MANAMA (Press TV) – Bahrain’s leading cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim says there is no divide between Shia and Sunni Muslims, adding the Zionist regime is the main issue that divides the Islamic world between those who have signed normalization deal with the occupying and those who are against the controversial deal.
“Our Ummah (community) has been divided into two fronts: One group that advocates normalization with the Zionist regime, which is directed by America, the warmongering Zionism and deviant Judaism, and the second group standing up to the first that is the resistance front,” Sheikh Qassim said.
Sheikh Qassim made the remarks on the mourning day of Ashura, when the third Imam of Shia Muslims Imam Hussein (AS) was martyred in 680 AD.
Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram which fell this year on Thursday, is the culmination of 10-day mourning ceremonies for Imam Hussein and his companions, who have turned into the symbol of the oppressed fighting the oppressors of the time.
The cleric said, “Today’s war is in fact the same as yesterday’s war between Imam Hussein (AS) and the tyrant of the time Yazid I.”
“It is haram (forbidden) for the Ummah to give today’s Yazid — represented by the warmongering Zionism and the U.S. — a chance to victory,” he asserted, highlighting the Bahraini people’s struggle to revive the memory of Ashura.
Sheikh Qassim said Bahrain’s Sunni Muslims have no problem with the mourning ceremonies held by the Shias during Muharram and any likely issues stem from the “deceptive and pernicious” policies of the ruling Al Khalifah regime.
“Indeed, the brotherly bond between Sunnis and Shias in Bahrain is very strong, and the two have coexisted for a long time and enjoy religious and family ties,” he said.
The top Bahraini cleric also said the Bahraini regime enforces hostile policies against the Sunnis as it does against the Shias and that just as Manama restricts religious freedom for the Shias, it does the same for the Sunnis.