SOME PREACHERS CRITICAL OF UAEG-APPROVED SERMONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000209

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI AND NEA/PD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2011
TAGS: KISL KDEM PGOV KPAO AE
SUBJECT: SOME PREACHERS CRITICAL OF UAEG-APPROVED SERMONS

REF: A. 05 ABU DHABI 3242

B. 05 ABU DHABI 3299

C. 05 ABU DHABI 3161

ABU DHABI 00000209 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Michele J. Sison, reasons 1.4 (
b) and (d).


1. (U) Summary: The Friday sermons drafted by a committee of
scholars and Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs, and
Endowments officials usually do not provoke public reaction.
However, the sermons containing a more political flavor, like
those we have seen in recent months with condemnations of
terrorists and corruption, have prompted some public
criticism for the first time. End Summary.


2. (U) In early January, the local Arabic newspaper
"al-Emarat al-Youm" published interviews with Muslim
preachers who were critical of the UAEG's role in preparing
Friday sermons. It marked the first time anyone had publicly
criticized the UAEG for guiding imams on what to say. The
newly launched semi-governmental publication, cited
"appointed and volunteer" preachers criticizing the so-called
"unified Friday sermon" in the UAE. The preachers noted that
by unifying the sermon, the UAEG had turned preachers into
machines that merely relay the message to the worshippers,
thus preventing the preachers from freely expressing their
own opinions or proposing their own messages tailored to
their particular worshippers. In the article, the preachers
went on to say that each emirate in the UAE has distinct
problems requiring discussion in the mosques located in that
emirate. One volunteer preacher told the newspaper that some
preachers have advanced degrees in Islamic Affairs, yet were
not able to rely on the experience they have accumulated over
the years. Another preacher from Sharjah Emirate complained
that the UAEG sermons could diminish the benefit of the
sermon if it did not reflect the interests of worshippers.
Still another preacher said that the UAEG sermons had "killed
any initiative on the part of the preachers."


3. (C) Mohammed al-Roken, a promiment Dubai jurist and
moderate Islamist and social activist, told Poloff that, in
some circles, the prepared sermons were a source of jokes and
that he and others chafed at the idea that the UAE leadership
was trying to dictate what was discussed in the mosque.
Al-Roken said that the standardization of sermons was a
dangerous practice because it took away the ability of the
imams to respond to the questions and needs of people,
especially the youth. He further noted that standardizing
sermons did not change the nature of the people,s political
and social dialogue. It merely changed the venue,
transferring much of it outside the mosque, which in his view
intensified the danger because now radical dialogue could not
be tempered by the imam.


4. (U) The UAEG has been drafting Friday sermons since well
before 9/11, according to the Ministry of Justice, Islamic
Affairs, and Endowments. On a typical Friday, the sermon
contains no political flavor whatsoever. Worshippers receive
guidance about what is morally good and what is prohibited.
In the past couple of months, there were two Friday sermons
addressing the issue of avian flu, according to the
Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi. In May 2005, Friday sermons
tackled the more sensitive subject of the treatment of
foreign workers in the country. The preachers stressed the
need for treating all workers fairly and guaranteeing their
rights. Those sermons came in the wake of increasing
complaints by foreign workers claiming that their employers
had delayed paying their salaries. There was no public
outcry against the UAEG for using Friday sermons to address
these community concerns.


5. (C) When the Friday sermons began getting publicity last
summer because of their political content (see refs. A, B and
C),UAEG officials told us there was no public outcry. In
the aftermath of the bombings in Amman, Jordan, last
November, a Friday sermon broadcast on a UAE television
station said, "Our greatest disaster today comes not from the
people of other religions, but from people who profess to
belong to Islam, yet commit acts that have nothing to do with
Islam." The sermon placed the responsibility on clerics:
"The clerics should make it clear to the public that these
murderers are excommunicated because of their ugly actions
that violate the tolerance of Islam, and the mercy it has
brought. ... This is the role of the clerics, the jurists,
and the scholars." At that time, there was no public outcry.



6. (U) In late December 2005, approximately three weeks after
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed had publicly
denounced terrorists as disloyal towards their fellow

ABU DHABI 00000209 002.2 OF 002


citizens, the government sermon entitled "Loving our Country"
urged worshippers to "work hard to develop our beloved
country and help each other to build it up." The sermon then
exhorted the faithful to "fight against those who seek its
corruption and the corruption of its people. We must also
fight those who threaten its safety and protect our people
and everything precious in our country." Like other
"political" sermons, the message echoed the UAE leadership's
position. Approximately one week later, "al-Emarat al-Youm"
published its interviews with disgruntled preachers.


7. (C) Comment: We are not in a position to determine whether
the preachers who "went public" with their dissatisfaction
over the UAEG's role in preparing the Friday sermons
represent a broader opinion. No other media coverage on the
subject of Friday sermons has appeared. The fact that the
preachers raised the issue publicly, and that the publication
ran the story, will at the very least test the limits of free
expression in the UAE.
SISON