Hagia Sophia raises the world controversy again between supporters and opponents

 Written by : Al-Sharif Advisor / Ismail Al- Ansary

Translated into English by : Jihan Al-Garhy

Yesterday, Friday, July 10, 2020, the Administrative Court of Turkey ruled to convert Hagia Sophia Museum into a mosque, where Turkish President Ragab Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree law to officially reopen it as a mosque on Friday 24 July 2020
What is the story of Aya Sophia? … Historically it was built as an oriental Orthodox cathedral on the ruins of a church that was built by Emperor Constantine I, and turned into ruins in the year 360 AD during the reign of Emperor Constantine II, and in 532 AD Emperor Justinian began to rebuild it and took five years to build. It opened in 537 AD

Hagia Sophia is the most important religious and architectural edifice in the Middle East, but rather unique in terms of decorations, drawings, designs and constructions, and when the city of Constantinople was opened by Muhammad Al-Fateh, he purchased Hagia Sophia in 1453 from the Orthodox monks to stop it and the surrounding lands and the buildings on them; To be a mosque for the benefit of Muslims all over the world.

In 1934 AD, the Council of Ministers issued a decree converting Hagia Sophia into a world museum; To be a crossroads of religious cultures and civilizations, as a bridge of knowledge communication, and a symbol of religious tolerance; Because it combines both Byzantine and Turkish civilizations, as it combines Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Islamic religion.

 

On Friday, July 10, 2020, the Administrative Court issued a decision to reopen it as a mosque, based on the lawsuit filed by the Turkish Ministry of Endowments, Antiquities and Environment in 2016 AD, and Turkish President Erdogan issued a decision by decree to officially establish religious rites on Friday, July 24, 2020.

At a glance, we find that Hagia Sophia was a cathedral for 916 years during the period from 537 CE to 1453 CE
And a mosque for 481 years during the period from 1453 CE to 1934 CE
And museums for a period of 84 years between 1934 and 2020
And the name “Hagia Sophia” means “the place of the holy wisdom”, and it was called before that it is an ecclesiastical and means “the big church”
The world will witness in the coming months, and even the coming years, a wide debate about converting Hagia Sophia Museum into a mosque.

By that, the UNESCO announced its dissatisfaction with this ruling and this decision, and we hope that the decision of Hagia Sophia, and the resulting global controversy, will be the beginning of a new meeting between cultures and civilizations that reflects the true tolerance of religions, and creates a new phase for the world, in which the most beautiful in Religions, the most brilliant of cultures and the most wonderful of knowledge.