MOSQUE SERMONS FOR SAUDI ARABIA JULY 28: EASTERN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000514 SIPDIS SIPDIS RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2016 TAGS: KISL PREL SA SCUL SUBJECT: MOSQUE SERMONS FOR SAUDI ARABIA JULY 28: EASTERN PROVINCE IMAM STRESSES MUSLIM UNITY AND WARNS AGAINST CRITICISM OF ISLAM; MECCA SERMON PLEADS FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR DURING SACRED MONTHS. Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). FROM THE EASTERN PROVINCE: SERMON STRESSES UNITY OF MUSLIMS AND SUBTLY CRITICIZES REFORMERS ¶1. (C) At the Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal Mosque in al-Khobar on July 28, Imam Shaikh Mohammed al-Qahtani offered a sermon that left our source confused and uncertain as to the imam's intent. The imam, who is notorious for attacking followers of all but the Hanbali school of Islamic thought as counterfeit Muslims if not outright heretics, began his sermon by declaring that there is One Islam under One Book and One God. His speech seemed to dismiss the differences between the different schools of Islamic thought and even to embrace Shi'ites, proclaiming that "the Quran is what unites Muslims." ¶2. (C) COMMENT: Al-Qahtani is normally virulently hostile to Shi'ites and one cannot reject the possibility that al-Qahtani is deliberately tempering his well-known anti-Shi'a sentiments in response to the Saudi public's growing sympathy and support for Lebanese Shi'ites suffering under Israeli assault. END COMMENT. ¶3. (C) The imam then warned his congregation against "people who wear the mask of goodness and who appear and behave as angels, but in reality are nothing but devils in disguise. These people make huge efforts to project positive public images, they appear on TV, write in newspapers, and speak in public, and often have huge follow(ings) of people who have been deceived." The imam then proclaimed that "each human being will have to account for every word or deed in this world, and that the situation is even worse for those who engage in lying and deception on a grand scale." Significantly, he specifically called on those who attack religious scholars to repent and ask for God's forgiveness "before it is too late." ¶4. (C) COMMENT: The source found this sermon very confusing, in comparison to many of al-Qahtani's sermons in which the target of his wrath is all too clear. The source speculated that al-Qahtani was referring to Hasan Nasrallah or Qainan al-Ghamdi and others who criticize the Mutawas. Finally the source concluded that the imam was referring to all of these misguided doubters. In the event, the source felt "he was trying to say something without really saying it because he kept going in circles and was quite vague." In reading the report and comments, one may surmise that at a more general level, Al-Qahtani was broadcasting a veiled warning to reformers or those who would question the positions or pronouncements of "religious scholars," such as himself, implying that they would have to answer to a wrathful God for their misbehavior. END COMMENT. ¶5. (C) The source noted that al-Qahtani usually takes a vacation during the entire month of August and speculated that he would absent himself from the Mosque beginning next week. FROM MECCA: MUSLIMS SHOULD STRIVE FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR DURING SACRED MONTHS ¶6. (U) At the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Imam Shaykh Usamah Abdallah Khayyat devoted his sermon to a call for Muslims to properly observe the four sacred months of the Muslim calendar, of which the current month, Rajab, is one. During these months, fighting is forbidden and Muslims should refrain from committing crimes or sins. During a sacred month, the imam quoted from the Quran: "wrong not yourselves therein, and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together. But know that God is with those who restrain themselves." "Pagans," the imam related, "restrained themselves during sacred months. Is it not better for the Muslim, who accepts Allah as God, Islam as religion and Mohammed, ... to restrain himself from sins?" He added "Lucky is the one who attains the highest degree of God's pleasure by ... pursuing good conduct in this sacred month and in all the months of the year." JEDDAH 00000514 002 OF 002 FROM MEDINA: BROADCAST OF SERMON SUFFERED FROM TECHNICAL PROBLEMS ¶7. (U) The sermon from the Prophet's Mosque in Medina could not be heard due to poor audio quality. Gfoeller