Letter to Mr. Juan Espadas Cejas, Mayor of Seville Categories: CARTAS

Mr. Juan Espadas Cejas.
His Excellency Mr. Mayor. President of the Hon. Seville City Council.

Seville, March 30, 2016

Subject: “Islamic Cultural Center of Seville”

The governing board of the Fundación Mezquita de Sevilla and on its behalf its vice president, Luis Hernández Martínez, wants to inform you as he did with your predecessor, Mr. Ignacio Zoido, that we continue our clear and firm intention to build a Islamic Cultural Center in the city of Seville.

It has been two years since the governing board of the Seville Mosque Foundation was renewed, and with it the intention of providing the city with a space that meets the needs of the Muslim population. A project that has been carried out since its inception in an open and transparent way, in the face of its inhabitants and institutions, through our media and all those national and international media that have echoed it.

During this time, the Seville Mosque Foundation has done extensive and successful work gathering governmental, institutional and economic support for this purpose in various countries.

The project of the Islamic Cultural Center of Seville is based on the successful precedent set by the Great Mosque of Granada and its cultural center, endorsed by more than 13 years of experience, as an example of coexistence with the neighborhood and the authorities of the town. Both under the agreements of the State with the Islamic Commission of Spain, through its founder, the Islamic Community in Spain.

A project based on service, involvement and social responsibility, and strengthening the ties of all members of Seville society. The Islamic Cultural Center of Seville, without a doubt, will open new doors to a space for dialogue that will be transformed into wealth at all levels. A space of relationship that takes Islam and Muslims out of the underground and warehouses, and where Islam can be appreciated for its reality and its light.

That is why we have conceived our project of the Islamic Cultural Center of Seville as the best way of relating to the city, our human, historical and institutional environment. A city that has inherited a great heritage from Islam in wealth and representation over time.

We believe in a civilizing, dynamic and living Islam, which was not exclusive of cultures, but was a vehicle for relations between areas as far away as Indonesia and the Maghreb. An Islam totally against any radical and extremist position to which our society is constantly being exposed.

The framework where our project is inspired is in an open model, containing spaces for teaching, health, library and study rooms, community dining room, spiritual center and mosque. As an element that is a creative pattern of culture and civilization. An open space in services and activities to all the residents of Seville.

With the success of this project, God willing, our contribution will enrich the city in all the aforementioned aspects and we will be able to envision a horizon that establishes a relationship with Islam beyond the strict religious framework that is being imposed on it, so that the city, its inhabitants and institutions, understand that this project responds to a citizen need that formulates it to enrich coexistence and social development.

We remain at your entire disposal in what you and the Hon. Seville City Council requires our Foundation.

Kind regards,

Luis Hernandez Martinez

Vice president