Aziz Messaoudi Rhamssoussi

Aziz Messaoudi Rhamssoussi () is a Moroccan-born Spanish social educator, academic, and Islamic community leader. He serves as the president of the Islamic Federation of the Basque Country (; FIVASCO), an organization that represents Muslim communities in the Basque Country and is integrated into the Islamic Commission of Spain.

Education and career

Messaoudi holds a doctorate degree and works professionally as a social educator at Zabalduz, an organization based in Donostia-San Sebastián, where he works with unaccompanied foreign minors. He is also a PhD candidate in Social Sciences at the University of the Basque Country (EHU/UPV).

In addition to his academic activities, Messaoudi has collaborated as a speaker and trainer on professional approaches to addressing gender-based violence, working alongside academic institutions such as UNED.

Community leadership and activism

As the legal representative and president of the Islamic Federation of the Basque Country (FIVASCO), Messaoudi is a prominent voice regarding the integration and rights of the Muslim population in northern Spain. He acts as the legal representative for local religious entities, including the Al Fitrah Islamic Community of Tolosa in Gipuzkoa.

Messaoudi has frequently advocated for public policy improvements, particularly regarding Islamic religious education in Basque schools. In 2022, he highlighted the bureaucratic hurdles and language requirements (such as the mandatory Euskara C1 certification) that limited the recruitment of accredited Islamic religion teachers in the region, noting that it created a bottleneck despite the classes being taught in Spanish.

He is actively involved in interfaith dialogue and anti-discrimination initiatives. He has been a featured panelist in regional events, including the Basque Government's Congress against Religious Discrimination and the Christian–Muslim Dialogue Conferences organized by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Burgos, where he defended religious freedom as a fundamental human right.