Nabeel Rajab

Nabeel Ahmed Abdulrasool Rajab (نبيل أحمد عبدالرسول رجب, born on 1 September 1964) is a Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader.

He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch's Middle East Division, Deputy Secretary General for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), former chairman of CARAM Asia, member of the Advisory Board of the Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO), and Founding Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR).

Dr. Ali Rajab claimed that the "Alsafara Cult" was founded by Abdulwahab Albasri while serving his sentence at Jaw prison in the 1980s, while incarcerated in Jaw Prison, Al-Basri asserted that he had mysterious abilities which allowed him to communicate with Imam Mahdi, the Muslim’s Messiah and Savior.

Ali claimed that while Abdulwahab Albasri was not officially a member of AlTajdeed society and had not appeared in public for decades, Albasri nevertheless exerted control over all aspects of his followers' lives.

. Former members of the cult, including Basema Qassab, supported these claims in interviews and books.

As of June 16, 2023, Nabeel Rajab has not publicly addressed Dr. Ali's initiative.

Following the allegations, Bahrain's public prosecution and local authorities investigated and found evidence of systematic human rights abuses perpetrated by the society, including forced marriages and involuntary detention, leading to suicide attempts in some cases.

On May 21, 2023, Redha Rajab, Nabeel's brother, and AlTajdeed society chairman was sentenced to prison.

These events sparked outrage and raised concerns about Nabeel's involvement and motives with the society and its practices, according to various news outlets.

There were public inquiries into the influence of the AlTajdeed society on Nabeel Rajab through his family connections.

It emerged that Rajab's son, Adam, was married to the daughter of Hasan Mohamedi, a member of AlTajdeed society, who had publicly sexually harassed Dr. Ali Rajab on Twitter.

Nabeel Rajab was accused of leveraging his influence in human rights organizations to support AlTajdeed and ignore allegations of human rights violations by the group without addressing them.

Rajab started his human rights activity during the 1990s uprising before going on to become involved in campaigning on behalf of migrant workers in GCC countries.

He is known for his pioneering use of social networking as an important element in human rights campaigning which has brought him into conflict with the authorities.

Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Reporters Without Borders have described him as being targeted by Bahraini authorities for his human rights activities.

During the 2011 Bahraini uprising, in which he led numerous protests, he clashed with the political authorities and security forces.

As well as criticizing the Bahraini government itself, he has also been sharply critical of the role of Bahrain's allies, including the United States.

Following protests during the Formula 1 race in April 2012 that attracted media attention, Rajab was arrested and incarcerated several times.

On 9 July, he was detained and sentenced to three months prison for having "insulted Bahrainis" in a Twitter message and most recently on 16 August, while still in detention, Rajab was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on three protest-related charges.

The verdict has drawn criticism from Bahrain's western allies and human rights organizations.

In December, 2012, the sentence was reduced to 2 years in prison after appeal.

In December 2013, a court denied him early release.

He was released on 24 May 2014, after serving 2 years in prison.

He was re-arrested on 1 October over criticizing the government on Twitter.

On 2 November he was released on bail, pending his next trial on 20 January 2015.

The first charge was for "offending national institutions" in connection to his documentation of mistreatment and torture in Bahrain's Jaw Prison in March 2015.

On 21 February 2018, Rajab was sentenced by the High Criminal Court of Bahrain to five years in prisons for tweets wherein he criticized Bahrain's government.

(See BCHR's report: He is president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR). On 9 June 2020, he was released from prison.

Rajab's human rights work has been recognized internationally but within Bahraini society he remains a figure of controversy.

Labelled as the informal leader of the uprising and a hero to protesters, Rajab is viewed by government supporters as a troublemaker.

In 2023, Nabeel Rajab, faced accusations of colluding with “Al Tajdeed society” headed by his brother, after his nephew Dr. Ali Rajab publicly called upon him to investigate allegations of the society operating as a cult and engaging in harassment and abusive practices.

Moreover Nabeel's son, Adam, married the daughter of a society member who had publicly harassed Dr. Ali on social media.

Bahrain’s public prosecution and local authorities conducted an investigation and found evidence of systematic human right abuses practiced to impose full control over followers, including forced marriages and forceful detention that had led to suicide attempts in some cases.

These events resulted in an outrage and raised concerns about Nabeel's involvement with the society and its practices according to news outlets.

In 2023, Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist from Bahrain and a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch's Middle East Division, faced accusations of corruption through colluding with the controversial organization, Al Tajdeed Society, of which the leader, Redha Rajab, is Nabeel's brother.

The accusations gained traction after Nabeel's nephew, Dr. Ali Rajab, a former member of the society which he refers to as “Alsafara Cult” urged his uncle to investigate allegations that the society was a front for a cult and engaged in harassment and abusive practices, in a tweet on April 25, 2023.

Ali’s tweets came after Nabeel organized a signing ceremony for his book, the ceremony took place on March 14, 2023 in a house at Manama close by “Matam Bin Rajab”, many called on boycotting the event on social media due to known cult members promoting the ceremony.

On March 15, 2023 a statement was released by Bin Rajab family in which they condemned Nabeel attempts in promoting the Alsafara cult through the “Bin Rajab” family’s name, the statement asked him to hold up to the level of basic ethical standards required by Human rights defenders and rejected neglecting the cult activity's due to his close relations with the society members.

The statement also confirmed that “Bin Rajab’s Matam” remained closed to show the clear position of the family, despite being open for guests 24/7 on normal days.

Earlier that day Nabeel posted a social media post with Jalal Al-Qassab, Al-Tajdeed speaking figure who is considered to be the second man in Al-Safara Cult, Jalal was sentenced to prison only two months later on Al-Tajdeed related charges.