The religious discrimination faced by Bahrain’s Baharna and Ajam communities has manifested in one of the most atrocious forms: the deliberate destruction and erasure of their sacred spaces. These indigenous Shia communities, rooted deeply in Bahrain’s history, have long been marginalized by the ruling Al Khalifa regime. But the demolition of mosques, shrines, and cemeteries marks an assault not just on faith, but on collective identity.
During the 2011 Arab Spring, Bahrain witnessed a calculated campaign against Shia heritage. Estimates suggest at least 38 mosques and countless shrines and hussainiyas (religious gathering halls) were demolished by state authorities, often under the pretext of being unlicensed. Yet photographs and local testimony suggest many were centuries old, including the 400‑year‑old Amir Muhammad Barbaghi Mosque. Additionally, sacred walls were defaced with anti-Shia graffiti following state-sanctioned demolitions. The authorities carried out destruction at night, accompanied by riot police, and often removed any waste before dawn in an attempt to erase visible traces of Shia communal life.
This campaign wasn’t limited to physical sites, the government undertook a broader strategy. Shia mosques were moved to remote areas or repurposed into parks or playgrounds to minimize public visibility. Renaming villages and removing monuments like the Pearl Roundabout sought to cleanse Shia presence from public spaces and memory. Finally, education and media systematically underplayed or ignored Baharna and Ajam history; state TV airs only Sunni religious services, and schoolbooks portray Shia as foreign or linked to Iran. A 2016 UN letter from Special Rapporteurs described this as a persistent pattern: “destruction of places of worship and other signs of presence of Shia citizens in the country… marginalization of historical narratives”.
Leading Shia clerics publicly condemned the campaign, describing it as shameless destruction, demanding reparations and reconstruction. The opposition bloc Al-Wefaq highlighted that many demolished mosques were decades old, challenging government claims of “illegal buildings”. International human rights groups echoed these concerns: Human Rights First warned that bulldozing mosques “will only inflame tensions,” while the US State Department and then‑President Obama also expressed his concern.
Though authorities promised to rebuild a dozen of mosques by early 2012, progress has been inconsistent at best. Many sites remain destroyed, some reconstructed far from their original neighborhoods, compromising their spiritual and communal function.
Shrines and mosques are more than architectural structures, they are pillars of identity, memory, and belonging. Their destruction is a strategy of symbolic violence aimed at erasing a group’s presence. As scholar Michael Sells observes, demolishing places of worship “effaces visual and tangible reminders of the targeted traditions,” and the void these actions leave signifies more than just bricks, it signifies silenced histories.
The demolitions of sacred sites in Bahrain were not just acts of destruction, they were attempts to erase the communities that built, used, and cherished them. To restore dignity, preserve cultural memory, and ensure equal religious rights, Bahrain must legally recognize Shia historic sites as national heritage landmarks, integrate Baharna and Ajam history into school curricula, museums, and public media, and invite UN monitoring to safeguard future religious freedoms in line with its international obligations. Recognizing Baharna and Ajam as integral to Bahrain’s past, present, and future is essential to building a truly inclusive and reconciled society.
