MOSQUE SERMONS FORM SAUDI ARABIA - MAY 5:

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000357

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2016
TAGS: KISL KPAL PREL SA SCUL
SUBJECT: MOSQUE SERMONS FORM SAUDI ARABIA - MAY 5:
MORALITY AND PALESTINE DOMINATE SERMONS.


Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller, for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

FROM EASTERN PROVINCE CALL FOR MORAL CONDUCT AND SUPPORT FOR
PALESTINIANS


1. (C) On May 5, after a week's absence due to the death of
his father, Imam Mohammad al-Qahtani returned to Imam Ahmad
bin Hanbal Mosque in al-Khobar with a fiery sermon against
immorality and in support of Palestinians. His sermon began
with a condemnation of the decadence evident in the Muslim
community. He blamed the moral decline on the prevalence of
satellite TV, the internet and other modern means of
entertainment and communications which undermined acceptable
moral standards "as a cancer would a human organ." He saw
this baleful influence throughout the world, not just in the
Muslim community. He claimed not to be opposed to all modern
entertainment, but excoriated the number of satellite
channels and internet sites catering to sexual desire. He
described his own personal "experiment" in which he visited
an acquaintance's home and surfed through the TV channels.
He claimed to have explored nearly 1000 channels and
considered over 700 of them "sexy." He railed that so much
temptation was bound to corrupt the population's social
conduct. The source attending this sermon felt that the
imam's words implied that part of the blame "should be put
squarely on the doorstep of the Saudi government."

IMAM WITNESSES HOMOSEXUAL ACT, BUT IS UNABLE TO SUMMON
RELIGIOUS POLICE


2. (C) The imam continued his tirade against immorality by
relating an incident he had witnessed while visiting a
popular beach with some friends. He did not identify the
location or even the country of the beach, but the source
indicated that most of the congregation understood him to
mean Half Moon Bay beach in al-Khobar. The imam related
that: "Some friends and I had spent the night at the beach
where we ate a meal, played sports games (sic) and, following
the dawn prayers in the morning, we heard some loud music
coming from the direction of a nearby camp. Curiosity got
the better of us, so we went there to investigate and to tell
the people inside to lower the music. I went in and found
the door unlocked. What I saw was beyond belief. I saw two
men acting as a man and his wife would in their bedroom. One
of the men demanded to know what I wanted and when I couldn't
respond, he ordered me out. When I asked someone to call the
Mutawas (the religious police),I was told that this was not
possible because the place was inaccessible and off limits to
the Mutawas." NOTE: The imam did not reveal to the
congregation if he was ultimately successful in having the
wayward pair arrested and executed for their "unnatural" act.
END NOTE.


3. (C) COMMENT: This incident sheds an interesting light
on several aspects of Saudi society. The admission by a
religious figure that he had actually observed a homosexual
act is powerful evidence that homosexuality occurs commonly
in this country, even though it can bring a death sentence.
It also shows that many Saudis seek out refuges from the
strict moral behavior that is enforced on them, and that the
operators of these refuges abet them by barring the Mutawa.
It also should be noted that an imam, in furtherance of his
mission to suppress vice, felt no compunction in entering the
private residence of another person without permission, when
his "curiosity" was aroused by signs of immorality, e.g.
music. END COMMENT.

AS THE PROPHET MOHAMMED PREVAILED, SO WILL THE PEOPLE OF
PALESTINE


4. (C) In his next sermon, al-Qahtani held up the example
of the Prophet's struggle with the tribesmen of Quraish as an
example for modern Arabs concerned about Palestine. In this
incident, the Prophet and his followers were besieged by the
Quraish for three years and reduced to terrible straits to
survive. Even the Hashemites, who had not yet converted to
Islam, but were seen as sympathetic, were attacked by the
ungodly Quraish. But the Muslim community persevered, and
the Prophet vanquished his enemies. The imam compared this
event to the lot of the Palestinians now. The West, he
complained, has denied the Palestinian people food, medicine,

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clothing and everything necessary to life. The imam said:
"Like millions of other Muslims and Arabs, I want to send
some money to help my Palestinian brethren, but how? All
roads have been blocked. Egypt will not help; neither will
Syria nor any other Arab country. The West will not help,
and it will not let others help. But as the Prophet Mohammed
came out victorious, so will the people of Palestine."
COMMENT: The apparent inability of an influential cleric of
al-Qahtani's status to send money to the Palestinians
suggests that Arab governments have had some success in
controlling the transfer of funds by Islamic charitable
organizations. END COMMENT.

FROM MECCA: NOBLE GOALS CANNOT BE ATTAINED THROUGH CROOKED
WAYS - INCLUDING WOMEN'S RIGHTS


5. (U) In his May 5 sermon from the holy mosque in Mecca,
Shaykh Usamah Abdallah Khayyat advanced the tenet that evil
means cannot be used to achieve good and legitimate goals.
He continued, asserting that "any action conflicting with the
teachings of Islam is wrong," then specified that "any
relationship between man and woman conflicting with the
Islamic law is unacceptable. (W)omen should not be allowed
to attain their legitimate rights through sin and mixing with
men."

ALSO, A VERY MODEST PLEA FOR TOLERANCE OF ATHEISTS


6. (U) In his second sermon, the imam celebrated the Muslim
religion as noble and honorable, but cautioned that Muslims
should not "abus(e) the gods of atheists in order not to give
atheists a justification for abusing our God." NOTE: If the
translation is exact, it demonstrates that the imam considers
non-Muslims not simply non-believers, but atheists. END NOTE.

FROM MEDINA: ISLAMIC VALUES PRESERVE THE NATION; MANY ARE
KILLED IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM


7. (U) That same day, speaking in Medina, Shaykh
Abd-al-Bari al-Thubayti said that Islamic values protect
society. "Nations and materialistic civilizations," he
claimed, "collapse because of their weak, self-interested,
and even bankrupt ideals and values." Then he asked: "How
many people are killed or wounded and how much property is
destroyed in the name of freedom and interests?"
Gfoeller