{"id":19464,"date":"2024-04-09T12:48:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T12:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/institutional-iftar-at-the-three-cultures-of-the-mediterranean-foundation\/"},"modified":"2024-09-18T08:42:16","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T08:42:16","slug":"institutional-iftar-at-the-three-cultures-of-the-mediterranean-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/institutional-iftar-at-the-three-cultures-of-the-mediterranean-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Institutional Iftar at the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.\nAn 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. <\/p>\n\n

Among the many authorities present, the co-presidents, Antonio Sanz Cabello, Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification, and Andr\u00e9 Azoulay, advisor to HM King Mohammed VI of Morocco, together with the Moroccan Ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, were among the many present.<\/p>\n\n

The event was also attended by Jos\u00e9 Luis Garc\u00eda, Deputy Mayor of Seville, Ms. Patricia del Pozo Fern\u00e1ndez, 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.<\/p>\n\n

After the welcome by the Director of the Three Cultures Foundation, Lorena Garc\u00eda, there were speeches by the representatives of the three Abrahamic religions, Mr. Gabriel S\u00e1nchez, Diocesan Delegate for Ecumenism of the Archdiocese of Seville, Ms. Estrella Roffe, representative of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain.\nMs. Estrella Roffe, representative of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain.\nMs. Isabel Romero, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain.\nIsabel Romero, president of the Islamic Board of Spain.\nAnd Mr. Jalid Nieto, spokesperson for the Seville Mosque Foundation.\nMs. Irene Lozano, Director General of Casa \u00c1rabe, also spoke on behalf of the Spanish Government. <\/p>\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Fundaci\u00f3n Tres Culturas, especially to its director, Ms. Lorena Garc\u00eda, for her work in organizing and inviting us to the event, as well as for her constant dedication to promoting knowledge, respect and coexistence.<\/p>\n\n

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Hajj Khalid Nieto’s speech at the Institutional Iftar in Tres Culturas. <\/strong>Seville, Ramadan 27, 1445, April 7, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.As-Salamu Alaykum!\nPeace be upon you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time is relative.\nOur linear experience can shorten or expand it.\nBut it also has other dimensions.\nIn Ramadan, there is one night that is worth a thousand months.\nHe who has the gift of finding it, experiences 80 years in one night, a lifetime.\nThis night is called Laylat-al-Qadr and is described in the Qur’an Al-Karim.\nIt can occur on one of the last ten nights of our fasting month.\nIt is one of its secrets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We often refer to Ramadan from its formal aspects, from what the majority observes.\nThis is Sawm al Qalib, the fasting of form, necessary and prescribed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Ramadan also includes the fast of the heart, Sawm al Qalb.\nOne of the characteristics of this fast is silence.\nThis was the fast of Mary, the mother of Jesus, peace be upon them both. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silence inevitably leads to reflection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To reflect and to remain in silence are two forms of adoration to the Creator of the universe.\nIt is to immerse oneself in that infinite time that is Divine and to contemplate reality with the distance of the stars.\nFrom 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.\nEverything is relativized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this time of reflection, I have noticed how easily hatred can manifest itself in our lives.\nHow we can dehumanize the other, animalize them and justify deaths with impunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There can be no peace without nobility.\nWe must eradicate these behaviors from our thoughts and actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This obliges us to educate the new generations in the noble qualities of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me share a brief story to conclude.\nDuring 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.\nI coincided with a young man of noble appearance and incipient beard, who was sobbing in prostration, in sajdah.\nWhen the head is below the heart.\nThe first time I heard him, I thought something was wrong with him.\nBut the next day, I saw him again and so on for several days.\nJust before Easter, when the prayer was over, I asked him: Where are you from?\nHe answered: From Morocco, Casablanca.\nAnd then I said to him: Are you studying?\nTo which he replied: Yes, energy engineering.\nAt that moment Ibn al Arabi’s phrase came to my mind: great hearts, great intellects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder: Could it have been an angel who came to teach us on the nights of Ramadan?\nAllahualim.\nGood evening. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,27,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-activities","category-photo-galleries","category-diplomacia-en"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/CB_3C.jpg?fit=1375%2C688&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19465,"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19464\/revisions\/19465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mezquitadesevilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}