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### Viewing cable 07KUWAIT775, BANNING OF SAUDI SALAFI BOOKS AT BROTHERHOOD BOOK

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
07KUWAIT775 | 2007-05-16 09:48 | 2011-05-04 00:00 | CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN | Embassy Kuwait

Appears in these articles:
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10172
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10173
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10175
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10187
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10176
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10177
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10184
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10178
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10182
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10186
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10179
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10180
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10181
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10183
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10174

`

    VZCZCXRO6721
    PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
    DE RUEHKU #0775/01 1360948
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 160948Z MAY 07
    FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9128
    INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000775

    SIPDIS

    NOFORN
    SIPDIS

    FOR NEA/ARP

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2027
    TAGS: PGOV PHUM KISL SA KU ISLAMISTS
    SUBJECT: BANNING OF SAUDI SALAFI BOOKS AT BROTHERHOOD BOOK
    FAIR STOKES INTRA-ISLAMIST TENSIONS

    Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

    ¶1. (C/NF) Summary and Comment: Salafi MPs and their
    supporters have stepped up their threats to subject Dr.
    Abdullah Al-Ma'touq, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to
    a parliamentary grilling. The proximate cause was the
    banning of several books by former Saudi Grand Muftis
    Abdulaziz Bin Baz and Muhammad Ibn 'Uthaymin from an annual
    Islamic book exhibition. However, Kuwait's Salafis have long
    wanted to oust Al-Ma'touq from the Ministry of Awqaf since
    they see him as reducing their influence in the ministry
    through his hiring practices. The various Salafi groups
    showed rare cohesion in turning the issue into the major news
    story in Kuwait. However, they failed to convince many of
    their other Islamist colleagues, especially the Muslim
    Brotherhood, to join their cause. The episode shows the
    divisions between the Islamist groups in Kuwait, who barely
    managed to keep their parliamentary bloc together after an
    ego clash between the Muslim Brotherhood and tribalist MPs
    earlier this year. It also demonstrates the Salafis' greater
    appetite for ideological confrontation than the ICM/Muslim
    Brotherhood MPs, who have a better understanding of the
    compromises necessary to be effective political players. End
    Summary and Comment.

    Books By Saudi Salafi Ideologues Banned
    ---------------------------------------

    ¶2. (C/NF) Over the past several weeks, Kuwait's Salafis
    launched scathing attacks on Dr. Abdullah Al-Ma'touq,
    Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. The proximate cause
    of the attacks was the banning of several books containing
    the writings of former Saudi Grand Muftis Abdulaziz Bin Baz
    (d. 1999) and Muhammad Ibn 'Uthaymin (d. 2001). (Note: Both
    are popular among Kuwaiti Salafis but enjoy respect
    throughout Kuwait society for providing religious legitimacy
    for U.S. and other non-Muslim forces to stage in Saudi Arabia
    in order to oust Iraq from Kuwait. End Note.) The books were
    banned from an annual Islamic book exhibition organized by
    the Social Reform Society (the social wing of the Muslim
    Brotherhood in Kuwait) from April 21 - May 4. An Awqaf
    source told PolOff that the reason for the bannings was that
    the books contained fatwas declaring Muslims to be infidels
    for minor offenses such as neglecting prayer out of laziness
    (i.e. as opposed to the more severe offense of neglecting
    prayer because of a lack of faith). The vast majority of the
    writings of the two sheikhs have not been banned and were
    selling briskly at the book exhibition; one vendor told
    PolOffs that a book they co-authored was his second best
    seller this year.

    ¶3. (C/NF) As the controversy heated up, the ministries ran
    for cover. The Information Minister publicly criticized the
    Awqaf Ministry for committing a serious error in banning the
    books. Meanwhile, the Awqaf Ministry asserted that it only
    makes recommendations on books that should be banned, but
    that the Information Ministry makes the final decision.
    Awqaf held a press conference on May 8 to say that it
    recommended that the Information Ministry lift the ban on the
    books in question. Even after extensive media coverage over
    several weeks, there is still confusion among the public
    about which books were banned, who was responsible, and
    whether the books are still banned. The Government itself
    has not clarified the contradictory positions of the
    Information and Awqaf Ministries.

    Salafis Use Controversy to Attack Awqaf Minister
    --------------------------------------------- ---

    ¶4. (C/NF) The three MPs associated with Kuwaiti Salafi
    groups led the attack on Al-Ma'touq. Dr. Ali Al-'Omair and
    Dr. Waleed Tabtaba'i, both associated with the more hardline
    and political Scientific Salafi Movement (Al-Haraka
    Al-Salafiyya) joined forces with Ahmad Baqer, who is
    associated with the more socially-oriented Traditional Salafi
    Grouping (Al-Tajammu' Al-Salafi) in daily press statements
    aimed at forcing Al-Ma'touq to resign. The various factions
    of Kuwait's Salafis movement banded together for seminars and
    rallies criticizing the minister. Participants in the
    rallies are a who's who of the Kuwaiti Salafi community,
    including: the three aforementioned MPs; Khalid Sultan, the
    U.S.-educated leader of the Traditional Salafi Grouping;
    firebrand Islamist tribal MP Khalid Al-Adwa; MP Hussein
    Mezyed, a tribal Islamist who received Salafi backing in the
    2006 elections; former Salafi MP Fahd Al-Khanna; Muhammad
    Hayif Al-Mutairi, the Secretary General of a vocal Salafi
    group called the Nation's Invariables; and Scientific Salafi
    Secretary General Turki Al-Dhafeeri.

    SIPDIS

    KUWAIT 00000775 002 OF 002

    ¶5. (C/NF) Salafis have long made their disapproval of
    Al-Ma'touq clear. They lobbied to block his reappointment
    when the new cabinet was formed in March and many political
    observers had expected the Prime Minister to exclude
    Al-Ma'touq rather than provoke the ire of the Salafis. Among
    the accusations hurled at Al-Ma'touq is the charge that he is
    a Sufi. The movement, anathema to most Salafis, emphasizes
    spirituality over strict adherence to legal rules. For
    instance, Nation's Invariables leader Muhammad Hayif told
    attendees at a rally on May 13 that the Al-Ma'touq era has
    led to some imams leading prayers to Muhammad rather than
    Allah. However, the Sufi accusation is more likely a Salafi
    shorthand for someone who is not sufficiently committed to
    their particular strict interpretation of Islam. One Muslim
    Brotherhood-affiliated Islamist contact told PolOff that the
    Salafis see Al-Ma'touq's emphasis on the ministry's
    moderation project, with its declared focus on tolerance and
    combating extremism, as a not-so-thinly veiled attack on them.

    ¶6. (C/NF) Behind the charged rhetoric, many observers
    believe the Salafis' main objection to Al-Ma'touq is his
    hiring and firing decisions, which the Salafis believe have
    lessened their influence in the Awqaf Ministry since
    Al-Ma'touq became minister in July 2003. The Awqaf Ministry
    is responsible for hiring imams and assigning them to
    mosques. The ministry also suspends imams if their speeches
    violate the "mosque compact," a document which binds imams
    and restricts their right to talk about politics during their
    sermons. The Salafis have publicly accused the ministry of
    suspending 30-35 imams during Al-Ma'touq's tenure, most of
    whom have Salafi leanings.

    To Grill or not to Grill?
    -------------------------

    ¶7. (C/NF) The Salafi MPs loudly threatened Al-Ma'touq with
    an imminent parliamentary grilling if he did not resign.
    These threats came, however, less than two months after the
    Government resigned en masse over conflicts with the
    parliament and increasing rumors of a parliamentary
    dissolution if the "two authorities" could not cooperate
    better. Most parliamentarians agreed that the
    confrontational relations were unproductive and that the new
    government should be given some time to govern. The
    Government also reportedly worked out a backroom deal with
    the ICM to appoint an ICM member as a minister in exchange
    for the ICM's cooperation in easing Government-parliament
    relations. The ICM -- without whom the Salafis could not hope
    to sway the Islamist bloc in parliament to support the
    grilling -- therefore opposed further confrontations with
    the Government.

    ¶8. (C/NF) While some Salafis no doubt opposed the book
    banning on principle, others saw it as a political
    opportunity. Politically ambitious Salafi MP Ahmad Baqer
    told a local newspaper that he thought the ICM and liberals
    could not oppose the grilling because both Islam and the
    freedom of speech were at issue, while the populist Popular
    Action Bloc would always support grilling to embarrass
    ministers. Baqer also argued that Al-Ma'touq would not have
    any parliamentary support since he is an independent Islamist
    with no connections to any organized political group.

    ¶9. (C/NF) Baqer and the Salafis likely miscalculated. To
    date, no Muslim Brotherhood member -- whether from the
    political wing (the Islamic Constitutional Movement) or from
    the social wing (the Social Reform Society) -- has joined in
    criticizing the book banning. As one Brotherhood contact put
    it: "Why should we fight for their (i.e. the Salafis) issue?"
    The Salafis toned down their rhetoric following a meeting
    with the Prime Minister May 12. In the end, they found only
    tepid support from one or two isolated tribal Islamist MPs to
    join their crusade against Al-Ma'touq. On May 14, Salafi MP
    Tabtaba'i announced that both the Popular Action Bloc and the
    Islamic Bloc had requested that the grilling be postponed
    until the next legislative session begins in the fall. He
    insisted that he and Al-'Omair would pursue it at that time,
    but this is a clear defeat for the Salafis.

    ********************************************* *
    For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
    http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s

    Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
    http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
    ********************************************* *

    LeBaron

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