RELIGION IN SENEGAL-THE SHIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000130

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL/AE AND INR/AA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINS SOCI PINR KDEM KISL KIRF SG
SUBJECT: RELIGION IN SENEGAL-THE SHIA

DAKAR 00000130 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY DCM JAY T. SMITH FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D).

1.(C) SUMMARY: This is the fourth in a series of cables
analyzing religion in Senegal. This cable is about the Shia.
While the number of people who identify themselves as Shia
Muslims may be small in number, they wield an outsize
influence in the country's economic landscape due to the
prosperity of the predominantly Shia Lebanese community.
Furthermore, of all of Senegal's various religious
denominations it is perhaps the Shia who have the most
international connections; connections which stretch deep
into Lebanon and Iran as well as with Hezbollah. There are a
small number of Senegalese who profess to be Shia. End
Summary.

By the Numbers
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2. (C) According to Cheikh Abdul Monem el-Zein, the spiritual
leader of the Lebanese Shia community who has been here since
June 1969, there are approximately 25-30,000 Lebanese living
in Senegal, mostly in Dakar. This community dates back to
the 1880's. The 64 year old Zein estimates that 90 percent
are Shia with the remaining 10 percent Maronites. As for the
Senegalese Shia, Imam Ibrahima Thiam, the Imam of the Shia
mosque in the Pompiers district of Dakar, estimates that
there are no more than 5,000 throughout the country. Imam
Thiam, whose mosque was built by the wealthy Lebanese
businessman Ibrahim Derwish in 1986, commented that even
though it was the Lebanese Shia, including Zein, that trained
him and five of his colleagues back in the 1970's the two
communities seldom interact with another even though they
share the same faith. He wryly added that the Lebanese were
very reserved and did not wish to intermingle with the
Senegalese very much.

The Roots
--------------


3. (C) Zein, who received his introduction to religion in a
Sunni institution after having attended Catholic middle
school, informed us that the first three generations of
Lebanese were just interested in working to take care of
their families as they had originally left Lebanon to get
away from poverty. Now the fourth and fifth generations are
doctors, lawyers and businessmen. He added that apart from a
handful, they are not active in local politics. It is
rumored that many remit money or support Hezbollah as a
matter of course. For his part, Imam Thiam said that the
Senegalese Shia community had its genesis in Senegal in the
early 70's but that it was the Iranian revolution and the
"charismatic figure" of Ayatollah Khomeini that kindled the
curiosity of Senegalese intellectuals who began to read and
research the Shia movement. Today his mosque has 100 regular
congregants; although about 3,000, mostly Sunnis, attend
Friday prayers. He added that several hundred Senegalese
students either are studying or have studied in Lebanon and
Iran-mostly in Qom.

The Philosophy
--------------


4. (C) Cheikh Zein, whose personal influence on the Shia
community is reportedly waning somewhat, underlined that the
relationship between the various religious groups in Senegal
have been and remain peaceful, "All political leaders come
and see me. Whenever religious groups have any major event I
am invited. We have no quarrels with anybody. I am sincere
when I say that my goal is to help both Senegal and Lebanon."
He then admonished the United States, "The US should not
approach religion by focusing on the differences between the
religious rituals or traditions of various religious groups.
Such a negative approach is destructive. Anyway these
differences are tiny and really a matter of perspective; in
essence not much separates us from the Sunnis. Attempts to
highlight those differences are what have lead to the current
conflicts between these two strains of Islam." Thiam is more
pragmatic, "I fear the growth of Wahhabism in Senegal. It
hurts us when they accuse us of being non-Muslims. They are
always tense and lack spiritual peace of mind because they
are so intolerant of other religious viewpoints."

Iraq
--------------


5. (C) Thiam said, "By the grace of God the US is the most
powerful nation on earth and had a mission to eliminate a

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microbe called Saddam Hussein. Now that that mission has
been accomplished you have to withdraw, otherwise there will
never be peace as you will always be seen as a colonial
occupier. The US has tried a lot of things in Iraq and
failed perhaps now the time has come to try withdrawal. Of
course the US must keep an eye on Iraq but the Iraqis need to
be given an opportunity to see whether or not they can run
their own country."

Comment
--------------

6. (C) If it were not for ties to Hezbollah and Iran,
coupled with the prosperity of the Lebanese, the Shia
community in Senegal would barely register on the country's
religious radar and yet it is for these reasons that this
group needs to be monitored more than, say the Wahhabi or the
Salafists. While their numbers are small, and they try to
keep out of the limelight it is known that a small number of
wealthy and influential Lebanese have links, especially
financial, to Hezbollah and that many more in the community
contribute money out of a need to show fealty to the
homeland. Meanwhile, some young Senegalese Shia continue to
receive religious training in places like Iran, thus
increasing that country's influence within the local
community's affairs. End Comment
BERNICAT