• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Turkey: Pressure mounts for Hagia Sophia to be converted into mosque

Dec 15, 2013 5:21 pm By Robert Spencer

hagia-sophia-turkey.jpg

This is yet another sign of Turkey’s rapid re-Islamization. If the Turks really wanted to show that they belonged in the EU, they would heed the Patriarch’s words and allow the Hagia Sophia to become a church again. This, however, will not happen.

“Turkey: Pressure mounts for Hagia Sophia to be converted into mosque,” by Michael Trimmer for Christian Today, December 13:

“We currently stand next to the Hagia Sophia mosque,” so said Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc last month during a dedication of a museum of Caucasus rugs and carpets next to the Istanbul landmark, according to the Religion News Service (RNS).

This speech was one in a line of recent statements, from offhand remarks to outright demands that the Hagia Sophia (also known as the “Church of Saint Wisdom” or “Divine Wisdom”) be converted from a museum and local attraction back into a mosque.

“We are looking at a sad Hagia Sophia but hopefully we will see it smiling again soon,” Arinc added.

One of the imams of the nearby Sultan Ahmet Mosque (locally known as the ‘Blue Mosque’) also reportedly preached a sermon that said its conversion must take place.

Although this has been an ongoing concern for many years, recent events have brought the issue into sharper focus. A campaign from the National Turkish Student Association has been targeting the issue aggressively in recent months. Also, there have been a number of successful recent attempts to convert former Byzantine churches into mosques. Arinc, in his speech, mentioned two churches that had recently been converted, one in Trabzon in the northeast and another in Iznik near Istanbul.

The most notable case of this however has yet to be completed, the Monastery of Stoudios, the largest Byzantine church in Istanbul, which will be converted into a mosque next year.

Engin Akyurek, a professor of Byzantine art at Istanbul University, has said in an RNS article this would be a disastrous loss to history.

“To use this building for some function, a mosque or anything else, would mean to reconstruct almost 80% of the building “¦ it will not be a fifth-century building anymore. It will be a catastrophe for that building.”

Some have pointed out that the belief that the Hagia Sofia should become a mosque again is linked to a Sharia law principle that if a building is ever used as a mosque, it can then never be used for any other alternative purpose again.

A historic example of this was seen during the siege of Jerusalem in 637 AD. After the siege, Caliph Omar travelled to Jerusalem because Patriarch Sophronius had demanded that he would only surrender to the Caliph in person. Once the surrender was agreed, the Caliph was shown around the city by the Patriarch. When they visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Patriarch offered the Caliph a portion of the Church to pray in. The Caliph refused, explaining “Had I prayed inside the church, the Muslims coming after me would take possession of it, saying that I had prayed in it.”

International reaction to the potential conversion of the Hagia Sofia has been decidedly negative. Quoted by the RNS, in responding to Mr Arinc’s speech, the Greek Foreign Ministry called the action “an insult to the religious sensibilities of millions of Christians and actions that are anachronistic and incomprehensible from a state that declares it wants to participate as a full member in the European Union”.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, talking to Turkish newspaper Milliyet in February, said that “If it is to reopen as a house of worship, then it should open as a Christian church”¦ It was built as a church and not a mosque.”

The Hagia Sophia has been standing since 360 AD, built after the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and moved the capital eastwards. There is a legend that once the Church was finally completed in 597, and the Emperor Justinian made his first visit inside, he supposedly exclaimed ‘Solomon, I have surpassed thee’.”

It was over 850 years later, in 1453, that the Ottomon Turks seized Constantinople, taking possession of the magnificently domed building and repurposing it into a mosque, which it would remain as for almost 500 years. Then in 1935, under the secular Turkish Republic founded by Kemal Mustafa Ataturk, the government turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum, thereby sidestepping difficult sectarian conflict between the Islamic majority and the Christian minority….

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Turkey


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Mojdeh on Audio: Robert Spencer on Muslim Brotherhood influence in a Biden/Harris administration
  • Henry Mansfield on Audio: Robert Spencer on Muslim Brotherhood influence in a Biden/Harris administration
  • Crusades Were Right on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Naildriver on Uighur leader: ‘We’re actually quite worried’ about what Biden might let China get away with
  • Crusades Were Right on Canadian Mental Health Association studies Muslim women’s mental health due to ‘discrimination’ and ‘hate crimes’

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.