Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06RABAT1882
2006-10-10 10:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rabat
Cable title:  

MOROCCAN ULEMA PUSH QARADAWI OFF THEIR TURF

Tags:  KISL PGOV PREL EG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4022
RR RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHRB #1882 2831050
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 101050Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4866
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 001882 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2016
TAGS: KISL PGOV PREL EG
SUBJECT: MOROCCAN ULEMA PUSH QARADAWI OFF THEIR TURF

REF: RABAT 1621

Classified by Political Counselor Craig Karp for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 001882

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2016
TAGS: KISL PGOV PREL EG
SUBJECT: MOROCCAN ULEMA PUSH QARADAWI OFF THEIR TURF

REF: RABAT 1621

Classified by Political Counselor Craig Karp for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Sheikh Qaradawi, the prominent Egyptian
cleric, has been attacked by Moroccan newspapers this Ramadan
after he issued a fatwa concerning interest-bearing loans in
Morocco. The controversy put the Islamist Justice and
Development Party (PJD),which had hosted Qaradawi in Morocco
this summer, and subsequently publicized his fatwa, in an
awkward position. The row is indicative both of North
African sensitivity toward being patronized by clerics from
the Middle Eastern Arab-Muslim "heartland," and of the
eagerness of the PJD's rivals to question the party's Islamic
credentials. End summary.


2. (SBU) This Ramadan, Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi, the
Doha-based scholar popular for his weekly spiritual program
on Al-Jazeera TV (and notorious in the west for his fatwas
legitimizing terrorism in Iraq and Israel/Palestine) found
himself in the center of controversy and the target of
criticism in the Moroccan media. The country's Supreme
Council of Ulema (religious scholars) reacted angrily to a
fatwa issued by Qaradawi in mid-September, accusing him of
overstepping his bounds.


3. (SBU) Qaradawi's September fatwa was issued in response to
questions Qaradawi received during his summer visit to
Morocco (reftel) from pious youth concerned that they were
unable to purchase homes without taking out interest-bearing
mortgages. Qaradawi ruled in his fatwa that since
interest-free mortgages were not available in Morocco
(pointedly contrasted with other Islamic countries),Moroccan
home buyers could be excused for taking out the loans which
might otherwise be deemed "haram" (forbidden).


4. (SBU) Moroccan Islamic scholars responded angrily to this
perceived encroachment on their turf, claiming Qaradawi had
no knowledge of local conditions, and charging that he was
operating outside his area of competency. Particularly
offensive to the Moroccan Ulema was Qaradawi's contrast of
Morocco with other states where "Islamic banking" is
available, and the implication that the Moroccan state sits
outside the "Dar al-Islam" (a concept connoting the community
of Islamic nations). "The Mufti (Qaradawi) was prejudiced
against Morocco in his comparison of the Kingdom with the
countries of migration (the west)," complained the
Secretary-General of Morocco's Supreme Council of Ulema.

SIPDIS
Pro-government papers made the most of the controversy, with
one running the headline "when outsiders second-guess
Morocco's religious scholars."


5. (SBU) The Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD)
found itself in an awkward position, having hosted Qaradawi
in August and initially publishing his fatwa - apparently
without anticipating any local backlash. The PJD's daily
Al-Tajdid reacted to the subsequent storm of criticism in the
leftist and pro-government press with the headline "Rather
than pin the blame on those who have denied housing to
Moroccans, the Socialists' newspaper attacks Qaradawi, whose
intent was to assist the people.8 Qaradawi was also
apparently caught off-guard by the controversy and himself
told the Moroccan press that he intended his fatwa only to
facilitate the purchase of homes, not to slight the Kingdom.


6. (C) Comment: The controversy was largely generated by
papers hostile to the PJD, which is expected to perform well
in the 2007 parliamentary election. While this row is likely
to blow over quickly, it is illustrative both of how eagerly
the PJD's opponents will seek to question the party's Islamic
credentials and more generally of Moroccan Muslims'
sensitivity toward being patronized by clerics from the
Middle Eastern Arab-Muslim heartland. End comment.


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RILEY