Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08DOHA398
2008-05-21 16:11:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Doha
Cable title:  

ANOTHER RAY OF LIGHT - DOHA INTERFAITH CENTER

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KIRF KISL QA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9929
RR RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDO #0398/01 1421611
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211611Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7944
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000398 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/IRF JUSTIN W. KERN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF KISL QA
SUBJECT: ANOTHER RAY OF LIGHT - DOHA INTERFAITH CENTER
OPENS; PLANS FOR GOQ "OTHER FAITHS" COMMITTEE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000398

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/IRF JUSTIN W. KERN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF KISL QA
SUBJECT: ANOTHER RAY OF LIGHT - DOHA INTERFAITH CENTER
OPENS; PLANS FOR GOQ "OTHER FAITHS" COMMITTEE


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Doha International Center for
Interfaith Dialogue (DICID) officially opened May 14 at the
conclusion of the sixth Doha Conference for Interfaith
Dialogue. Former President of Qatar University, Professor
Ebrahim Saleh Al-Naimi, was appointed the DICID Chairman, and
will oversee the center's goal of promoting interfaith
dialogue and finding common ground for understanding among
the three major monotheistic religions. The Government of
Qatar also announced the creation of a permanent committee to
address non-Islamic faith issues due to increased,
predominantly Christian-based, religious activity in Qatar.
Minister of Awqaf (endowments) and Islamic Affairs Faisal bin
Abdullah Al-Mahmoud meanwhile portrays the increased
Christian activity in Qatar as a social issue and not one
directly affecting his work. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Islamic Affairs Minister Faisal Al-Mahmoud delivered
the opening remarks for the conference, mentioning that the
efforts of the previous, fifth conference would be realized
with the official opening of the DICID May 13. The Chairman
of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage,
Sheikh Meshaal bin Jassem bin Mohammad Al-Thani, officially
presided over the dedication of the DICID at the conclusion
of the conference on May 14. The concept for the center was
initially conceived and launched in May 2007 during the Fifth
Interfaith Conference, organized by Qatar University and
operating under a grant from the Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad
Bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Professor Al-Naimi said the center
will neither be a theological nor a religious institute;
rather, it will serve as an academic and research focal point
where members of the three monotheistic faiths -- Islam,
Christianity and Judaism -- can talk constructively. He
added that it is not the center's aim to tackle pure
theological issues or political disputes. Rather, the focus
should be on the common aspects and values of the three
religions and promoting common values and tolerance.


3. (U) During a November 2007 press conference, Al-Naimi
stated that the three religions face common challenges, such
as the changes affecting the family worldwide and the ethical

issues related to scientific discoveries linked to the
medical sphere, and the center's research would spearhead
debate around these topics. In addition, the center will
also begin work on establishing a database with the goal of
dispelling misconceptions and misinformation about the three
religions.

--------------
DICID ORGANIZATION
--------------


4. (U) The center is headed by an executive committee, which
follows the directives of an international board, including
members of the three religions, that meets twice a year to
set guidelines and review the center's activities. The
center's executive committee is comprised of academicians
Professor Yousuf Al Seddiqi, Vice Dean of the College of
Sharia and Islamic Studies and one of the founders of the
annual Interfaith Dialogue conference; Dr Hamed Marawani,
professor at the College of Sharia at Qatar University;
Professor Hasan Al Saeed, Dean of the College of Law at Qatar
University; and Dr Khalid Al Khater, professor at the College
of Business Administration at Qatar University.


5. (U) Members of the international board are Professor Aisha
Al Mannai, Dean of the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies
at Qatar University; Professor Din Mohammad Sahib, assistant
dean of the college; Professor Winston Cornell, director of
the King Fahd Center for Islamic Studies in the United
States; Father Vittorio Ianari, theologist of the Society of
Sant'Egidio, Italy; Bishop George Saliba, Syriac Orthodox
Archdiocese of Mount Lebanon; Johan Taylor, United Nations
representative of the International Society for Religious
Freedom, Switzerland; and New York-based Rabbi Rolando
Matalon.

--------------
"OTHER-FAITHS" COMMITTEE FORTHCOMING
--------------


6. (U) During a May 8 meeting with Ameena Al-Meer, Assistant
to the Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jasim
Al-Thani, Poloff learned the Government of Qatar intends to
create a permanent intergovernmental committee to address
other religious faith issues given the surge in Christian
religious activity in Qatar. The committee would regulate
requests for legal incorporation from religious groups
seeking permission to congregate and practice, oversee
sponsorship issues for religious leaders, and serve as the

DOHA 00000398 002 OF 002


single source, "one-stop-shop," for all "other-faith" issues.


7. (U) There are plans for the committee to be established in
late 2008. Religious organizations requesting official
recognition will require at least 250 signatures,
documentation on the organization to include a brief
overview, history, local particulars and a general outline of
plans in Qatar. If the organization desires to build a
worship facility, then full design schematics would need to
be submitted for approval.


8. (U) Al-Meer and local Catholic lay leader Renato Casiraghi
both maintained that the Amir had been committed to allowing
open Christian worship and the construction of a church for
over ten years, but internal disagreements among the
different denominations themselves delayed the Amir's
initiative. Al-Meer further stated that the creation of the
"Other-Faiths" Committee was a natural extension of the
Amir,s long-standing commitment to religious tolerance and
dialogue. It was also an outgrowth of establishing new
church buildings on the out-skirts of Doha in an area
referred to locally as "Church City."

--------------
ISLAMIC AFFAIRS MINISTER COMMENTS
--------------


9. (U) During his opening remarks to the Interfaith Dialogue
conference, Minister Al-Mahmoud said many debates on
religious values among the three principal religions reflect
growing concerns over contemporary issues. Thanks to
technical progress, he said, people are experiencing
"disorder," and the progress achieved in the fields of
medicine, economy, engineering and ecology seem to have
eliminated society's moral values. During a May 4 meeting
with Poloff, the Minister said interfaith issues and
establishment of non-Muslim religious institutions in Qatar,
specifically Christian churches, should be viewed as a social
issue, and are not under his purview of Islamic issues. He
would continue to participate in interfaith discussions as
the Amir,s advisor on Islamic Affairs, but hinted that the
"church" issue is a progressive social initiative instigated
by the Amir for the many foreign guest workers in Qatar.

--------------
COMMENTS
--------------


11. (SBU) Religious freedom is another example of the
progressive, top-down changes in Qatar directed by the Amir.
In the past ten years Qatar, has seen unprecedented and
tremendous growth in religious dialogue among Muslims, Jews
and Christians. The recent March public unveiling of a
Catholic church in Qatar brought Christian worship even more
into the public sphere. Conspicuously absent in both
dialogue and established places of worship are
representatives of the eastern religions such as Buddhism and
Hinduism, both of which are heavily represented in Qatar's
large population of expatriate Asians. "Other-faith"
translates to monotheistic faiths only. The real test of the
full effectiveness of the committee will be the inclusion of
all religions in dialogue, not just the three monotheistic
faiths. Thus far, Qataris are not prepared to take that
step, as evidenced by Ameena's having no plans to engage east
Asian communities in faith dialogue.
RATNEY