The 2026 Ashura season is witnessing a serious increase in restrictions and violations against the religious rituals of the Shia community in Bahrain. This is a continuation of restrictive policies from previous years, marked by security and administrative interference in the practice of rituals and the expression of religious and cultural identity. Contrary to what the authorities describe as merely regulatory measures, the actions imposed this year have taken a more restrictive form. They include restrictions on religious gatherings, processions, and sermons, the banning of many preachers and eulogists from participating in the season’s events, the removal of Ashura manifestations, as well as summonses, detentions, arrests, and the use of force against citizens who objected to the targeting of their religious manifestations.
This escalation reflects an ongoing security-based approach to a religious occasion that constitutes an essential part of Bahrain’s religious and social life. It comes amid human rights warnings about the growing scope of violations related to freedom of religion and belief, as well as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Human rights monitoring indicates a recurring pattern in how Bahraini authorities handle the religious rituals of the Shia community, based on using crises and exceptional circumstances to impose additional restrictions on religious gatherings and practices under security or regulatory pretexts.
Official Decisions Expand Security Control over Religious Manifestations
Ahead of the month of Muharram, the Ministry of Interior and the Jaafari Endowments Directorate, which is directly affiliated with the government, summoned the heads of ma’atams and Husseiniyas as well as organizers of religious gatherings and informed them of a series of strict regulations and instructions. These measures included setting specific closing times for Ashura mourning processions and gatherings, prohibiting their continuation after midnight, while later allowing certain processions in the capital to continue until 2 a.m. Moreover, processions were also restricted to registered ma’atams, while processions departing from mosques or operating outside the framework established by the authorities were prohibited. They also imposed restrictions on raising flags and banners, limiting their installation to the vicinity of ma’atams, and requiring organizers to place the name of the ma’atam on every banner and hold them legally responsible for any slogans considered by the authorities to have a political nature.
The restrictions also included increased monitoring of the content of Hussainiya sermons and displayed religious symbols, along with warnings against discussing topics that the authorities consider to be the “politicization of Ashura”. In addition, dozens of Hussaini preachers and reciters were barred from participating in religious gatherings and activities without written decisions or publicly stated legal justifications. Security pressure and summonses targeting heads of ma’atams also continued, with threats of imposing collective measures and penalties on certain areas and villages in the event of non-compliance with official instructions. The restrictions also extended to the continued travel ban on Bahraini citizens to Iraq and Iran, affecting their ability to practice religious rituals and visit holy sites there.
Beginning of Muharram: From Administrative Restrictions to Actual Enforcement
As the start of Muharram approached, the restrictions moved from the level of instructions to actual implementation. Dozens of Hussaini preachers and reciters were prevented from leading religious gatherings and participating in Ashura-related activities, without any legal or judicial decisions justifying these measures. In another step, the authorities announced the arrest of citizens for selling shirts bearing phrases associated with Imam Hussein, including “Far from us is humiliation”, “Someone like me does not pledge allegiance to someone like him,” and “I will not give you the hand of humiliation.” Authorities also confiscated the printing press used to produce the clothing and seized related electronic devices.
The first days of Muharram also witnessed the removal of black banners, flags, Ashura signs, and religious displays from several areas. Security summonses and direct monitoring of various aspects of Ashura observances also continued, amid threats to hold residents and heads of ma’atams accountable for any violation of the imposed instructions.
Use of Force Against Citizens Protesting the Targeting of Religious Rituals
Since the beginning of the season, numerous areas across Bahrain have witnessed an unjustified security escalation, as authorities used force to disperse citizens who gathered in protest to the removal of Ashura manifestations. Security forces carried out operations to remove black banners, flags, and signs associated with Ashura commemorations from several areas, including Abu Saiba, Abu Quwa, Karbabad, Al-Nuwaidat, Al-Akr, A’ali, and Bani Jamra. These actions led to public protests, which authorities responded to by using sound grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets in residential neighborhoods, despite video footage showing the peaceful nature of the protests.
The use of force resulted in injuries to several citizens and the arrest of a number of young men. These measures were accompanied by a heavy security presence and the pursuit of protest participants, reflecting the continued reliance on a security-based approach in dealing with objections related to religious rituals.
The use of force to disperse peaceful gatherings formed in protest against the removal of religious symbols and manifestations raises concerns regarding the necessity and proportionality of such force, particularly given the use of sound grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets in residential areas during the early hours of dawn, putting residents’ safety at risk.
Arrests and Detentions Linked to Religious Rituals
The restrictions imposed during the Ashura season were accompanied by a wave of arrests and detentions connected to religious and ritual activities, reflecting a growing trend toward criminalizing forms of religious expression related to the commemoration of Imam Hussein. Violations linked to the Ashura season began during the preparatory period before the start of Muharram, when authorities summoned Salman Zahir Ali, head of the Ansar Al-Adala mourning procession and ma’atam in Diraz, to appear at Al-Budaiya Police Station and detained him for several hours over Ashura banners that authorities considered to violate official regulations, before later releasing him. Authorities also arrested three citizens for selling clothing bearing religious slogans and images related to the religious occasion, and announced the confiscation of the printing press used to produce the garments as well as several related electronic devices. The father was later released, while his two sons remain detained.
Security forces also arrested citizen Jalal Ahmed Khalaf, a coordinator of one of the Husseini processions in the village of Saar, over raising a flag bearing the phrase “Ya Hussein,” before later releasing him. Authorities also carried out repeated security campaigns in the areas of Abu Saiba and Abu Quwa, accompanying the removal of Ashura manifestations, resulting in the arrest of Nasser Abdullah Shaker Al-Mawali, a 14 year old from Al-Maqsha, and Mohammed Rashid Abdul Nabi, an 18 year old from Abu Quwa, in addition to several other young men.
As part of the policy of imposing further restrictions on the practice of religious rituals, authorities arrested Ali Al Ghayd, head of the mourning committee in Hamad Town, and Mohammad Youssef, head of Al-Markh Ma’atam. Authorities also re-arrested Salman Zahir Ali, head of the Ansar Al-Adala mourning procession and ma’atam in Diraz, and arrested Hajj Hassan Ahmed Juma, head of Al-Sanabis Ma’atam, before later releasing him, as well as Hussaini reciter Abdulmunem Marzooq from Al-Sanabis, and arrested Mohammed Zain al-Din, head of Al-Nour Ma’atam in Diraz. Authorities also barred reciter Sayed Alawi Abu Ghaib from participating in Ashura commemorations until further notice. According to preliminary information, the number of detainees has reached around ten people.
Violation of Constitutional and International Obligations and Continuation of Religious Discrimination
The events of the 2026 Ashura season indicate the continuation of a recurring pattern of restrictions on Ashura rituals in Bahrain. Over the past years, authorities have repeatedly summoned heads of ma’atams and religious speakers, imposed restrictions on processions and mourning gatherings, removed religious manifestations, and pursued participants in the commemoration. This year’s escalation reflects a growing effort to subject religious rituals to security oversight, reduce their presence in public spaces, restrict religious discourse, undermine the independence of Shia religious institutions, and deprive citizens of their right to practice freedom of religion. These measures contradict Article 22 of the Constitution of Bahrain, which guarantees freedom to perform religious rites, as well as Articles 9, 18, 19, 21, and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), in addition to Human Rights Committee General Comment No. 22, which affirms that freedom of religion includes collective worship, religious symbols, and religious practices. These policies also raise concerns regarding discrimination on the basis of religion and sect, given the continued imposition of restrictions disproportionately targeting key religious manifestations of the Shi’a community, in violation of the principles of equality and non-discrimination that Bahrain is obliged to uphold under international human rights law.
Recommendations
In light of the ongoing Ashura season and the escalating violations accompanying it, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) calls on Bahraini authorities, particularly the Ministry of Interior, to immediately end all forms of persecution and restrictions targeting religious rituals. ADHRB further urges the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals arrested or detained for peacefully practicing their religious rituals or protesting their targeting. The organization also calls for an end to unlawful summonses and prosecutions of religious speakers, reciters, and ma’atams organizers, and urges authorities to refrain from removing Ashura symbols and manifestations or using force against citizens, in order to ensure respect for freedom of religion and belief, freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly, and to fulfill the constitutional and international obligations that Bahrain has committed to before international and human rights bodies.
