VZCZCXRO4535
PP RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHMOS RUEHPW
DE RUEHJI #0357/01 1351121
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 151121Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9150
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1373
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1451
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 6487
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000357 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; 
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2016 
TAGS: KISL KPAL PREL SA SCUL
SUBJECT: MOSQUE SERMONS FORM SAUDI ARABIA - MAY 5: 
MORALITY AND PALESTINE DOMINATE SERMONS. 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller, for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
FROM EASTERN PROVINCE CALL FOR MORAL CONDUCT AND SUPPORT FOR 
PALESTINIANS 
 
¶1.  (C) On May 5, after a week's absence due to the death of 
his father, Imam Mohammad al-Qahtani returned to Imam Ahmad 
bin Hanbal Mosque in al-Khobar with a fiery sermon against 
immorality and in support of Palestinians.  His sermon began 
with a condemnation of the decadence evident in the Muslim 
community.  He blamed the moral decline on the prevalence of 
satellite TV, the internet and other modern means of 
entertainment and communications which undermined acceptable 
moral standards "as a cancer would a human organ."  He saw 
this baleful influence throughout the world, not just in the 
Muslim community.  He claimed not to be opposed to all modern 
entertainment, but excoriated the number of satellite 
channels and internet sites catering to sexual desire.  He 
described his own personal "experiment" in which he visited 
an acquaintance's home and surfed through the TV channels. 
He claimed to have explored nearly 1000 channels and 
considered over 700 of them "sexy."  He railed that so much 
temptation was bound to corrupt the population's social 
conduct.  The source attending this sermon felt that the 
imam's words implied that part of the blame "should be put 
squarely on the doorstep of the Saudi government." 
 
IMAM WITNESSES HOMOSEXUAL ACT, BUT IS UNABLE TO SUMMON 
RELIGIOUS POLICE 
 
¶2.  (C)  The imam continued his tirade against immorality by 
relating an incident he had witnessed while visiting a 
popular beach with some friends.  He did not identify the 
location or even the country of the beach, but the source 
indicated that most of the congregation understood him to 
mean Half Moon Bay beach in al-Khobar.  The imam related 
that:  "Some friends and I had spent the night at the beach 
where we ate a meal, played sports games (sic) and, following 
the dawn prayers in the morning, we heard some loud music 
coming from the direction of a nearby camp.  Curiosity got 
the better of us, so we went there to investigate and to tell 
the people inside to lower the music.  I went in and found 
the door unlocked.  What I saw was beyond belief.  I saw two 
men acting as a man and his wife would in their bedroom.  One 
of the men demanded to know what I wanted and when I couldn't 
respond, he ordered me out.  When I asked someone to call the 
Mutawas (the religious police), I was told that this was not 
possible because the place was inaccessible and off limits to 
the Mutawas."  NOTE:  The imam did not reveal to the 
congregation if he was ultimately successful in having the 
wayward pair arrested and executed for their "unnatural" act. 
 END NOTE. 
 
¶3.  (C)  COMMENT:  This incident sheds an interesting light 
on several aspects of Saudi society.  The admission by a 
religious figure that he had actually observed a homosexual 
act is powerful evidence that homosexuality occurs commonly 
in this country, even though it can bring a death sentence. 
It also shows that many Saudis seek out refuges from the 
strict moral behavior that is enforced on them, and that the 
operators of these refuges abet them by barring the Mutawa. 
It also should be noted that an imam, in furtherance of his 
mission to suppress vice, felt no compunction in entering the 
private residence of another person without permission, when 
his "curiosity" was aroused by signs of immorality, e.g. 
music.  END COMMENT. 
 
AS THE PROPHET MOHAMMED PREVAILED, SO WILL THE PEOPLE OF 
PALESTINE 
 
¶4.  (C)  In his next sermon, al-Qahtani held up the example 
of the Prophet's struggle with the tribesmen of Quraish as an 
example for modern Arabs concerned about Palestine.  In this 
incident, the Prophet and his followers were besieged by the 
Quraish for three years and reduced to terrible straits to 
survive.  Even the Hashemites, who had not yet converted to 
Islam, but were seen as sympathetic, were attacked by the 
ungodly Quraish.  But the Muslim community persevered, and 
the Prophet vanquished his enemies.  The imam compared this 
event to the lot of the Palestinians now.  The West, he 
complained, has denied the Palestinian people food, medicine, 
 
JEDDAH 00000357  002 OF 002 
 
 
clothing and everything necessary to life.  The imam said: 
"Like millions of other Muslims and Arabs, I want to send 
some money to help my Palestinian brethren, but how?  All 
roads have been blocked.  Egypt will not help; neither will 
Syria nor any other Arab country.  The West will not help, 
and it will not let others help.  But as the Prophet Mohammed 
came out victorious, so will the people of Palestine." 
COMMENT:  The apparent inability of an influential cleric of 
al-Qahtani's status to send money to the Palestinians 
suggests that Arab governments have had some success in 
controlling the transfer of funds by Islamic charitable 
organizations.  END COMMENT. 
 
FROM MECCA:  NOBLE GOALS CANNOT BE ATTAINED THROUGH CROOKED 
WAYS - INCLUDING WOMEN'S RIGHTS 
 
¶5.  (U)  In his May 5 sermon from the holy mosque in Mecca, 
Shaykh Usamah Abdallah Khayyat advanced the tenet that evil 
means cannot be used to achieve good and legitimate goals. 
He continued, asserting that "any action conflicting with the 
teachings of Islam is wrong," then specified that "any 
relationship between man and woman conflicting with the 
Islamic law is unacceptable.  (W)omen should not be allowed 
to attain their legitimate rights through sin and mixing with 
men." 
 
ALSO, A VERY MODEST PLEA FOR TOLERANCE OF ATHEISTS 
 
¶6.  (U)  In his second sermon, the imam celebrated the Muslim 
religion as noble and honorable, but cautioned that Muslims 
should not "abus(e) the gods of atheists in order not to give 
atheists a justification for abusing our God."  NOTE:  If the 
translation is exact, it demonstrates that the imam considers 
non-Muslims not simply non-believers, but atheists.  END NOTE. 
 
FROM MEDINA:  ISLAMIC VALUES PRESERVE THE NATION; MANY ARE 
KILLED IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM 
 
¶7.  (U)  That same day, speaking in Medina, Shaykh 
Abd-al-Bari al-Thubayti said that Islamic values protect 
society.  "Nations and materialistic civilizations," he 
claimed, "collapse because of their weak, self-interested, 
and even bankrupt ideals and values."  Then he asked:  "How 
many people are killed or wounded and how much property is 
destroyed in the name of freedom and interests?" 
Gfoeller