Top Bahraini clerics have warned the regime against attempts to undermineShia Islam amid reports that authorities were targeting funds linked to main opposition group al-Wefaq.
The funds are linked to the Shia practice ofKhums -a tax datingback to early Islam which followers pay to their highest religious authorities out of their free willfor use in charities and other donations.
In a statement, four senior clericsstated that Khums represents a pillar of the Shiafaith that has beencollected as a duty for hundreds of years to spend in theservice of Islam.
"The targeting of this duty under any name targets thesect, and amounts to a blatant assault on the freedomof sectarian practice which is guaranteed in accordance withthe... Constitution and all international charters," thestatement said.
The Bahrain regime's targeting of Khumsfollows a court order last weekthat suspendedthe main opposition Shiaal-Wefaq group.
It also comes afterreportsabout an investigation of two Islamic charities linked to al-Wefaq and a bank account in the name ofAyatollah Isa Qassem, the country's most senior Shiareligious
authority.
Bahrain, where the USFifth Fleet is based, has been rocked bymass protests since2011.
ShiaMuslims, widely believed toconstitute the majority of the country's 1.35 millionpopulation, havelong complained of being discriminated against by the ruling Al Khalifah family.
Al-Wefaqs Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman has been in prison since December 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the regime and collaborating with foreign powers, which he has denied.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"]
Bahraini men hold placards bearing the portrait of Sheikh Ali Salman, the head of the Shia opposition movement al-Wefaq, during a protest on the outskirts of the capital, Manama, May 29, 2016. (Photo b AFP)[/caption]Since February 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations on an almost daily basis in Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifah family to relinquish power.
In March that year, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on peaceful protests.
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured or arrested in the Bahraini crackdown on the anti-regime activists.
By Press TV
