Bahraini Prisoners: Targeting the Religious Scholars Is an Attack on the Religion and the Creed of the Indigenous People
In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Allah, the Exalted, says:
“We only grant them respite so that they may increase in sin, and for them is a humiliating punishment.”
(Qur’an 3:178)
What a frail and feeble authority it is—one that has become so immersed in vice that there is scarcely any distinction between the two except in name. Whether one says “the Bahraini authorities” or “vice,” both have come to embody the same meaning.
What befell the symbols of the people and the leaders of the nation in the recent past—torture, abuse, and humiliation simply for demanding freedom for the people of Bahrain—is today being inflicted, without distinction, upon forty-one of the country’s most distinguished religious scholars. Their only “crime” is that they believe in Allah as their Lord and embrace Islam as their religion.
Meanwhile, this authority has chosen to regard the criminal United States as its deity and the man-made Abrahamic doctrine as its law.
The recent reports of the severe torture being inflicted upon these noble scholars—including having their hands bound behind their backs for twelve hours each day, their faces covered, being beaten, spat upon, their religious sanctities and beliefs insulted, and being threatened with sexual assault, in addition to other abuses that shame the conscience of humanity—place upon us a profound responsibility. The true target today is religion itself, and the objective is to alter the creed of this indigenous and deeply rooted people.
As prisoners, we declare our strongest condemnation of these crimes and reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with our revered scholars—the crown upon our heads and the pride of our nation—who have devoted themselves to serving both religion and the homeland.
We call upon all the people of Bahrain to rise in defense of these towering figures, each according to their capacity and position. Let it be understood that every member of this nation is being targeted; it is only a matter of time.
May Allah protect our scholars from all harm and frustrate the schemes of those who oppress them.
Bahraini Prisoners
Saturday, 18 July 2026
