Islam firstly came to Spain in 711, seventy years after the hijrah of Prophet Muhammad SAW. The number of Muslims in Spain is rapidly developed due to the inexistence of Islamophobia (anti-Muslim sentiment) in the country.

In a public lecture ‘Islam and Its History in Spain’ organized by Cooperation Officer of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) at hall of A.R. Facruddin A, floor 5, UMY on Tuesday (17/5), a speaker from Fundacion Mezqueta de Sevilla, Bachir Casti, stated that Islamophobia is a hot issue in the world such as Europe and the United States of America, but it does not occur in Spain. “Alhamdulillah, non-Muslims do not repudiate Muslims. Indeed, many non-Muslims come to a mosque and inquire about Islam,” he told.

Government of Spain treats Muslim equally. All believers have the same treatment such as certain time to worship, or holiday to celebrate Idul Fitri and Idul Adha. “Thus, the missionary work of Islam is undertaken through daily activities as talking to other people, buying something, and working. These activities often attract the non-Muslims,” he conveyed.

Bachir informed that there were two million Muslims in Spain, and the number may increase. One of the cities in Spain as the Islamic civilization center is Granada. “The Muslims will establish a mosque in Granada. The other city having the great number of Muslims is Sevilla. One of my purposes visiting Indonesia is looking for support of Muslims in Indonesia to build a mosque in Sevilla since Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world,” he uttered.

Besides, chairperson of Islamic Community in Spain said that the mosque is one of the ways to foster Islam in Spain. “I wish that the mosque can be utilized to both worship and learn for the Muslims,” he expected.

Malik told that his visit was also due to cooperation with the Embassy of Indonesia in Spain. He also hoped that the mosque establishment can run well and can be supported by Indonesian Muslims.