MANAMA, Bahrain: One can understand the dignity and honor of a
Mosque by the fact that Allah (SWT) calls Mosques as His homes. There
is a Hadith that states whoever comes to mosque; Allah (SWT) will make
him His guest in Jannah (The Paradise). Allah (SWT) loves the people
who take care of mosques.
Unfortunately, Saudi-backed Bahraini forces in their crackdown against
civilians protesting for their rights in Bahrain have bulldozed
several mosques.
According to McClatchy Newspapers report, in the ancient Bahraini
village of Aali, where some graves date to 2000 B.C., the Amir
Mohammed Braighi mosque had stood for more than 400 years — one of the
handsomest Shiite Muslim mosques in this small island nation in the
Persian Gulf.
Today, only bulldozer tracks remain.
In Nwaidrat, where anti-government protests began Feb. 14, the Mo'men
mosque had long been a center for the town's Shiite population —
photos show it as a handsome, square building neatly painted in ochre,
with white and green trim, and a short portico in dark gray forming
the main entrance.
Today, only the portico remains.
"When I was a child, I used to go and pray with my grandfather," said
a 52-year-old local resident, who asked to be called only "Abu Hadi.
"The area used to be totally green, with tiers of sweet water wells."
"Why did they destroy this mosque?" Abu Hadi wailed. "Muslims have
prayed there for decades."
In Shiite villages across this island kingdom of 1.2 million, the
government has bulldozed dozens of mosques as part of a crackdown on
Shiite protesters, an assault on human rights that is breathtaking in
its expansiveness.
Authorities have held secret trials where protesters have been
sentenced to death, arrested prominent mainstream opposition
politicians, jailed nurses and doctors who treated injured protesters,
seized the health care system that had been run primarily by Shiites,
fired 1,000 Shiite professionals and canceled their pensions, detained
students and teachers who took part in the protests, beat and arrested
journalists, and forced the closure of the only opposition newspaper.
Nothing, however, has struck harder at the fabric of this nation,
where Shiites outnumber Sunnis nearly 4 to 1, than the destruction of
Shiite worship centers.
The Obama administration has said nothing in public about the
destruction.
Bahrain — and its patron, Saudi Arabia — are longtime U.S. allies, and
Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Members of the Shiite opposition assembled a list of 27 mosques and
other religious structures demolished or damaged in the crackdown. A
tour by McClatchy of several townships suggests the number of
buildings destroyed is far greater.
The demolitions are carried out daily, Shiite leaders say, with work
crews often arriving in the dead of night, accompanied by police and
military escorts. In many cases, the workers have hauled away the
rubble, leaving no trace, before townspeople awake.
Bahrain's minister of justice and Islamic affairs, Sheikh Khalid bin
Ali bin Abdulla al Khalifa, defended the demolitions in an interview,
claiming that any mosque demolished had been built illegally,
recently, and without permission.
"These are not mosques. These are illegal buildings," he said.
That claim, however, is easily challenged. In Aali, for example, the
government rerouted a planned highway some years back so as to
preserve the Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque, residents say.
McClatchy visited three other sites where "before" photos of the
destroyed mosques showed they were well maintained, decades-old
structures.
Some sites had a wistful air. At the Sheikh Aabed Mosque in the
village of Sitra, once a ramshackle building that residents said was
more than a century old, prayer rugs and other religious paraphernalia
covered the ground.
Imam Al-Jawad (a.s.) mosque after destruction

Imam Sadiq (A.S) Masjid before destruction:

After Destruction:

Al Barbaghi Masjid Before Destruction:



After Destruction:



Masjid Rasoul Al-Adham(s)



Watiyya Masjid Before Destruction:


Watiyya Masjid After Destruction:

Um al Banin Masjid After and Before Destruction:

