VZCZCXRO0766
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0510/01 0641427
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051427Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7626
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000510 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIRF PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: MINISTRY OF HAJJ AND RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS: EDUCATORS 
OF THE PUBLIC? 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs (MHRA) 
Deputy Minister Shafiq Samim and Senior Advisor Sharif Robaty 
said in a 2/4 meeting that the MHRA educates the public on a 
variety of secular and religious issues.  The MHRA has used 
its influence over government-funded mosques to call on their 
leaders to support the elections, and the government's 
health, education, and other programs.   Samim asked for 
increased international community support. 
 
MINISTRY AS VOICE OF THE GOVERNMENT 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Samim said one of MHRA's primary roles was to work 
through state-funded mosques to educate the people, whether 
on religious or secular matters. MHRA supports programs to 
work through Ulema (religious scholars) to inform the people 
about the elections, vaccination campaigns,  the negative 
impacts of narcotics, and other issues. The MHRA even 
supports programs to reduce popular questions and concerns 
about international forces. 
 
MINISTRY'S PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT WOMEN'S RIGHTS 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  For example, the MHRA works with the Ministry of 
Women's Affairs on a family planning program called the 
"Families Health Initiative."  The program operates in 18 
provinces and over 100 districts.  The Ministries provide 
funding for the Ulema to educate their followers on family 
planning issues by advising the people on Islam's views on 
such issues, and by urging them to visit local hospitals and 
clinics for family planning assistance.  Such a program, 
Samim said, was in keeping with the MHRA's commitment to 
gender equality. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Samim declared the MHRA had a "good ratio" of female 
employees to male employees, and had sent a "good number" of 
women on the Hajj as guides and facilitators.  The Ministry 
also had programs devoted to women's rights, and to combating 
violence against women. 
 
MHRA SUPPORT OF MOSQUES EQUALS CONTROL OF THE MESSAGE IN 
THOSE MOSQUES 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Samim said that there were 500 registered and an 
estimated 1,000 more unregistered mosques in Kabul.  At 
state-sponsored mosques, Ulema receive a $100/month stipend 
to help meet mosque expenses.  In return, the MHRA enjoyed 
influence over the messages delivered by the Ulema to their 
congregants.  It even monitored what the Ulema were saying to 
their followers.  The MHRA did not have the resources to 
support all mosques, and as a result had no control over the 
conduct or message of unregistered mosques.   The MHRA had 
not found any instance of an Ulema at a government-sponsored 
mosque preaching against the GIRoA, though he acknowledged 
that there were "undoubtedly" some Ulema that preached 
against the government in private mosques. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Samim acknowledged the MHRA's weaknesses, such as 
in the area of media relations.  He thought the MHRA could 
improve its performance with support from the international 
community (IC), which refused to help because MHRA was a 
religious organization.  He insisted the Ministry was more 
than that, as shown by its non-secular educational 
activities.   With support, the MHRA could broaden its 
influence, and thus better control the message the people 
received from the Ulema. 
 
MINISTRY SUPPORT OF ELECTIONS 
----------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  The Ulema had been very vocal in support of the 
2004 elections, and were now trying to educate the people 
about the 2009 elections.  Samim complained, however, that 
neither the IEC nor UNDP-Elect had sought MHRA's assistance 
on the 2009 elections.  (The IEC has worked extensively with 
the Ulema Council, which is not part of the Ministry, and 
considers its partnership with religious leaders to have been 
key to the success of voter registration in the conservative, 
volatile south.) 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Samim was willing to support a program encouraging 
women to participate in the elections, but wanted support 
from the IC, because the GIRoA did not have funds to support 
more ulema.  (The day after this meeting, Samim recorded a 
message encouraging women voters to participate in the 2009 
presidential elections, without promises or commitment of 
support to the MHRA.) 
 
MHRA ALSO SUPPORTS RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS 
------------------------------------ 
 
KABUL 00000510  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  The MHRA created, in conjunction with the Ministry 
of Education, Dar Ulums (religious secondary schools) in 20 
of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, at a cost of $1 million per 
Dar Ulum (pronounced "ooloom").  The schools were funded both 
through the Ministry and through private support.  Each Dar 
Ulum had student bodies of 1,000 - 1,500 students, some of 
whom were reconciled Taliban.  The Dar Ulums taught students 
in grades 7-14, while the madrassas taught students in grades 
1-6. (Though regular Afghan high schools end at grade 12, the 
Dar Ulums provide additional, university-level training to 
grade 14.) 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  Samim said 40% of the Dar Ulum curriculum focused 
on modern education, i.e. languages, computers, etc., while 
the other 60% was religion-based.  The students' favorite 
courses, he added, were on computers.  Each Dar Ulum had 10 
computers it had received from either the U.S. or the UK (he 
could not say from which USG agency).  Samim said that each 
Dar Ulum needed to have at least 50 to meet student demand. 
 
¶11. (SBU)  Samim added that Dar Ulums are facing a teacher 
shortage.  To address a shortage of Afghan-trained mullahs, 
the MHRA has hired Afghan mullahs who received their training 
outside Afghanistan.   For example, 100 mullahs with Medina 
University degrees (Saudi Arabia) were living in Nuristan, 
but had no jobs.  After being hired, these mullahs adopted a 
pro-government attitude, in a province  known to be very 
conservative and  not particularly supportive of the 
government. 
 
ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE (OIC) MEETING TO BE 
HELD IN KABUL 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU)  Samim claimed he convinced OIC Secretary General 
Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to sponsor an OIC meeting in 
Kabul in the near future, to encourage anti-government 
mullahs to support the GIRoA.  He had no further details at 
that time. (The OIC website's calendar of events had no 
mention of such a meeting at this writing.) 
 
¶13. (SBU)  Samim has served as Deputy Hajj Minister for the 
past 8-9 months.  Before joining the Ministry, he was the 
Senior Advisor on Religious Affairs to then-Education 
Minister Hanif Atmar.  Samim said that since becoming Deputy 
Minister at MHRA, he had consulted with representatives of 
the governments of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and others on 
how to better use the ulema to minister to the people.  He 
has also taught at Medina University, which has recently 
begun admitting women for the first time. 
DELL