MANAMA (Dispatches) -- Bahraini authorities arrested six Shia citizens, including a prominent religious orator, a religious hall director and two reciters, in a security campaign timed to coincide with a major Shia commemoration, news outlet Al-Ahed reported.
The arrests targeted figures associated with religious gatherings ahead of the anniversary of the martyrdom of Fatima al-Zahra (SA), the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him), a commemoration observed by Shia Muslims. 
Among those detained was Habib al-Darazi, a Hussaini orator, who was arrested after a video of him reciting the Ashura pilgrimage circulated widely on social media and triggered a campaign of incitement against him.
Also arrested were Haj Habib Abbas, head of the Bin Khamis ma’tam, or religious assembly hall, and two reciters identified as Sayyed Jalal al-Biladi and Abdullah Matrouk, the latter detained after security forces raided his home in the morning, according to the Al-Ahed report. 
Two other citizens, Ali al-Ghanami and Mahmoud Muslim, were also detained or summoned, with al-Ghanami arrested after a raid on his home in the Bani Jamra area.
The arrests are part of a broader security escalation in Bahrain that began in February, according to the reports, which described raids, summonses and detentions alongside restrictions on religious observance and the targeting of figures linked to Hussaini ceremonies and gatherings. The campaign has drawn criticism from rights advocates who say it restricts religious and political freedoms.
The reported detentions coincided with heightened restrictions on political prisoners in Jaw prison, where a hunger strike was ongoing, raising concerns about conditions for detainees.
A joint report published this month by SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights and the Bahrain Forum for Human Rights documented 64 Shia religious scholars arrested between March and August 2026, including 44 detained on a single day in May. 
The report said approximately 150 arrests were linked to the Ashura season, involving minors, scholars, preachers, reciters and ma’tam administrators, and that 103 processions or religious halls were cancelled due to restrictions enforced from July onward.
The rights groups said the measures constitute a cumulative pattern of restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, ranging from the targeting of religious leaders to the curtailment of religious observances and control over religious institutions, and called on Bahraini authorities to release those arbitrarily detained and to invite UN special procedures to visit the country.