GRAND MUFTI'S COMMENTS ON PROPHET SPARKS RARE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 000102

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA
LONDON FOR MILLER, PARIS FOR NOBLES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2020
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KISL KPAO SCUL SOCI SY
SUBJECT: GRAND MUFTI'S COMMENTS ON PROPHET SPARKS RARE
PUBLIC ATTACKS

REF: 09 DAMASCUS 00806

Classified By: CDA Charles Hunter for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Reporting on a January 19 meeting between
Grand Mufti Ahmad Hassoun and a George Mason University
delegation, London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi attributed
remarks to the Mufti that sparked outrage in certain
conservative Islamic circles. As a result, a public campaign
against the Mufti, led by conservative cleric Sheikh Said
al-Bouti, squared off against a clutch of secular writers and
liberal clerics who support the Mufti. International
anti-regime elements, like the Muslim Brotherhood, have also
waded in to the fracas. The SARG, while tolerant of the
debate in general, has punished imams who have attacked the
Mufti in their Friday sermons. End Summary.

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Who Said What
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2. (C) On January 19 Syria's Grand Mufti, Ahmad Badr al-Din
Hassoun, met with a group of graduate students led by
Professor and Rabbi Marc Gopin, Director of the Center for
World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) at
George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and
Resolution. Gopin has been working in Syria on and off since

2003. His primary on-the-ground facilitator is Hind Qabawat,
who has close ties to the government but is active in both
conflict resolution and interfaith dialogue. Qabawat and
Gopin have conveyed to us that they view the Mufti as a
moderating influence in the country, and as someone with the
political leverage to bring various religious leaders and
civil society activists together in dialogue. Gopin told us
he hoped to use the CRDC's connection with the Mufti to
promote citizen diplomacy and interfaith dialogue, both of
which he viewed as a crucial components in the regional peace
process.


3. (C) Following the Mufti's session with Gopin and the
students, Kamel Sakr -- a Damascus-based writer with Al-Quds
al-Arabi who was not present during the meeting -- ran an
article that quoted the Mufti as saying, "If the Prophet
Muhammad asked me to disbelieve in Christianity and Judaism,
I would disbelieve in him, and if he ordered me to kill
people, I would tell him that he was not a prophet."

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Apology Demanded
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4. (C) The published quote set off a firestorm of indignation
accompanied by calls -- published on the Internet and by
international press agencies -- for the Mufti to apologize.
Gopin and Qabawat expressed surprise over the reaction from
other clerics. Homs Archbishop Isidore Battikha told us in a
separate meeting that Damascene Sunnis did not like the Mufti
because he hailed from Aleppo. Battikha had not heard of the
controversy until we raised it with him, but he suspected
this antipathy might have contributed to the flap.


5. (U) A group of conservative clerics reportedly headed by
Sheikh Said al-Bouti (ref A) led the charge in Syria, and
were soon joined by other international groups. Muslim
Brotherhood spokesperson Zuheir Salem issued an official
statement to LevantNews.com asking the Mufti to admit his
mistake and apologize. On January 27, Abu Basir al-Tartusi,
a Syrian Salafi cleric living in London, posted a threatening
criticism of the Mufti, accusing him of being a "heretic" and
"henchman" of a repressive regime: "You, Hassoun, are the
mufti of tyrants. You are the mufti of the sectarian
Ba'athist regime that is suppressing the Syrian people with
iron and fire . . . I would like to say to you: be prepared
for your doom. Nobody has dared to slander or insult the
Prophet without facing grave punishment in the religion and
the hereafter."


6. (U) Defending himself in a January 22 Friday sermon in
Aleppo, the Mufti denied having made such remarks, claiming
he had simply informed the students that the Prophet
commanded Muslims to respect all religions and not to kill

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people. He reportedly told his congregation that he reminded
the students that "before you were Americans and before I was
Syrian, we had been brothers in God."

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The Defense
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7. (C) Liberal clerics and secular civil society activists
quickly banded together to defend the Mufti. Asma Kuftaro
(daughter of former Islamic Institute director Mahmud Kuftaro
and granddaughter of the former Grand Mufti, Ahmad Kuftaro),
the Muslim cleric Muhammad Walid Falyoun, civil society
activists Hind Qabawat and Yahya al-Ous (protect all),among
others, published web-articles at Thara.com explaining how
the Mufti's remarks in no way contradicted the Qur'an. They
praised the Mufti's tolerance and ability to break down
barriers between religions.


8. (SBU) While the SARG has remained on the sidelines of the
dispute, it has taken punished an imam for statements made
against the Mufti that were deemed too derogatory. Sheikh
al-Yaaqoubi, Imam of al-Hasan Mosque in Damascus, attacked
the Mufti during a January 22 Friday sermon. The Ministry of
Religious Endowments immediately stepped into the fray and
dismissed Yaaqoubi from his position.


9. (C) Comment: How the Mufti's comments were leaked to the
press is unclear. An apology from the Grand Mufti,
nevertheless, is unlikely. The Mufti is the source from
which Sunni religious authority flows in Syria. Capitulation
to his detractors could irreparably compromise his power and
would certainly tarnish his image. The Ministry's swift
action against the Friday imam reflected the strength of the
ministry's relationship with the Mufti. Public calls for an
apology will probably remain permissible, but ad hominem
attacks, we assess, will be viewed as an assault on regime
legitimacy and punished as such. An ironic outcome of the
scuffle is an alignment between anti-Ba'athist groups like
the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Tartusi with more
regime-friendly clerics like al-Bouti. Equally strained is
the shared protective mission of civil society activists and
the Ministry of Religious Endowments. Such odd bedfellows
demonstrate, at least for the moment, how religious issues
can cut across normally divisive political positions. Should
the chorus of expatriate, anti-regime Muslims grow louder, we
expect the SARG will be forced to tamp down public outcry in
Syria for the sake of appearances. End comment.
HUNTER