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Granada: Al-Andalus shines on
What does it mean to the Muslim world, that Islam has re-entered Spain in a time when Islam is being degraded globally?
Abdulhasib Castiñeira: I think it is a sign of the vitality, the validity and relevance of Islam in this modern age. Also it is a sign that Islam has not been erased from the hearts and minds of the people of Spain. Eight hundred years of Islamic civilisation of Alandalus has left so much knowledge that is still used today by Ummah of Islam and non-Muslims. But as a living element, a living existential element it has been erased from the surface of the Iberian peninsula but, it is a sign of the vitality, validity and relevance of Islam and the people are taking it on existentially and in their daily lives.
Question: The history of Spain is vast and extraordinary, what are the sentiments of the Muslim population to his momentous undertaking of reviving the Deen in Spain?
Abdulhasib Castiñeira: I would say in the last thirty years, after the death of Gen. Franco there had been an increase in the sympathy towards Islam. In the intellectual circles, academic circles and by those who have knowledge of culture and history. The Islamic era was one of the greatest times in Spain and this may sound natural and true to you as a Muslim but to the Spanish people it is very new. In the last five hundred years we have been thought that the country was a Christian country invaded by Islam and it destroyed our unity. This has been basically the official catholic version of history up until the seventies and that has completely changed, in the textbooks even in the discourses of officials. Last year in 2006 the Prime Minister said that Spain is indebted to Islam for that history. All this is very new. People will now say Islam is not terrorism, Islam is not backwards we know it in our cities, we know it in our monuments, we know it in our own history. This is the truth and it can grow faster there then in any other European country.
Question: The EMU extends to all European Muslims. What is the role played by the Spanish Muslim community and the Granada mosque in establishing Assabiyyah throughout Europe?
Abdulhasib Castiñeira: I think everyone who comes to Granada - there are many Muslims from the United Kingdom, Germany and France - who come for holidays and cultural visits. Everyone recognizes that Granada has a very strong meaning and has a very strong place in the hearts and memory of the Muslims, we are located there. Not only that, but we are located in the most historical quarter opposite the Alhambra palace and our mosque has become a model for all of Europe, in that it is a mosque open to all people, not only Muslims. It fulfills the role of 'Ibadah, which is the first role of a Mosque and it is the heart of the community and also it is a place of interaction to the society. Every day, there are many activities. Everyday of the year it is open to the people, to the non-Muslims of Granada - in Granada City but also visitors, researchers, teachers, university groups and schools. The Mosque of Granada has been one of the founding members of the EMU. We have attended all the assemblies and general meetings of EMU. We have a strong contribution to make because we join history and present time and I think Granada will become a place of hospitality, meeting, protection and discussion for all European Muslims.
Question: What sets Granada apart from other European countries?
Abdulhasib Castiñeira: Granada in history is the last place of sovereign power of Islam in Europe. It was a monarchy, which surrendered power to the Christian monarchy in 1492 and then for another two hundred and fifty years the indigenous Spanish Muslims remained under Christian rule. They were persecuted by genocide and religious persecution done by the inquisition. They remained up until the middle seventeenth century in large communities. The Alhambrah - for its great beauty and extraordinary craft and talent in its architecture - was not destroyed. When Spain goes around the world and does promotions for tourist fairs in New York or Singapore the Alahambra is the symbol- like the Taj Mahal is for India, which is a Muslim monument - the Alhambrah is always the symbol for Spain.
Granada is a small provincial town with tree hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. For the past twenty years it has also been a model city in all of Spain where immigrant Muslims have been accepted and had made themselves a niche in society and have contributed to the economy but not as industrial workers. They have created an atmosphere and ambiance of Islamic revival with their souks and bazaars and have somehow recreated a moor-ish presence in the city, which is very beneficial to the economy and tourism. They have also somehow managed to integrate with society without major clashes or problems - all of that makes Granada significant.
Question: After going through the Granada Mosque web-site I could not help but note that the community is very lively and active what are your expectations for 2007?
Abdulhasib Castiñeira: We are, after three years, becoming more organised and professional if you want to call it that. In our approach, programs, teaching and reaching out to society intellectually by our publications. We are hoping to have more open conferences and international conferences at the mosque. We have an event in July on the 6th, 7th and 8th which is a summer celebration of Islam in Europe that we do every year. We also plan to invite scholars all through the year and we have a plan of talks and conferences.
Question: The Granada mosque has one of the finest Khatibs in Shaykh Muhammed Kasbi. Can you tell me something about him and his influence on the community?
Abdulhasib Castiñeira: Shaykh Muhammed Kasbi is a gift from Allah of incalculable value, to the Muslims in Spain and the community in Granada. He is extracted from another age. His own life experience, he tells us, is exactly like that of the Sahabah, milking goats, travelling on donkeys and going to get water from the well. He belongs to a very well known area, which has dedicated itself entirely to scholarship. One remarkable thing is how a man who never traveled out of southern Morocco speaks such a high Arabic. Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula get dumb when they hear him, he has much eloquence, poetry and sayings from his language, which in itself is a miracle.
The region of Souse where he comes from is called the spiritual reserve of the Maghrib. They have nothing else, no agriculture and no cattle so the land is basically desert but, they have cultivated, at a very high level, extraordinary Madrasahs, that maintains the same method and teachings for a thousand years. Allah has given him the gift of discrimination and wisdom and dept that has made him understand perfectly and subtlety the realities of Europe today.
So he is not just someone who knows the books and laws and the Qur`aan, he is someone who judges and interprets and counsels, always with great wisdom and with great sharpness. He has also been trained as a Qadi. He knows how to judge in contexts of place, time and the people. He is not just a recording of knowledge, which he is, he is a high quality recording to correct knowledge. His advice individually, collectively, to the authorities and to the leaders of the community is of the highest value.
Question: All across the Muslim world, in countries such as South Africa, Germany and many others there are barriers between the indigenous Muslims and the migrant population, is this the case in Spain?
Abdulhasib Castiñeira: It is becoming. It has never been the case with Spain, being connected with South America and North Africa, geographically speaking. The condition and relationships of the immigrant and indigenous population are much better than in other European countries. It is by taking a sort of moral and intellectual leadership that will prevent them from being marginalised and ghettoized which has happened to the economic immigrants of the UK. They have defined themselves as ghetto and allowed to be put in a corner because of the lack of taking on the responsibility as Muslims, to be role models with clear intellectual understanding of the challenges of the moment. We are trying to erase the barriers by bringing everyone up to the highest responsibility of Islam in this age.
We have succeeded in different ways. Last year, twenty leaders from the Muslim communities of Spain met with the Prime minister. We also visited the ministry of Justice, which deals with minorities and religion and we are visited regularly by the local governor. We are strongly attempting to establish that the Muslims have an important role to play in modern lives.
an interview with Abdulhasib Castiñeira, Director of the Granada Mosque, conducted in Germany, on the 30th of January.
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it has been some time.
