Hujjat al-Islam Muhammad Hasan Khajastah, a member of the central board of Bahrain’s Council of Scholars, who himself had his citizenship revoked a few months back by the Al Khalifah regime, in an interview with the Hawzah News Agency said about the revoking of Shaykh Isa Qasim’s citizenship: ‘ Al Khalifah have taken this decision, while Shaykh Qasim is more Bahraini than them, and from a family whose roots are firmly Bahraini! His great great grandfathers where present in Bahrain, his family tree in Bahrain goes back at least five to six hundred years; while Al Khalifah, on the other hand, have only been in Bahrain for about two hundred years. Al Khalifah are from Zabarah, Qatar and entered into Bahrain in the form of pirates. What I mean to say is that they do not have a long history of being in Bahrain, whilst the Shaykh’s history goes back five- six hundred years.’
He added: ‘By disbanding the Council of Scholars, Al-Wefaq and the Al- Tawiyah group, Al Khalifah have cut the scholarly, political and social wings of the Shaykh, but they have not taken the people into consideration. The people will not abandon the Shaykh; the scholars will not abandon him. In these last days the general population and different stratums of society came out to support him, and at the front of them were the scholars, they came out in there burial shrouds, saying: ‘If you want to get to the Shaykh, you will need to walk over our dead bodies!’ All Praise belongs to Allah that the people have this spirit. Even thou the regime has demented morals and have sent security forces to counter the people, however, in the whole, the reaction of the people within Bahrain and that of the different organizations outside of Bahrain has been extremely encouraging and higher than what was expected, and it is possible that Al Khalifah did not foresee this reaction. The movements that are currently occurring in the Islamic World, be they Sunni or Shia, and the positions they have taken, in my opinion definitely is having an impact.’
He continued: ‘Shaykh Isa Qasim is a world renowned figure i.e. the Islamic world. He is a jurist of the highest caliber and hence is not only confined to within the borders of Bahrain, he is connected to the entire Islamic world. With regards to politics, Shaykh Isa Qasim has modest political stance and in reality the person of the Shaykh has been a calming element in Bahrain. It is thus natural that other modest political organizations take a stand in defending a personality such as his, because attacking such a personality is a great danger.’
‘Shaykh is a person of unity, that not only in his speech but also in his actions, and as results different issues across the Islamic world such as Palestine, Quds and other issues connected to the Islamic world has always been his concern and has tackled them with an outlook of unity. In his talks, there is no talk of Sunni and Shia, and defended whomever needed to be defended. This demeanor is what caused the Sunni scholars to make a stand for him. In my opinion, these reactions are a clear message to the regime of Bahrain that the Shaykh is no ordinary person and that opposing him will not be an easy thing.’
He recalled: ‘The people of Bahrain, with all this anger that they have towards the regime and the extensive propaganda that has targeted the Shaykh, have yet to throw a single stone at the police whilst surrounding the Shaykh’ house. They have acquired this spirit from the Shaykh, whose movement is a peaceful movement.’
He declared: ‘Until now, the movement of the Bahraini people has been nothing but peaceful and one of the most peaceful movements in the region, and one of the reasons for this is that they are the children of Shaykh Isa Qasim and have learnt this method and way from him; this is all the Shaykh’s planning. The people of Bahrain are still following the plan of Shaykh Qasim, so if the regime wishes to hurt the Shaykh in any way, all this will be destroyed. We are hopeful that the regime in Bahrain comes to their senses and back tracks on their decisions; they should reinstate al-Wefaq, free Shaykh Ali and all other political prisoners, and grant Shaykh Qasim his citizenship back. In conclusion, they should grant back all the citizenships they revoked and let them return to Bahrain. They should find a solution that pleases Allah and that appeases the goals of the Bahraini people. However, if the regime chooses not to change their ways and continues on its path, Allah forbid, in my opinion, it will not only have grave consequences on the condition of Bahrain, but rather on the entire region; as the Shaykh has many followers who are prepared to sacrifice themselves for him.
source : hawzahnews
