Bahrain Mirror: The news of summoning the Imam of Friday prayer at the Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque in Diraz, Sheikh Mohammad Sanqour (Monday, May 22, 2023), was not something out of the ordinary or a routine procedure. In form and substance, the authorities meant every step in this process, and delivered their message clearly to whom it may concern.

Dozens of security vehicles surround the house of Sheikh Sanqour to hand him a subpoena asking him to appear for interrogation at the Ministry of Interior. This was followed by an interrogation that lasted hours, after which the Sheikh was referred to the prosecution, which also interrogated him for hours, before returning him to the CID after a period of time. He was then informed that he will be imprisoned for 7 days pending investigation and that charges were brought against him and that he would be referred to trial.

But why did the authorities suddenly decide to escalate, and why did they target one of Bahrain's most prominent Shiite figures?

It is no secret that the most important speech of the Shiite community has been recently issued from the Friday platform at the Imam Sadiq Mosque, around which thousands gather to hold the largest central prayer in Bahrain every week.

From this platform, in a quiet voice and calm style, Sheikh Sanqour delivers his political messages without provocation, but the authorities do not even want this criticism. Of course, it's not about criticism itself, as there are more provoking speeches posted by social media activists on a daily basis, but the problem is who is saying them and whom he represents.

The authorities are aware that this Friday platform reflects the Shiite community that has begun to collect itself again, after they contained the harshest and most violent blow ever: the arrest of opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman, the dissolution of the Al-Wefaq Society, and the targeting of the sect's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim.

After years of disrupting the Friday ritual at the central mosque in Diraz, Friday prayers resumed under certain circumstances, and that return witnessed a response by the Imam to public affairs, through a weekly commentary on the most important events that the country and the region are going through.

Certainly, this return did not appease the regime, which is fed up with this sect that does not know surrender, refuses to submit, and is ready to sacrifice a long life with high determination. For this reason, the statement of the Interior Ministry issued a statement with a clear title published by the regime's newspapers to deliver the message to everyone concerned, "the clock cannot turn back," it said.

The regime believes that raising the voice of this sect loudly is a turn back clock, specifically to the moment when the events of 2011 broke out, and the regime has put all its conviction into the premise that it, the Shiite community, has remained silent forever and will not rise again, but who said that regimes are capable of exterminating the people?

Arabic Version