Statement: The Khalifa Regime Declares an Open War on the Shiite Community in Bahrain
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
What took place this morning, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in the form of an arbitrary arrest campaign targeting more than thirty scholars from the Shiite sect, foremost among them: “His Eminence Allama Sheikh Mohammed Sanqoor, His Eminence Allama Sheikh Ali Al-Siddiqi, and His Eminence Allama Sheikh Mahmoud Al-Aali,” constitutes a clear and explicit declaration of war against the largest component in Bahrain.
The head of the Khalifa regime, “the dictator Hamad Al Khalifa,” has gone beyond all considerations of peaceful coexistence and launched an unjust and brutal war targeting identity, beliefs, religious rituals, and obligations.
What is happening today is merely a practical reflection of what senior scholars warned about nearly ten years ago, specifically on July 18, 2016, in a brief statement which read:
“As a fundamental and authentic component of this nation, our conviction has grown strong that we are being targeted in our existence, identity, beliefs, rituals, and religious obligations. Therefore, we demand an end to this targeting.”
Today, the Khalifa invaders have crossed every boundary in their crimes against the people of this authentic component. While we strongly condemn this heinous crime, we call upon our proud people, who are protective of their religion and dignity, to express anger and publicly denounce this systematic criminality, which targets everything Shiite: personalities, rituals, mosques, mourning halls, and religious processions. Matters have even reached the point of banning Friday prayers for eighty-three consecutive weeks up to this day.
In conclusion: this component constitutes the largest and most fundamental presence in the Islamic land of Bahrain. Its people are the deeply rooted natives whose origins extend far into history. They coexisted peacefully with the other sect and are neither outsiders nor newcomers.
As for the Khalifa invaders, they came from outside these lands as occupiers and settled as colonizers. Therefore, we affirm: the indigenous people can never be uprooted no matter how tyrannical the outsider newcomers become. Crime and persecution only make the authentic people more steadfast and deeply rooted, while bringing the Khalifa outsiders closer to their inevitable downfall. “They scheme, and Allah schemes, and Allah is the best of schemers.”
February 14 Revolution Youth Coalition
Saturday, May 9, 2026
Occupied Bahrain
