SAG PUNISHES POPULAR CONSERVATIVE CLERIC FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000401

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP;
LONDON FOR TSOU; PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2016
TAGS: KISL PGOV PHUM SA
SUBJECT: SAG PUNISHES POPULAR CONSERVATIVE CLERIC FOR
REACHING OUT TO SUFIS

REF: A. 05 JEDDAH 2479

B. 05 JEDDAH 3555

C. 05 JEDDAH 4939

D. JEDDAH 329

Classified By: Acting Consul General Hector Morales for reasons
1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. Jeddah sheikh Abdullah Fadaaq continues
to hold a weekly Sufi majlis, despite SAG efforts last year
to shut it down. In late April, the popular conservative
Saudi cleric Salman al-Odah attended the majlis, after which
the Ministry of Islamic Affairs barred him from participating
in a ceremony honoring students for Quranic memorization. The
SAG's inconsistent dealings with Fadaaq's majlis, together
with its retributive action against al-Odah, likely reflect
varying levels of success of the Saudi religious
establishment in influencing the SAG to crack down on Islamic
practices other than those sanctioned by Wahhabi clerics. END
SUMMARY.

FADAAQ CONTINUING TO HOLD SUFI MAJLIS


2. (C) Sheikh Abdullah Fadaaq holds a majlis in his
Jeddah home on Sunday evenings, where he and his students and
guests come together socially and to pray and study the
Quran. The majlis is controversial among the Saudi religious
establishment because of its Sufi perspective and because it
is attended by both men and women (though in separate rooms).
Fadaaq, a liberal, is often at odds with the religious
establishment. He has called for official recognition in the
Kingdom of the four principal schools of Islamic
jurisprudence, rather than solely the strict,
Wahhabi-sanctioned Hanbali school; and he frequently travels
throughout the Middle East to attend Islamic conferences,
appears on television, and writes articles on religious
topics, including an article recently published in the
pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat arguing against punishment by
death for converts to Islam who subsequently leave the faith.
(NOTE. Fadaaq invited ConGenOff, a non-Muslim, to attend his
next majlis, an indication of his openness relative to
mainstream Saudi clerics. END NOTE.)


3. (C) In June 2005, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI)
ordered Fadaaq to shut down his majlis (reftel A). The MOI
claimed Fadaaq had failed to obtain SAG permission before
making a TV appearance, but Fadaaq believes the religious
establishment was responsible for the move, in what he said
was demonstration of the power of Wahhabi extremists within
the establishment and their influence over the SAG. After a
September 2005 meeting with Interior Minister Prince Nayif,
Fadaaq was permitted to resume the majlis (reftel B). In
November 2005, Crown Prince Sultan apparently ordered Fadaaq
to shut down the majlis permanently (reftel C). Nevertheless,
Fadaaq has continued to hold the majlis since then without
any SAG interference. "Sometimes the religious authorities
bother us, and sometimes they don't", he said. "You never
know what they'll do."

CONSERVATIVE CLERIC'S ATTENDANCE AT MAJLIS DRAWS SAG
RETRIBUTION


4. (C) Sheikh Salman al-Odah, one of the most popular
clerics in Saudi Arabia (reftel D),attended Fadaaq's majlis
in late April. Al-Odah attended as a normal guest, though
Fadaaq did let him address the majlis for a few minutes.
Al-Odah, who was identified in the 1993 World Trade Center
bombing trial as Osama bin Laden's "spiritual advisor" and
who reportedly issued a 2001 fatwa justifying and advocating
suicide bombings, has, according to Fadaaq, lately been
reaching out to moderate and liberal clerics. Fadaaq
attributed al-Odah's recent, public conversion to moderate
Islam to his imprisonment in the 1990s for criticizing the
Saudi regime. "He got out of prison," Fadaaq said, "and
became a moderate."


5. (C) Many of al-Odah's longtime followers have been
less than pleased with the change. Fadaaq said both he and
al-Odah received death threats on various Islamist websites
following al-Odah's attendance at the majlis. Websurfing
extremists were not the only ones displeased with al-Odah's
reaching out to the Sufi cleric, though. Al-Odah had been
slated to speak at a ceremony in Riyadh to honor students who
had excelled at memorizing the Quran, but, according to
Fadaaq, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs subsequently barred
al-Odah from participating in the ceremony.

JEDDAH 00000401 002 OF 002




6. (C) COMMENT. The SAG's schizophrenic dealings with
Fadaaq's majlis, together with its retributive action against
al-Odah, likely reflect varying levels of success of the
religious establishment in influencing the SAG to crack down
on Saudis who follow non-Hanbali schools of thought. In this
respect, it may be noteworthy that Fadaaq, who has been
permitted to continue holding his Sufi majlis, comes from the
Hejaz, where Islamic practice has historically been diverse,
whereas al-Odah, who was punished merely for attending the
majlis, comes from the Wahhabi heartland of Qassim in the
Nejd. END COMMENT.
Morales