Institutional Iftar at the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation

On Sunday, April 7 and in the last days of the month of Ramadan, the Three Cultures Foundation celebrated its traditional iftar or breaking of the institutional fast to which the Seville Mosque Foundation was invited. An even more special edition since this year the Three Cultures Foundation celebrates a quarter of a century in the service of peace and understanding between peoples.

Among the many authorities present, the co-presidents, Antonio Sanz Cabello, Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification, and André Azoulay, advisor to HM King Mohammed VI of Morocco, together with the Moroccan Ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, were among the many present.

The event was also attended by José Luis García, Deputy Mayor of Seville, Ms. Patricia del Pozo Fernández, Councilor for Educational Development and Vocational Training, Mr. Enrique Millo Rocher, Secretary General for External Action, European Union and Cooperation of the Regional Government of Andalusia.

After the welcome by the Director of the Three Cultures Foundation, Lorena García, there were speeches by the representatives of the three Abrahamic religions, Mr. Gabriel Sánchez, Diocesan Delegate for Ecumenism of the Archdiocese of Seville, Ms. Estrella Roffe, representative of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain. Ms. Estrella Roffe, representative of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain. Ms. Isabel Romero, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain. Isabel Romero, president of the Islamic Board of Spain. And Mr. Jalid Nieto, spokesperson for the Seville Mosque Foundation. Ms. Irene Lozano, Director General of Casa Árabe, also spoke on behalf of the Spanish Government.

At the conclusion of the speeches there was a beautiful musical performance by Iman Kandoussi, which concluded with the Adhan, call to prayer, and a generous and delicious iftar, breaking of the fast.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Fundación Tres Culturas, especially to its director, Ms. Lorena García, for her work in organizing and inviting us to the event, as well as for her constant dedication to promoting knowledge, respect and coexistence.

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Hajj Khalid Nieto’s speech at the Institutional Iftar in Tres Culturas.
Seville, Ramadan 27, 1445, April 7, 2024.

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
As-Salamu Alaykum! Peace be upon you.

Time is relative. Our linear experience can shorten or expand it. But it also has other dimensions. In Ramadan, there is one night that is worth a thousand months. He who has the gift of finding it, experiences 80 years in one night, a lifetime. This night is called Laylat-al-Qadr and is described in the Qur’an Al-Karim. It can occur on one of the last ten nights of our fasting month. It is one of its secrets.

We often refer to Ramadan from its formal aspects, from what the majority observes. This is Sawm al Qalib, the fasting of form, necessary and prescribed.

But Ramadan also includes the fast of the heart, Sawm al Qalb. One of the characteristics of this fast is silence. This was the fast of Mary, the mother of Jesus, peace be upon them both.

Silence inevitably leads to reflection.

To reflect and to remain in silence are two forms of adoration to the Creator of the universe. It is to immerse oneself in that infinite time that is Divine and to contemplate reality with the distance of the stars. From this perspective, we observe the concepts that drive humanity: power and wealth, ambition, generosity, life and love, and in our days more than ever, war and peace, hunger and death, hope and future. Everything is relativized.

During this time of reflection, I have noticed how easily hatred can manifest itself in our lives. How we can dehumanize the other, animalize them and justify deaths with impunity.

There can be no peace without nobility. We must eradicate these behaviors from our thoughts and actions.

This obliges us to educate the new generations in the noble qualities of humanity.

As our dear and beloved Muhiddin Ibn Al Arabi said, although he was trained in Seville, “The intellect is the armed arm of the heart.”

Let me share a brief story to conclude. During this blessed month of Ramadan, there is a night prayer called Tarawih, in which the 60 ‘hizb’ into which the Quran is divided are recited. I coincided with a young man of noble appearance and incipient beard, who was sobbing in prostration, in sajdah. When the head is below the heart. The first time I heard him, I thought something was wrong with him. But the next day, I saw him again and so on for several days. Just before Easter, when the prayer was over, I asked him: Where are you from? He answered: From Morocco, Casablanca. And then I said to him: Are you studying? To which he replied: Yes, energy engineering. At that moment Ibn al Arabi’s phrase came to my mind: great hearts, great intellects.

At the beginning of Holy Week, I retired to the countryside where I live, and I assumed that he would return to his country with his family.

On my return, once Seville resumed its activities and it was easier for us to access the mosque, I did not see him and to this day he has not reappeared.

I wonder: Could it have been an angel who came to teach us on the nights of Ramadan? Allahualim. Good evening.