The Jurist-Leader Qassim: Transferring the right of citizenship to the domain of sovereignty is an unconstitutional and unlawful transfer
The Jurist-Leader, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, issued a statement regarding transforming Bahraini citizenship from a rights-based matter into a sovereign matter. The text reads:
In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
In Bahrain, it has been intended to revoke the citizenship of a number of respected citizens; and because that is contrary to the Constitution and the law, it has been said that the right of citizenship should be transferred from being a rights-based matter to being one of the affairs of sovereignty, and that disposition over it is based on political interest.
And since this transfer is neither constitutional nor legal, it is an evasion of the Constitution and the law, and—before that—an evasion of the rightful (Sharia-based) right; thus, just as it originated in an illegitimate manner, it remains illegitimate, with nothing to rectify it, and it remains subject to the rightful authority of Sharia, as well as the Constitution and the law.
And the Divine Sharia admits of no alteration; and from a positive (legal) standpoint, authority belongs to the Constitution and the law derived from it, not to transient, momentary personal estimations.
Isa Ahmad Qassim
11 Dhu al-Qa‘dah 1447 AH
29 April 2026 CE
