🏴 Husayni Mourning Around the World – 2026

🌐 104. Bahrain:

Ashura International Foundation / Husayni Mourning News – June 28, 2026:

The “Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society” – Bahrain’s largest political party – stated in a statement on July 7, 2026, that this year as well, the Ashura season has been accompanied by a wave of summons, arrests, prohibitions, and security crackdowns; measures taken in line with the government’s efforts to dominate mourning ceremonies and impose further restrictions with the aim of disrupting the holding of Husayni rituals and fueling sectarian divisions against Shiites.

The party added: Bahrain’s government, prior to the start of Muharram ceremonies, by summoning and threatening the officials of Husayniyyahs and ma’tams (mourning halls), communicated to them a set of security directives outside the constitutional framework. These restrictions included conditions regarding the installation of Ashura symbols, the use of black fabrics, the timing of ceremonies, the manner of organizing mourning processions, as well as contacting dozens of eulogists and lecturers to prohibit their presence at religious ceremonies.

Al-Wefaq also announced that, in addition to the arrest of 16 Husayni lecturers from among the clergy and 5 prominent eulogists, a number of other lecturers, eulogists, and Husayniyyah officials were also summoned to security agencies, interrogated for hours, and temporarily detained; measures carried out with the aim of creating an atmosphere of intimidation and restricting religious activities.

The statement further stated that security forces, by turning various areas into scenes of nighttime and daytime raids, proceeded to collect Ashura symbols and manifestations, and in dealing with citizens who objected to these measures, used violence and tear gas; behavior that has disrupted the security and tranquility of the Ashura ceremonies.

The party also claimed that plainclothes special forces pursued mourners present in the mourning processions in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, turning the city’s alleys into scenes of pursuit, arrest, and terror; measures that led to the arrest of more than 15 citizens on various nights.

Al-Wefaq, in another part of its statement, announced that security forces, with a heavy deployment in Manama, prevented the holding of the Ashura night prayer – a prayer that was held collectively every year.

Additionally, Bahrain’s clerics, due to the arrest of 56 religious scholars, including a number of senior jurists and seminary professors, decided to forgo holding their annual mourning procession for the first time in over two decades.

The statement also mentioned that the protest of 55 delegations and Husayniyyahs from various regions of Bahrain, who had announced their opposition to the imposed restrictions by issuing a joint statement, was met with government indifference, and no legal or executive explanation was provided regarding these decisions.

Al-Wefaq concluded by emphasizing that the Bahraini government’s performance has dealt a serious blow to religious freedoms in the country and has turned the Ashura season into a purely security matter.

The party also declared that these measures have revealed the falsity of official claims about supporting Ashura ceremonies and indicate the continuation of organized religious pressure and the deterioration of the human rights situation in Bahrain.