Fredi Kanoute, Islam and the Importance of Giving Back – The Independent

The former Sevilla footballer is behind a project to build the first mosque in Seville in 700 years. Tusdiq Din finds an interesting history in the Andalusian capital.

Fredi Kanoute always knew he wanted to give something back. After his retirement in 2013, the former West Ham, Tottenham and Sevilla striker has returned to football through various charities, and especially to the city of Seville, where between 2005 and 2012 he stayed the longest in his career and had the most success.

Lifting the UEFA Cup and Copa del Rey twice, as well as a UEFA Super Cup, the 2007 African footballer of the year left a lasting legacy in the Andalusian capital, which goes beyond football.

In 2007, he personally financed the purchase of a €500,000 mosque on the ground floor of a residential building in central Seville, Plaza Ponce de León, and is now behind an initiative to build the city’s first mosque and cultural center in the last 700 years to meet the needs of the growing Muslim community. Before arriving in Seville, the Malian striker was aware of Spain’s Islamic history, but he was surprised by the reality he found and that there was no mosque in which he could pray regularly.

“When I arrived in Seville, I imagined a place where we could easily find one or two mosques built, especially since I knew the past of Andalusia, and I thought that there were still some remains of this culture.

“But when I arrived, I saw that everything had been left in the external form of the buildings. You can still see a lot of calligraphy on the Giralda, which used to be a minaret [de la histórica Gran Mezquita de Sevilla]. At the door of the Giralda, for example. The street names, there are some Arabic names, where you can still feel the weight of history,” says Kanoute.

Seville’s Islamic history and culture date back 800 years to a time when Islam, Judaism, and Christianity prevailed in peaceful coexistence.

Passing by today’s traditional tourist carts that share the roads with sleek, modern trams, just a short walk from central Seville’s Plaza de La Encarnación and the spectacular wooden structure of Las Setas, is the local Seville Mosque Foundation that Kanoute bought for Seville’s Muslim community when they faced eviction in 2007. The ornate wooden structure makes a nice entrance; However, its capacity of 200, with limited space and ablution facilities, has meant that the facilities have become obsolete and insufficient.

“You can see how small it is. Upstairs we have neighbours and sometimes during Ramadan [Traweah, night prayers] they complain about the noise, rightly so,” Spanish imam Abdul Ghani tells me. “We need, it’s not just about a bigger place, but also about showing the dignity of the Deen [Islam] in the city, showing people what Islam is. We need a nice building in a good area to show people who we are, Muslims, something that dignifies our worship in the city.”

In his 209 appearances for Sevilla FC, Kanoute scored 89 goals, and has now stepped up once again with the #Kanoute4SevilleMosuqe campaign, with the initial goal of raising $250,000. High-net-worth donors have also been contacted, while Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure and Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy are among the Premier League players expressing support for Kanoute’s project, as are former Arsenal player Abou Diaby.

One of the reasons behind Kanoute’s work for the construction of a Mosque in Seville is the growing number of Spanish Muslims there.

Ibrahim Hernández, president of the Seville Mosque Foundation, and Luqman Nieto, who has memorized the entire 30 chapters of the Koran, is the vice president. Both were born in Spain.

“I found a fantastic community made up not only of immigrants, as we always imagine Muslims coming from abroad. Many are Spanish Muslims by birth or converts. They are from there, from Andalusia,” says Kanoute.

Hernandez, who was a volleyball international in his teens, is ideally positioned not only to lead the mosque’s funding campaign, but also to allay any concerns from his countrymen, many of whom may not have set foot in a mosque. After the Friday Jumma prayer, we sat down to talk, and he cites the opening in 2003 of the first purpose-built mosque 250km away in Granada, as an example of the challenges facing the Seville project. The mosque, opposite the Alhambra, a Unesco World Heritage Site, attracts tourists visiting the famous Andalusian monument.

“We try to be as positive as possible. We have the experience of the mosque in Granada, which my parents, our parents, built for 25 years. There was a great deal of opposition, until the day it opened. The day it opened, people were welcomed, people saw reality and then all fears were gone. It’s all fear and lack of knowledge, and we know from experience that as soon as you sit down with someone for five minutes, all the misconceptions you have about Islam fall apart.”

“Allah has certainly put us in a very privileged position to be able to change people’s perception of Islam, because we are not alien to this country, we are not alien to the culture,” Hernandez says. “This is my culture, this is my country, and I love my country and I love my culture. But I am a Muslim and I am a proud Muslim, and I believe that there is no incompatibility between being European and being a Muslim.

“I am a very proud European and a very proud Muslim, and this is something that will hopefully make it easier for people to understand that Islam is not something foreign to the country. It does not belong to any country, it does not belong to any tribe or race, Islam is something universal and it is something for all humanity.

“I think the new mosque will be something very positive, not only for Seville but for the rest of Spain, Europe and the world, inshallah”.

In his seven years at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, Kanoute was a fan favourite for Los Rojiblancos, and Sevilla have left a lasting and steady impression on him.

“It has this special flavor, this special light, and it’s been passed down from generation to generation. And even though most of the people there are not Muslims, you can see that they have chosen that culture: the way people live together, the hospitality of the people, their kindness, everything, so I think it’s a special place. That’s why maybe I’ve stayed there longer and had the most success. As we know, when a person, not just an athlete, feels good in a place, there’s a better chance they’re going to succeed.”

The completion of the first mosque in Seville is Kanoute’s goal, and he wants to emphasize that the facility will be open to all.

“It’s not just aimed at Muslims. We’ve received support and donations from people outside the community and that’s what we want to encourage people to do, because I mean, beyond the fact that it’s a mosque, it’s also a cultural center. I don’t believe in a mosque just to pray, but to bring people together, and really make a change and have an impact on the community at large.”

He scored crucial goals throughout his career, but Kanoute says they will be of little value when he faces a higher test. “When I meet my Lord, when I meet God, he will not ask me how many goals I have scored, although it would be good to add them on my scale, but what I have done with my time here.”

For Kanoute, reciprocating those who received it will be a win-win transaction.

Article from ‘Independent’, written by Tusdiq Din. (Translation by the Mosque of Seville Foundation)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/fredi-kanoute-seville-mosque-foundation-interview-a8976271.html