Letter to Mr. Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez, Mayor of Seville Categories: CARTAS

Att. Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez.
His Excellency Mr. Mayor. President of the Hon. Seville City Council.

Seville, February 12, 2015

Subject: “Islamic Cultural Center of Seville”

It has been a year 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.

We would like to briefly introduce you to the guidelines of the new project we are working on and its fundamentals.

In this new moment, the Muslims, residents of Seville, want our city to shine as it has throughout its history, containing a building that stands out for its beauty and elegance. A space for relationships that takes Islam and Muslims out of the undergrounds and factories, 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, like the one that spread from the East to the West, 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.

The framework where our project is inspired is the Imaret, which was traditionally conceived 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.

At the same time, we understand that to attract a new source of wealth to the city, it must contain a business and investment center and a tourism office that relate the values ​​of Seville to all the traditional lands of Islam.

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