On April 30th, Ministry of culture organized a musical concert at Sheikh Ibrahim Cultural center which is located directly opposite to Bin-Nasr Mosque, in the city of Muharraq.
A Number of social activists called for a sit-in in front of the center to express their objection against this concert, which is regarded by them as a clear offence towards the sacredness of the mosque by the Minister of Culture.
On this night, Ministry of Interior Affairs circled the whole neighborhood, sieged the mosque and closed one of its two doors, which forced many people either to arrive lately to the prayer or completely skipping it. No doubt this is a clear violation of Article (22) of the Bahraini constitution, which guarantees the freedom of worship and sacredness of worship places.
To add salt to the injury, Directorate of Sunni Waqf (The governing body of Sunni Mosques & Worship Places), refused to give the green light to a lecture to be held in Bin-Nasr Mosque on this night, “Sunni Waqf” also threatened the Imam of the mosque and warned him that they’ll hold him accountable if he didn’t obey these instructions. Furthermore they issued an order which is unprecedented in any Muslim country, that the Imam must close the doors of the mosque instantly after finishing the prayer, without giving the prayers any time to perform the post-prayer rituals!!
Subsequently, The Sunni Waqf suspended the Imam of Bin-Nasr mosque without any clear excuse or a notification of the infringement he did, which marked a managerial crisis which the country is suffering from, as everyone who is taking charge of a minister or a directorate is acting by his personal motives, and abandoning the formal rules and the administrative regulations in Punishment their employees. It seems like the decision of Punishment the aforementioned Imam depends only on the personal motives of a manager, instead of depending on the laws and regulations.
Such a decision is illegal, because it was not based on a legal text or an administrative regulation, and it was done as an abuse towards a nation which is well-known for its honor and dignity. The Imam could now report the Sunni Waqf to the administrative court.
This incident is reflecting the dire situation of the Sunni Sect in Bahrain, as the government is applying its pressure against Sunni people to prevent them from performing their religious rituals freely, Which makes the government contradicting itself in issues related to religious freedom, as it cannot close the doors of a Church or a Shiite Mosque during their rituals, while cracking down Sunnis from performing their rituals.
The Ministry of Justice & Islamic Affairs cannot suspend a Shiite Imam who is fueling his followers to attack others brutally and to make a coup d’état, while suspending a Sunni Imam without giving an excuse for such a decision!
If the government continued with its policy in preferring the Shiite Sect and completely ignoring and cracking-down the Sunni Sect, It will make it lose its credibility in front of the global society as a country which treats its citizens evenly and without a Sectrian discrimination.
