The so-called “Islamic State” has sent a video message to the “Sunnis of Bahrain”. The lengthy message came in four parts:
· Calling on Bahrainis to join ISIS
· Inciting Bahrainis against their leadership for participating in the anti-ISIS alliance
· Inciting Bahraini Sunnis against the “infidel” Shia
· Calling on Bahrainis not to participate in democratic parliamentary elections
Citizens to Bahrain would like to say the following in response to ISIS:
You condemn yourselves with your own words. You message proves you to be the true Ahl Al-Fitnah (party of discord) in the Muslim world.
The people of Bahrain despise and reject you because of the hateful and un-Islamic acts you have perpetrated against thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq and Syria. You have murdered people because they don’t share your intolerant and deviant beliefs and you have caused misery to hundreds of thousands who have been forced to flee their homes.
The people of Bahrain despise and reject you because you have brought our sacred Islamic faith into disrepute. Every senior Islamic scholar around the world has made clear that your words and actions contradict the simplest teachings of Islam. Forced conversions, murdering non-combatants, torture, rape, killing aid workers and journalists, issuing fatwas without qualifications.
Bahrainis despise and reject you because of your incitement against our fellow Muslims. Sunnis and Shia have always lived together in Bahrain and Bahrain’s future is a shared one. We live together, work together and intermarry. Despite the intolerant voices and political tensions, Bahrain is a nation destined to coexistence and mutual respect. Do not try to set us against one another.
Bahrain is committed to the path of Constitutional Monarchy and democratization. When you call for us to boycott the elections, you make it an obligation for us to go out and participate in the parliamentary elections in defiance of you and for the sake of unifying our nation against the forces of extremism and intolerance.
The people of Bahrain despise and reject you because of your attempts to mislead and brainwash our youth. Those who travel to fight for ISIS can expect to witness and perpetrate unspeakable and ungodly acts and to die a pointless and shameful death. We hope and pray that the best of our young people are immune to your crazed and contradictory message.
The people of Bahrain despise and reject you because of your hatred for women. Which branch of Islam preaches mass rape, forced marriage, sexual slavery and murdering unarmed women and children including Muslims and non-Muslims? The ascendance of ISIS has given rises to some of the worst abuses that humanity has witnessed. We have watched brave women Kurdish fighters opposing you and our esteemed Emirati sisters taking to the skies to launch bombing raids against ISIS. We promise you that the women of Bahrain would be only too proud to do likewise in taking a stand against ISIS, if given the chance.
We hope that once again the people of Syria and Iraq see peace, stability and dignity; free both of the plague of ISIS brutality and the state terrorism of Bashar Al-Assad and Iran. We are proud that our leadership has taken a stand against this deviant and un-Islamic entity that is a threat to us all.
God Bless your country.