Bahrain Mirror (2019 Roundup): In July 2018, the Bahraini authorities allowed the spiritual leader of the Shia majority in Bahrain, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, to leave the country to receive treatment, thus Sheikh Isa traveled to the British capital, London.

He underwent 3 operations in London (endoscopy surgery on July 14, 2018, another surgery on July 24, 2018 which took several hours and then was kept in the ICU for 48 hours and an operation on his eye on October 10, 2018).

While in London, Sheikh Qassim visited a number of Shiite Islamic centers and a center for the Bahraini community. He also issued a statement mourning Sheikh Abdulhussein Al-Sitri. Sheikh Qassim then left for Iraq in December 2018.

He stayed for about two months in Iraq, visited the highest religious authority in Najaf, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Al-Sistani, visited the holy shrines and received dozens of Iraqi politicians.

Early February 2019, Ayatollah Qassim issued the first political statement since his citizenship revocation before leaving Bahrain, in which he stressed on the political demands and that the Bahraini people should hold on to them. Sheikh Qassim left for Iran the next day on February 2.

Ayatollah Qassim took Iran as his permanent residence overseas until the political situation in Bahrain changes. He marked a prominent social presence at the Bahraini community's activities held there. He was keen to attend religious events held in the Bahraini Hussainiyah (Shiite congregation hall) in Qom.

Ayatollah Qassim returned to issuing political statements similar to what he did in the 1990s during his stay in the holy city of Qom, Iran, where he issued a statement on the eighth anniversary of the revolution in which he said that the main problem in Bahrain is the lack of justice.

Sheikh Qassim took stances on some of Bahrain's political developments. He issued a statement on April 2, 2019, condemning Bahrain's hosting of the economic part of the "Deal of the Century", calling it "a step on the path of humiliation with the enemy," referring to Israel.

Following Al-Ghuraifi's reception of the Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman, Ayatollah Qassim issued a statement on May 3, 2019, stressing the importance of political reform in Bahrain and praising Sayed Al-Ghuraifi. After being attacked by government MPs and a number of government loyalists for receiving the Prime Minister and his talk about political demands, Ayatollah Qassim issued another statement on May 12, 2019 in which he considered the attack on Al-Ghuraifi an attack on the people and their causes.

After the Bahrain Workshop (the economic portion of the Deal of the Century related to the Palestinian cause), Sheikh Qassim issued a statement on May 27, 2019, in which he reiterated his opposition to the Deal of the Century and any steps paving the way for it, saying that "no one has the mandate to speak on behalf of Palestinians in this deal". He also called, in a statement on Al-Quds Day (May 31, 2019) for properly commemorating the occasion.

On July 30, 2019, Sheikh Qassim issued a statement concerning the martyrs of Bahrain, stressing that to honor the martyrs, the people should go forward in recovering freedom. He also did not fail to mention the political prisoners. He reiterated in a statement on August 14, 2019 the sufferings prisoners experience in Bahrain, stressing that "they can only be repaid by [Bahrainis'] staying on the path".

In his speech on the 10th of the month of Muharram (September 10, 2019), the spiritual leader of the Shiite majority slammed the Government of Bahrain for summoning and interrogating dozens of Hussaini preachers and eulogy reciters, describing these actions as an "advocacy of Yazid".

In a statement on Martyrs' Day and on the anniversary of Sheikh Al-Jamri's demise on December 18, 2019, he reiterated his emphasis on continuing to demand the restoration of the rights of the Bahraini people. By the end of the year, and with the release of dozens of political prisoners under the Alternative Penalty Law and royal pardon and the ensuing controversy between all factions, Sheikh Qassim stressed (December 29, 2019) that there is no political solution to the Bahraini crisis but through the release of all political prisoners, and that the crisis will remain as long as there is a single political prisoner. However, he noted that the release of all political prisoners only closes the file of prisoners and does not mean a solution to the crisis plaguing the country, emphasizing that the solution must be comprehensive and accepted by the people.

Ayatollah Qassim continued to issue statements, and sent other messages irrelevant to the political scene, such as his statement on August 27, 2019 to university students, whom he called for working hard with the start of the new scholastic year.

His office announced on December 6, 2019 that he will undergo surgery in the coming weeks on his heart, without indicating a specific date for the operation which is to be performed in Iran.

Arabic Version