US embassy cable - 04HOCHIMINHCITY210

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000210 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
Dept for EAP/BCLTV, DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, VM, KIRF, RELFREE, ETMIN 
SUBJECT: MORE FRIEND THAN FOE?  THE CHAM MUSLIMS OF AN GIANG 
PROVINCE 
 
REF:  03 HANOI 01554 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  An Giang Province's small ethnic minority Cham 
Muslims expressed delight at U.S. interest in them and a 
willingness to meet again.  Poloff informally visited three Cham 
Muslim mosques on February 20, 2004, meeting with lay followers 
and one Imam.  The Cham shared current information on their 
practices, funding and religious activities while eagerly showing 
off their facilities.  Malaysia provides some funding to the 
community, while Saudi Arabia has funded the hajj for several 
followers.  Muslim representatives in HCMC indicated that Muslim 
groups nationwide currently have 72 students studying abroad -- 
including six in Saudi Arabia, 16 in Indonesia, 42 in Malaysia, 
six in Libya, and two in Egypt.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) Poloff visited the Jamiul Azhar mosque in Phu Tan 
district and the Moubarak and Nia Mah mosques in Tan Chau 
district, all directly across the Hau Giang River from the town of 
Chau Doc, An Giang.  According to believers, each mosque attracts 
40-50 believers for each of the five daily calls to prayer.  About 
200 people attend the two additional Friday services at each 
mosque.  Followers also attend classes, including Arabic courses, 
every day except Friday. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Initially, the three mosques were empty except for the 
caretakers, who reside on the properties, but groups of up to 15 
people quickly formed at each location.  The Imam of Nia Mah was 
waiting to receive Poloff personally, since the other mosques had 
called ahead to tell him "a delegation" was coming.  None of the 
people at the mosques identified themselves by name.  Followers at 
each mosque proudly showed off their facilities, including the 
main worship area.  The Imam invited Poloff to his house later in 
the day, after prayers ended, to meet his family and discuss Islam 
further (because of time constraints the invitation was politely 
declined).  Still, the Imam said he hoped Poloff would return in 
the future. 
 
4.  (SBU) The caretakers of both the Jamiul Azhar and Moubarak 
mosques reported that funding for their mosques came from three 
primary sources: ethnic Cham in other provinces, overseas Cham in 
America, and unidentified entities in Malaysia.  The provincial 
Committee for Religious and Ethnic Minority Affairs also 
identified Malaysia as a primary source of funding for the Muslim 
community.  The mosques have sent students to train in Saudi 
Arabia, Libya, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.  The two mosques 
combined currently have six students in Malaysia, three in 
Indonesia, and one in Libya.  According to Mr. Idress of the 
Muslim Representative Board in HCMC, Vietnamese Muslim groups 
nationwide have sent a total of six students to Saudi Arabia, 20 
to Indonesia, 48 to Malaysia, six to Libya, and two to Egypt since 
1995.  Four of the students in Indonesia and six students in 
Malaysia have returned to Vietnam already, while the others 
continue their studies overseas. 
 
5.  (SBU) Some members of all three mosques had gone on the hajj 
within the last three years.  The Imam had performed the hajj in 
2000 and his wife had just returned from the hajj this year. 
According to the Committee on Religious and Ethnic Minority 
Affairs, nine Muslims in An Giang province went on the hajj in 
2004.  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia funded the hajj for these 
individuals.  Two other individuals had been denied Saudi Arabian 
visas. 
 
6.  (SBU) The three mosques appeared to have good relations with 
the local government and the followers did not report any 
problems.  The Moubarak mosque has been registered as a Vietnamese 
historic landmark.  The head of the district government joined the 
group at Nia Mah and even participated in some theological 
discussion.  Security personnel (some plainclothes, some 
uniformed) quickly arrived at each mosque, however, and could be 
seen questioning individuals after Poloff departed. 
 
7.  (SBU) COMMENT: The Cham Muslims seemed genuinely pleased to 
have an American visitor and were even more excited to discuss 
basic Islamic theology with an American.  This attitude is similar 
to that of the leadership of another Cham mosque in the province 
(reftel).  The Imam and one of his elders also touted the 
commonalities between Christianity and Islam, as believers of both 
religions were "people of the book."  Lay followers did become 
nervous, however, after local security arrived.  Questions remain 
about the extent of foreign influence on the Cham Muslims, 
including the sources of their overseas funding and the number of 
students they are sending abroad. 
 
YAMAUCHI