Istanbul, Turkey
Coordinates: 41.008600, 28.980200
Hagia Sophia Mosque and formerly the Church of Hagia Sophia, is a Late Antique place of worship in Istanbul. Built in 537 as the patriarchal cathedral of the imperial capital of Constantinople, it was the largest Christian church of the eastern Roman Empire (the Byzantine Empire) and the Eastern Orthodox Church, except during the Latin Empire from 1204 to 1261, when it became the city’s Roman Catholic cathedral.
Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque after the conquest of Istanbul in 1453 by Sultan Mehmed II as a symbol of the Ottoman conquest of the city. It served as a mosque until 1934, when it was converted to a museum.
Many other steps were taken during the first two decades of the Republic of Turkey, which solidified the rupture of the new regime from its past and were considered a necessity for the recognition of the new regime by the international community.
Not only Muslims but also non-Muslims were deprived of many religious rights. For instance, many properties belonging to non-Muslim charitable foundations were appropriated by the government.
The Turkish government began to normalize its relations with its culture, civilization and historical heritage. That is, the first meaning of the conversion is the government’s intention to make peace with its past and fix an abnormality.
The second meaning of the conversion is the consolidation of Turkish democracy. For decades, millions of people were expecting to have and dreaming of prayer in Hagia Sophia. Many previous political parties were promising their constituents they would open Hagia Sophia to worship. On the other hand, many Turkish intellectuals, writers and artists kept the spirit of Hagia Sophia Mosque alive for decades. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has simply realized the expectation of the Turkish people.
We all know that the reaction of some Western governments and media outlets, who remain indifferent to anti-Islamic policies in the West, is not sincere. Western governments and media outlets ignore daily attacks against Muslims and mosques in Europe. Many Western governments consider the existence of Islam and Muslims as a threat to Western civilization. Therefore, they are against any social or political development providing some room for Islam and Muslims.
Western governments and peoples should not forget that the principle of “peaceful co-existence” was the rule in the Ottoman Empire as it was in other Muslim states in the Middle East. In principle, the Ottoman State, as the last representative of the classical Muslim states, enjoyed a multi-legal system, which allowed non-Muslims to practice their religion in private law.
The state did respect the rights of non-Muslims and did not touch their religious symbols. For example, the Ottomans converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque but did not destroy the Christian frescoes, icons and mosaics inside the mosque. The Turkish government declared that they will not harm these religious symbols.
Muslims around Europe hailed the opening of Turkey’s Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, where communal prayers were held for the first time in 86 years. Some 350,000 people took part in the traditional Friday prayers at the historic mosque in Istanbul.
Before the prayers, Turkish President Erdoğan recited from the Qur’an inside the reverted mosque, choosing verses from both the Surah Al-Fatihah and the Surah Al-Baqarah.
