EMBASSY RIYADH'S EXPANDING RELATIONSHIP WITH IMAM MOHAMMAD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 000888 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS NEA/PPD FOR PAGNEW, DBENZE, NEA/ARP FOR JHARRIS, ECA/A/E/NEA FOR DIVES, ECA/A/S/A FOR CDANZ E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO PGOV PINR OEXC SCUL SA SUBJECT: EMBASSY RIYADH'S EXPANDING RELATIONSHIP WITH IMAM MOHAMMAD BIN SAUD ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY REF: RIYADH 00887 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Programming in Saudi Arabia can be an exercise in frustration, but paradoxically, as some doors shut, others seem to open wider. One prime example is the deepening Embassy relationship with the once-ultraconservative Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University, and its increasing willingness to work with the Embassy on programming. This appears especially true of some of the younger religious faculty committed to King Abdullah's initiatives for interfaith dialogue, and the increasing number of faculty who teach secular subjects, and who are largely Western educated. Imam University is eager to shed its reputation as a breeding ground for extremist religious thought, and also to become (and be recognized) as a full scale university, and not just as the equivalent of a seminary. Imam is engaged in a massive, USD 300 million building and expansion program on its huge main campus. Imam has 65,000 students (40,000 men and 25,000 women). (End Summary) GROWING RELATIONSHIP WITH IMAM MOHAMMED UNIVERSITY -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Embassy, working primarily through Public Affairs, has made important progress in building a constructive relationship with Imam University, once a noted breeding ground for extremist religious thought. It is the leading school in Saudi Arabia for training religious leaders and judges, and the Saudis aspire to see it viewed as the equal of Egypt's AL-Azhar. Its faculty and students have a profound influence on Saudi academia as well as the country's religious and political leaders. It has some 61 institutes across Saudi Arabia, and affiliates in Al-Khaima (U.A.E.),Mauretania, Djibouti, Indonesia and Japan, and previously in the U.S. Embassy's relationship began when the Ministry of Higher Education nominated a young (at the time 35) Assistant Professor of Sharia, Dr. Abdulkareem Al-Sayegh, to participate in a PAS Single Country (SCP) International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) for religious educators in 2006. ¶3. (SBU) In November 2007, Dr. Abdulkareem was appointed the first dean for the Center for Contemporary Islamic Studies and Dialogue among Civilizations founded at Imam University, the first center of its kind in Saudi Arabia. The Center's main objectives include promoting peace and understanding between the Muslim world and the West; promoting peace and tolerance within the Muslim world; fighting terrorism; and supporting emerging efforts within the Kingdom towards greater plurality and dialogue. PAS maintained its contact with Dr. Abdulkareem, and in March, 2008 arranged a Voluntary Visitor (VolVis) program for him for March, 2008 to learn more about how American institutions promote, initiate and develop interfaith dialogue. PAS funding was also provided for him to meet Imam Dr. Bashar Arafat, Founder of the Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation in Baltimore, who, as Embassy's Ramadan speaker in 2007, had visited Imam University. ¶4. (SBU) In August 2008, Embassy again hosted Dr. ARAFAT as its Ramadan speaker. Dr. Abdulakareem arranged an official meeting with Dr. Sulaiman Aba al-Khail, the rector of Imam University, and hosted at his home two meetings for Imam Arafat, one with a group of Islamic Scholars and one with the staff of his Dialogue Center attended by then Ambassador Fraker and PAS Counselor, as well as Dr. Abdulakareem's young (about 37) associate, Dr. Fahad Al-Homoudi. It was in fact Dr. Abdulkareem who had suggested Dr. Fahad as an excellent candidate for the 2008 Fulbright Interfaith Community Action Program. (See Reftel) Embassy is now working with Dr. Abdulkareem and Dr. Fahad on an SCP for Imam undergraduates as part of our program for religious educators. PROJECT FOR EMBASSY EXHIBIT AT IMAM UNIVERSITY -------------- - ¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador's dinner meeting with Dr. Fahad (Reftel) also appears to have given the final necessary push to a project we had been discussing with him. After viewing PAS' exhibit "Picturing America" at the National Museum, Dr. Fahad suggested bringing it to Imam University, which would be a first. He believed the students needed to be exposed to more and different cultures. Shortly after the dinner, Fahad informed Embassy that he had discussed the idea with the rector of Imam University and that the rector welcomed the idea. While "Picturing America" is now in Libya and booked for the next two years, PAS is working with Dr. Fahad and Imam University (through the proper channels, he was clear to note) to bring a different exhibit (probably on Abraham Lincoln) to Imam University during the new academic year, and with Washington to restage "Picturing America" in a slightly different form. RIYADH 00000888 002 OF 002 FROM A BREEDING GROUND FOR EXTREMISTS TO A MORE OPEN, GENERALIST UNIVERSITY -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Undoubtedly, Imam University is under royal orders to change its image (and the country's) as a breeding ground for extremists. Dr. Abalkhail was named rector in March, 2007. His appointment may well be connected to those efforts to change Imam. He told PAS last year that he had been working as an advisor to the Ministry of Interior on terrorism issues, including Guantanamo returnees. In January of this year he traveled to Tokyo with an official delegation from Imam University to participate in a seminar hosted by the Japanese Christian University, Doshisha, where he spoke about Islam and future of interfaith dialogue. But some of the religion faculty are also sincerely committed to greater openness and pluralism on a more personal level. Imam's rapid expansion and desire to become a full-profile university (in addition to Arabic, Sharia/Law and various other Islamic disciplines, it offers degrees in linguistics, English language, science, computer science, management, economics) also means that an increasing proportion of its faculty are western-educated (two of six vice-rectors) and know the value and necessity of greater openness and contact with the U.S. and the West. ¶7. (SBU) One result is that the influence of the extremely conservative Islamists (almost none of whom were educated outside Saudi Arabia) is beginning to decline. Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalaf, Dean of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research at Imam (M.A., University of Pittsburgh; PhD, Indiana) welcomed the April visit of the State Department's director for Mid East Fulbright programs, Donna Ives, and tried to put Imam's best face forward. Imam still has a very long way to go, and one should not exaggerate the possibility of rapid progress here or anywhere in Saudi society. But there is definitely a major opening for continued careful engagement with the U.S. Embassy and other foreign and Western institutions. ERDMAN