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Last year at this time, a conference was held at the Seville Mosque Foundation by Hajj Ibrahim Musa Isa Touriño that we would like to rescue. It was about the “Risala of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan”, or, as it is better known in the West, “The self-taught philosopher”, by the Andalusian author Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Tufayl. This conference took place …

What is a Wakf? The first wakf model recorded in Medina Al-Munawara was the one created by Abu Talha and known from the following hadith: “Anas related: Abu Talha had more properties in palm groves than any other Ansar of Medina. His favorite property was Bayruha which was situated next to the Mosque. The Messenger of Allah, s.a.w.s., used to …

When I first received the e-mail giving me the title of this conference, I was quite dismayed. Firstly, futuwwa was a subject I did not know too well and secondly, I was unable to see what relevance it might have for the young people of this era who are the focus of this meeting. As far as I was concerned, …

It has been related from Anas Ibn Malik, in Bukhari, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “Among the signs of the Hour (the end of this world), are the disappearance of knowledge, the establishment of ignorance, the drinking of wine and the appearance of fornication”. Abu Hurayra related from the Prophet, may …

We must look to the French Revolution if we are to understand the origin of the ideology and violence of the Islamic State. For some weeks now there have been insinuations that the Islamic State and its ideologies are some kind of throwback to a distant past. Frequently couched in language such as that used last week by British Deputy …

If the Sephardim have obtained historical reparation from Spain, why not the Moriscos? The descendants of those Moriscos expelled from Spain in the 17th century do not hide a certain feeling of “exclusion” and demand the same treatment from Spain as that reserved for the Sephardic Jews. Their surnames are Loubaris (from Olivares), Bargachi (from Vargas) Buano (from Bueno), Sordo, …

Spain surprised, without warning, by making public its intention to grant Spanish nationality on a discretionary basis to approximately a quarter of a million Sephardim, the Jews who were expelled from Spain during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, who were the promoters of the Inquisition tribunals. In principle, the Spanish decision is not at all surprising, …