CARIBBEAN MUSLIM FORUM IN T&T

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT OF SPAIN 000767

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, INR/TNC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2016
TAGS: PINR PTER KISL TD
SUBJECT: CARIBBEAN MUSLIM FORUM IN T&T

REF: A. A. SECSTATE 064703


B. B. PORT OF SPAIN 00618

Classified By: A/DCM A. D. Miller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) The 2006 Caribbean Muslim Forum took place at the
Trinidad campus of the University of the West Indies on June
18-19. Pol intern attended forum. Approximately 40-50
people attended, most from Trinidad but with a handful from
throughout the region. The crowd was made up of about 2/3
East Indian and 1/3 African-ethnic. The Central Zakah
Organization of Trinidad and Tobago organized the conference
and invited Dr. Monzer Kahf, a Syrian-born American, to speak
on the Muslim pillar of Zakah, or almsgiving. Dr. Kahf is a
leading expert on Muslim economics, and has worked for the
governments of Pakistan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
Information on Dr. Kahf,s publications can be found on
website http://monzerkahf.com/about.html.


2. (U) During Dr. Kahf,s lecture, a participant asked,
&Should forceful means be used to collect Zakah from Muslims
who are otherwise lax in their giving?8 Dr. Kahf responded
that since Zakah is a tenet of Islam, giving Zakah is
crucial. He further stated that giving Zakah must be sincere
and come from one,s love for Allah. Dr. Kahf closed by
saying that forcefully collecting Zakah is just as bad as not
giving Zakah. Dr. Kahf,s response provoked a few grumbles
from some of the Afro-Trini Muslims in attendance. (NOTE:
The extremist Jamaat Al-Muslimeen (JAM) is largely Afro-Trini
in composition. The grumbles may have come from JAM and
sympathizers. END NOTE.)


3. (U) Most participants appeared to be Sunni Muslim with a
few participants who may have been Shiite based on their
clothing. Some of the high profile participants included
Rasheed Inusah the Ghanaian deputy-Ambassador to Cuba, and
Mohammed Hajja, the Secretary-General of the Latin American
Islamic Council, based in Argentina. Also of note were
Muhammed Soleiman, a Palestinian Imam living in Puerto Rico
for the past few decades, and Imam &Omer8, an Englishman
running a Muslim outreach program in Mexico.


4. (C) COMMENT: The Jamaat Al Muslimeen (JAM) is composed
mostly of Afro-Trini Muslims. Its jailed leader, Yasin Abu
Bakr, was arrested for threatening violence against Muslims
who did not pay their zakah to the JAM. The grumbles from
the Afro-Trini Muslims may have been to show their
displeasure with the idea of not using force to seize Zakah.
While there were private breakout sessions for high-ranking
Imams and Muslim representatives, discussions to which we are
not privy, the public forum was far more technical than
ideological. A calculator and math skills were more useful
than a pen. END COMMENT.
AUSTIN