Bahraini Metal Concert Organizers Affected by 'Devil Worship' Claims

May 16, 2006

Tariq Khonji of Bahrain's Gulf Daily News is reporting that a Bahraini MP claims Bahrain has hundreds of devil worshippers — many of whom are followers of certain types of rock, such as heavy metal and death metal — and is calling on all segments of society to unite to combat what he described as a growing problem. MP Shaikh Mohammed Khalid says he has had secret meetings with two upper class Bahrainis who admitted to him that they worship the devil.

He says they spoke to him on the condition of anonymity and could not reveal who they were.

But he said they described to him "despicable" acts they performed together involving perverted sex, alcohol and heavy metal and death metal music.

The issue of devil worship has been a recurring one in the local Arabic Press.

Many organizers of rock concerts in Bahrain say their reputations as law-abiding citizens have been affected by this "hysteria."

Nineteen-year-old Bahraini Mohammed Ishaq was an organizer of one such event, which was labelled as a devil-worshipping gathering in an Arabic newspaper article.

He says such allegations do a lot of harm to innocent people.

"Rock music, including death and black metal, are just styles of music.

"People wearing black to these events is just a fashion statement and nothing more."

Bahraini Jassim Al Janahi, 21, has had similar allegations made about events he has been involved in.

"The things that have been claimed in the paper, including the kidnapping and killing of children, are not things that even devil worshippers do."

Al Janahi said that many critics fail to understand that even when metal bands sing about devil-related themes, they are not being serious.

"It's just for show and sometimes they mean it as a joke," he said.

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