Not a Good Time for Gulf Sh‘ia Clerics

The ongoing crackdown against Shi‘ite opposition elements in Bahrain in anticipation of Parliamentsry elections, and pressures on Shi‘ite populations in the Gulf generally, has been escalating. In Bahrain, Ayatollah Sheikh Hussein al-Najati, a leading cleric and representative in Bahrain of Iraqi Grand Ayatollah ‘Ali al-Sistani, has had his citizenship revoked and the passports of himself and his family canceled.

Meanwhile, Kuwait has similarly revoked the citizenship of a London-based but Kuwaiti-born Shi‘ite cleric, Yasser al-Habib, accused of insulting the Prophet's wife ‘A'isha and others of the Prophet's companions. He has served sentences previously for similar offenses. (In fact, Shi‘ites traditionally denounce the first three Sunni Caliphs because they kept ‘Ali from his rightful role as Imam, and the Prophet's widow ‘A'isha because she led a revolt against ‘Ali in the Battle of the Camel in 656 AD. But Shi‘ite clerics living under Sunni rule usually don't raise the subject frequently; from his London exile, he has apparently been quite vocal on the subject, even accusing ‘A'isha and Abu Bakr and ‘Umar of conspiring to assassinate the Prophet.

These aren't really parallel cases (one is mostly political, the other religious), but they are both a sign of growing sectarian division in the northern Gulf states.