Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): On June 14, 2016 and as part as a new brutal campaign against the opposition that included citizenship revocation of Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, the government dissolved religious societies that adhered to the Shia sect.

The Islamic Al-Tawiya and Risala societies, two religious Shiite societies concerned in religious affairs, were dissolved at the Labor Minister Jameel Hmaidan's order. Meanwhile, the Public Prosecution said that it is investigating money laundering crimes which the two societies are involved in, as well as Dar Al-Yaqeen bookshop.

Dar Al-Yaqeen bookshop is owned by Jihadist Adel Al-Hamad, who heads Quran Care Society, which the government ordered to dissolve, stating that its officials are involved in supporting terrorism.

The government usually follows its measures taken against the opposition and the Shiite community with other official decisions against extremists or other religious institutions to give an impression that its measures do not solely target the opposition or Shiites.

When the government revoked the nationality of dozens of dissidents (January 31, 2015), it added other names, including the name of ISIS religious preacherTurki Al-Benali.

What confirms that the procedures against Quran Care Society were similar to that regarding the "religious preacher", the official newspaper issued last Thursday (July 4, 2019) a decision by the Minister of Labor to restore the society.

The decision included the formation of an interim board of directors headed by Ali Ahmed Al-Rowaie and the membership of eight others.

The minister relied in his decision on a ruling issued by the Administrative Court on December 31, 2017 to overturn the decision of dissolving the society.

Although its president, Sheikh Adel Al-Hamad, was involved in supporting Al-Qaeda organization and calling for joining the ranks of the terrorist Al-Nusra front, as well as involvement in suspicious fund-raising operations, the government restored the society.

The son of the society president was among the Bahrainis who were killed while fighting with organizations such as Al-Nusra and ISIS.

The society's lawyer Abdulla Hachem said "We congratulate the honorable brothers in the Quran Care Society on restoring the society's legitimacy after a complex process of administrative decisions and litigation and justice from the Bahraini judiciary."

While there is much suspicion about the Quran Care Society and its members, the government has nothing to condemn the Islamic Al-Tawiya and Al-Risala with. The decision to dissolve them was purely based on political and sectarian grounds.

Neither Al-Tawiya, nor Al-Risala appealed the verdict against them since they know that the Bahraini judiciary will not treat them fairly, as they did with Quran Care Society, according to lawyer Hachem.

Bahrain uses the judiciary as a tool of retaliation against dissidents, international organizations say.

Arabic Version