Bahrain Mirror: The member of the (dismissed) Ulama Council, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Mensi said that an anonymous group of persons attacked A'ali Grand (Al-Kabir) mosque on the second day of the Al-Fitr Eid (Sunday, July 19, 2015) by breaking in from one of its entrances and sabotaging its contents.

Al-Mensi posted on his Instagram account on Monday (July 20, 2015) that this attack "is condemned and denounced by all standards (...). It is not the first time that this mosque, or other mosques, hussainiyas and holy places in Bahrain, the country of Islam and Muslims, have been attacked, and it seems that it is not the last time."

The Sheikh considered that what happened is linked to what he described as "the terrible laws that ruled this country and that began with the crime of demolishing 38 mosques in 2011 during the State of National Safety law, at the hands of the ruling authority and security forces."

"Many things followed this heinous crime: neither rebuilding all the demolished mosques, incriminating and punishing the perpetrators of that crime, issuing a formal and direct apology by the regime to the people for this crime, nor investigating or announcing the results of the crimes and violations against mosques, Hussainiyas and holy places that took place and are still taking place. This have given the green light to every criminal to attach any mosque or holy place," he added.

Sheikh Mohammed Al-Mensi described the actions of the authorities as an "incubating environment or one that encourages a terrorist extremist (ISIS) thought, which represent clear proof of the lack of seriousness in confronting terrorism, extremism and ISIS thoughts and a clear proof of the level of oppression and religious and sectarian disdain for the Shiites in Bahrain."

It is worth mention that the A'ali Grand (Al-Kabir) Mosque embraced the first unified prayer between Sunnis and Shiites in Bahrain on July 4, 2015, after the call of the Bahrain Foundation for Reconciliation and Civil Discourse, headed by Suhail Al-Gosaibi. This call was met with a wave of strong criticism by extremist Sunnis who considered that prayers led by a Shiite Imam are prohibited.

The Arabic Issue