CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY -- A PROBLEM?

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000355

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG, DRL FOR COFSKY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2011
TAGS: PHUM PGOV MO
SUBJECT: CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY -- A PROBLEM?

REF: A. 05 RABAT 00958

B. 05 RABAT 00991

Classified By: Political Counselor Craig Karp, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Morocco's Christian population is
primarily expatriates; however, in the last few months,
newspaper reports indicate that there is a growing number of
local converts to Christianity. While the converts seem to
lead "double" lives -- Muslim in public, Christian in
private, they may be increasing. The governmental and
religious framework declares Islam as the state religion.
The Government of Morocco (GOM) has not widely enforced laws
against conversion. Enforcement, however, cannot be ruled
out should Christian conversion become a political issue
whipped up by Islamic extremists or others against the GOM or
the king. End Summary.

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Religion in Morocco -- The Framework
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2. (C) The preamble to the Moroccan constitution says
Morocco is "an Islamic and fully sovereign state whose
official language is Arabic." Article 6 states: "Islam shall
be the state religion. The state shall guarantee freedom of
worship for all." The king is identified as the "Commander
of the Faithful" in Article 19 because of the Alaouite
dynasty's claim that it descends from Mohammed. Some
commentators have interpreted "Commander of the Faithful" to
apply to Moroccan Jews, as people of the book, which would
also cover Christians. Morocco continues fully to respect
the rights of its Jewish citizens. Respect towards resident
Christians is also generally true. Both Catholic and
non-Catholic churches, including Orthodox churches, are
prominently located in Moroccan cities and appear to operate
normally in general.


3. (SBU) According to the penal code, article 220, any
attempt to stop one or more persons from the exercise of
their religious beliefs or from attendance at religious
services is unlawful and may be punished by 3 to 6 months
imprisonment and a fine of 115 to 575 dirhams (USD 10 to 60).
The article applies the same penalty to "anyone who employs
incitements to shake the faith of a Muslim or to convert him
to another religion."

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Spreading Christianity
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4. (SBU) There is only one confirmed case in 2006 of a
non-Moroccan attempting to convert Moroccan Muslims to
Christianity. In November, a German citizen of Egyptian
(Coptic) origin, Sadek Noshi Yassa, was convicted of
proselytizing in Agadir. In accordance with the penal code,
he was sentenced to six months in prison and a 500 dirhams
(USD 60) fine for distributing Bibles, other books and CDs
about Christianity. Yassa did not serve the sentence; he
paid the fine, and left the country. Unlike in 2005 (reftel
A, B),the press made little of this case.


5. (U) In December, an AFP account reported that there are
fifty independent Protestant evangelical churches in the
larger Moroccan cities with a membership of one thousand
Moroccans who have converted from Islam to Christianity.
These Moroccan converts engage actively in proselytizing and,
according to the article, the number of converts is
increasing. The converts gather in groups no larger than
twenty; and, once there are more than twenty members, the
group splits in two. (Note: These churches are not
affiliated with any international Protestant church and are
similar to the "house churches" of early Christianity. End
Note.) The churches in major Moroccan cities are identified
as being only for the expatriate Christian community by the
Muslim Moroccan converts. Converts remain officially Muslim
in order to continue with their lives, according to the
article. Christianity is understood by these converts as "a
religion of tolerance and love," whereas Islam is perceived
as "a social straitjacket and not as a real faith," as
reported in the article.


6. (U) In January, Al Alam, the Arabic language newspaper
affiliated with the Istiqlal party, published an article
about the "evangelization campaign" occurring in Morocco. The
article paid particular attention to an increasing number of
local dialect Arabic language Internet sites devoted to
converting Muslims to Christianity and stated that
"evangelists" are freely "wandering" the country. The
article called for the criminal code to be applied to the
evangelists, pointing out that the Istiqlal political party
has already brought the problem to the Government of
Morocco's (GOM) attention. Saying that the constitutional
foundation of Morocco and the country's values are being
impugned, the article called for GOM action.

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Comment
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7. (C) The Moroccan constitution states clearly the
country's Islamic identity and the penal code further
elucidates this position. Such provisions are not unknown in
other predominantly Muslim countries. These provisions are
grounded in Chapter 9:11-12 of the Qu'ran which discusses
apostates, those who convert to another religion. The verses
are: "But even son, if they repent, establish regular
prayers, and practice regular charity, they are your brethren
in Faith: thus do we explain the signs in detail, for those
who understand. But, if they violate their oaths after their
covenant, and taunt you for your faith, fight you the chiefs
of unfaith, for their oaths are nothing to them." The
"hadiths," the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed, say that
anyone who abandons Islam may be killed.


8. (C) In Morocco, a Muslim must remain a Muslim both
because of his faith and because of his government. There is
an increasing prospect, however, for extremist Muslims to use
conversion and/or proselytizing as a way to convince the
population that the "West" is against them; or, for violent
action against Christians to be justified.


9. (C) There is no way to validate whether or not the local
Christian community is increasing -- we are unaware of any
statistics. It is not surprising that Moroccan converts
would be extremely reluctant to advertise widely. The GOM
has not so far intervened. It might, however, eventually
feel obliged to do so, should the presence of a local
Christian population become a political issue, exploited by
extremists and others to discredit the GOM, and, by
extension, the king.


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Riley