with the authority will certainly doubt its allegations.
I salute the fathers and dears who call for nonviolence when they are suffering from the trauma of the loss of their sons and relatives. This people is strange and kind, and it is most thanked for this.
(The worshippers chant: peaceful, peaceful).
I salute the wide crowds of the opposition who have not abandoned the nonviolence approach despite the bitter events.
Persecution has overshadowed:
First: By the official statement about the deportation of Ayatollah Najati from Bahrain, and which was issued by the Interior ministry, the authority has declared a war on the Shia belief. The practice of persecution has openly moved from being against the Shiites to being against the Shai belief itself. Although it was practically declared when the authority demolished the mosques and attacked religious places, rituals and figures. This was also clear through the authority’s harassment and pursuit of worshipers.
Second: today, we are supposed to take permission from the authority to act by our religious belief and obligations and pillars. If I want to be a Shiite I have to take permission from the authority? This includes that you don’t collect Khums* if you are an agent of Khums, and don’t distribute it to its legitimate channels. And that you do not spend over a certain amount that only the authority determines. While no consideration is taken for permissions from a thousand faqihs unless the authority conceded. So legitimacy is the authority’s, not you belief’s nor your faqihs’. So you, and all the faqihs, are all in the hands of the law and your belief is zero.
Third: Out of all States in the world, Bahrain has declared an open war on the Shia belief defying the whole world. This necessitates that the UN and the security council and all rights NGOs to act sufficiently – meaning to go further than insignificant speech- in order to protect this country from the ugly and open sectarian persecution practiced by the authority. This is a crime our dear Sunni brothers put no hand in, and we are confident that they do not approve it.
Fourth: This intensive effort to uproot the Shia belief and the persecution practiced against the Shia belief reminds us of the Bani-Abbas days and their doctrine towards this people. The Muslims know that sectarian persecution practiced by authorities against any religious belief in Islam is not only religiously motivated. In fact, it is politically motivated and may be influenced by intense sectarian motivation. And this is a black and closed sectarian mood that our Sunni brothers are not responsible for.
And the result is that the unity of Muslims is broken, at least this is what is aimed at through such decisions. It then aims to build political stability on the expense of the society’s unity and rights of the people.
So we are now required to take permission from the authority to realize that we belong to the Shia belief and oblige to its rules. Submit your papers to the authority to be granted realization of your religious belief.
Our rituals require permission, preaching our belief’s rules to the followers within requires permission, this is what was declared by the decision to dissolve the Islamic Clerics Council.
Paying Zakat and Khums requires permission. Heading prayers of worshipers within your own belief requires permission. They even said our religious education abroad requires permission. Teaching our children the rules of our religious belief inside a mosque or a place of worship requires permission. Holding religious events and mourning inside a house located in (Sunni-Shiite) mixed area requires permission. All this means that if you want to remain Shiite you’ll need permission or maybe to renew your permission, else you are a criminal and you’d wait to be jailed or deported.
(The worshipers chant: We will not bow to anyone but God).
Does the authority expect from a free cleric to watch all this and remain silent, and praise it? Yet, the condemnations of this practice do not lift the problem and oppression.
What is the authority aiming at through the statement issued by the Interior ministry? Are the Shia belief followers supposed to pay their Zakat and Khums to the authority so it can spend more on building prisons and killing them and importing arms and mercenaries to repress them? Pay your Khums to us so we use it to kill you? It is strange what the authority is wishing from the followers of this belief to do. It is strange how the authority thinks they are stupid and fools.
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*In Islamic tradition, Khums (Arabic: خمس Arabic pronunciation: [xums], literally ‘Fifth’) refers to a religious obligation to contribute one-fifth of a certain type of income to charity. (Wikipedia)
