1- Isa Qassim, You Are Neither Sacred Nor Infallible… But Guilty and Sinful

Isa Qassim is known by the nickname "Abu Sami." He is considered the number one figure — religiously and politically — for the Shia of Bahrain. Criticizing him or disobeying him is forbidden for any Shia, a policy wrapped in a religious cover (and religion, as they say, is the opium of the masses).

Since Shia websites on the internet use freedom of expression — both respectful and disrespectful — to insult our religious and political symbols, it is my right and the right of others to use that same freedom of expression toward them, while maintaining the respect that reflects our own morals and upbringing. Respectful criticism is painful precisely because it is true.

Around 2006, Isa Qassim stated:

*"People will remain divided into the camp of Hussein (peace be upon him) and the camp of Yazid — so choose your camp."*

This was a shameless call to sectarianize the people of Bahrain, forcing them to choose between the Shia camp or the other — with no third option: either with us or against us.

Many followers rallied behind him, not daring to criticize him or warn him that what he was calling for was "sectarian strife" with devastating consequences for the nation and its people. On the other side, others paid his call no attention, and he was never held accountable — legally or religiously. They left the rope loose, either out of fear or indifference to what he was preaching.

I believe it became clear for all to see that the one who began sectarianizing Bahrain was Isa Qassim — not, as we hear in his fiery sermons, the state with its long hand in stoking sectarian discord.

We also recall that Isa Qassim incited his followers through inflammatory sermons against naturalization and the naturalized citizens (Sunnis) from Yemen and Syria specifically, while forbidding any discussion of those naturalized from Iran and Iraq (Shia). In doing so, he proved his ugly sectarianism to his own camp, refusing to equate naturalized Sunnis with himself — a former naturalized citizen.

Here I turn to some questions that Shia dare not even mention in their own bedrooms, questions that remain suspended in their minds with no answers sought — either out of fear of being declared outside the sect, or terror of Abu Sami's dictatorial personal guard, which spares neither child, nor woman, nor elderly man, all in the name of executing the divine command entrusted to His Eminence:

*"He who rejects those appointed by God as leaders of Muslims in their religion and worldly affairs after the Prophet is rejecting the Prophet himself in what he conveyed of their appointed leadership."*

I cite the words of Lamis Dhaif in Al-Waqt newspaper, issue 1287:

*"The price of sanctifying scholars — with all its domination of a single opinion and erasure of the other — is that we can no longer question the political positions of sheikhs without being attacked in our religion, honor, and intellect. What then if these figures were to attain the rank of the infallible? We do not ask our scholars to abandon politics — as the liars claim — for religious scholars are a fundamental component of this society and we cannot do without them. All we ask is that they not frame their political opinions as religious edicts, and not make their lofty religious standing the arbiter of our politics and the details of our lives. We do not want excess that leads to the numbing of public minds. We do not want the educated and technocrats to be sidelined in favor of flatterers and sycophants who crawl to the chair through the gateway of religious authorities."*

Flattery and sycophancy — crawling to the chair through the gateway of religious authority.

Here I will speak of the Iranian religious authority gateway, represented in Bahrain by Isa Qassim — the same authority that has placed Iraq under its arm, and now seeks to place Bahrain under the other, aided by competing sycophants crawling to please the authority at the expense of the nation whose citizenship Qassim was honored to obtain in the 1960s. *(When you honor the ignoble, he rebels.)*

Yes, this is the Qassim that Lamis Dhaif described as a sycophant crawling toward the chair — and she was subsequently silenced with a position as a female voice abroad, on condition that she never again hint at or allude to any crawler through the gateway of religious authority.

I am certain that what I have mentioned about Lamis answers one of the questions in the minds of his followers. But many questions remain, including:

- What does Abu Sami do with the Khums imposed on his followers?

- Why is it sent to Iran?

- Does Abu Sami deserve "a fifth of the fifth" (20%) as a commission and fee from the total?

- What about investments in Abu Sami's name in India (the University of Pune)? Are they a religious endowment, or will his family inherit them?

- Why are these vast sums not invested in the villages as endowment projects for those who contributed to them?

- How many impoverished families in the villages has Abu Sami supported from his commission?

- Does Abu Sami feel pleasure when he sees or hears of a poor villager being humiliated and degraded?

Many questions remain among the people — questions for which they have not and will not find answers.

I almost forgot an important matter, Abu Sami.

I read a bold question from your followers on your own forums — it was deleted and its author was suspended. It read:

*"Why did Abu Sami visit Ali Salman but did not visit the wounded, the bereaved, and the orphans in other villages?"*

Allow me to answer on your behalf, Abu Sami:

O questioner — Abu Sami has a chessboard in front of him for his amusement. It has pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and a queen. So know your place on that board. If you are a pawn, your value is sacrifice. If you are a knight or bishop, your sacrifice will be of greater use. I doubt you are the queen.

*(After publication, you will see Abu Sami crawling to the gates of his chess pawns.)*

Among Abu Sami's political talking points: the Financial Harbour as a scapegoat, and corruption in the state through leasing lands and major companies for symbolic amounts (one dinar or ten).

The state, he claims, leases what it owns to itself for symbolic value.

Here I wish to level the same accusation at you — corruption — and my source is the official records of parliamentary sessions from the 1970s.

You, Abu Sami, were part of the Faith Bloc in the dissolved parliament. You refused to pass a law to protect Jaafari endowments (lands, properties, and farms). The reason, Sheikh Abu Sami, is that your hands had the longest reach over those endowments. You leased and subleased farms and properties for symbolic amounts — 5 and 10 dinars per year. The law was not in the interest of those with power over the Jaafari endowments and the citizen wealth under their control.

Sheikh Abu Sami, many of your followers do not know what you have done to them.

On your neck lies the blood and suffering of the Bahraini people — for more than 20 years.

You forbade your followers from raising this matter.

But you hold no authority to forbid me — for I believe neither in you, nor in your infallibility, nor your sanctity.

As a citizen who has suffered as others have — many more than I — because of your decision and your approval:

Your approval of the "State Security Law" in the dissolved parliament.

You did not object or refuse. You did not even resort to the weakest of faith, which is silence. You approved it with full mental capacity, under no compulsion — indeed, you welcomed the law. Your goal was to silence your rivals and competitors at that time.

In the future, I will publish some of the names of your rivals and competitors who suffered greatly due to the denunciations of their own representative.

The parliamentary records still exist, and the official gazette has its archives.

All of the above, Sheikh Abu Sami, is but a fraction of the truth.

And your pawns will not succeed in denying what I have said, nor what Lamis Dhaif described you as.

You are the number one person in Bahrain who planted strife and sectarianism.

And the people who brought you to parliament — and whom you betrayed with your approval of the law that slaughtered them — will not forgive you.

I wish to conclude by planting everything I have mentioned into the minds of the people — especially your followers. I will condense your crimes against this helpless people into a story that will be fixed in the minds of all Bahrainis:

**Entitled: Bahrain the Mother, and Isa the Traitor**

In the twenty-first century, there was a woman named Bahrain. Many children lived under her care. A young man named Isa happened to visit her, seeking her help. He was looking for safety and stability.

She took pity on him — she was known for compassion beyond imagination. She showered him with affection he had never dreamed of. All who were raised in her embrace received the medal of goodness and morality. All who grew up in her shade earned acceptance and respect.

Bahrain held the young man Isa to her chest.

With his intelligence, he won her approval.

With his cunning, he divided her children.

With his treachery, he conspired to steal her wealth.

Greed and arrogance consumed him.

He sought to take ownership of the place through deceit and evil.

He allied with an arrogant Persian to violate Bahrain the woman.

They agreed upon the hour of their depravity.

They ambushed Bahrain in an unguarded moment,

violated her in a gathering,

bound her with ropes,

and resolved to bury their shame by killing her and burying her.

Bahrain called out: "O Isa… O my son… Have you not had enough of your betrayal? Untie me, I beseech God to have mercy on you… My wrists ache from your ropes…"

Isa said: "Bear witness — for these are your last breaths. The time has come to slaughter you."

He drew a dull knife,

blindfolded her,

and slit her throat.

She pleaded with him not to slaughter her.

She felt her blood flowing.

She screamed: "O Isa, help me… I am bleeding…"

And he returned again to finish the slaughter.

But God unleashed upon them soldiers they could not see.

By the will of God, she was saved.

Bahrain returned to us — wounded.

Her wounds will heal and we will tend to them.