“It is our duty to convert it back to its original state [sic] to show Islam’s prevalence in this region"

Re-Islamization in Istanbul: 

Hagia Sophia Next?

by Victor Gaetan

Visiting Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), Christianity’s first mighty cathedral — now a museum — inaugurated by Byzantine Emperor Justinian in Constantinople in 537, is a mixed blessing.

Nothing can undercut the raw power of this huge structure, constructed in less than six years. Nothing can prevent glimmers of its former splendor from piercing my soul.

Spying the central mosaic of Mother Mary holding Jesus, high up in the semi-dome above the missing altar, I shiver thinking of all she’s survived: earthquakes, invasion, theft, concealment.

But the place is more…dingy than I expected considering its great significance: the building changed the course of sacred construction; it was the world’s largest cathedral for almost 1,000 years; it is the finest example of Byzantine architecture on the planet.

Historically, it embodies the displacement of Christianity by Islam in 1453.

When 21-year-old Sultan Mehmet II strode into the cathedral, he suspended slaughter long enough to pray at the altar and order its immediate conversion into a mosque. Minarets were added; mosaics were covered, although not all destroyed.

The Turkish government created the museum in 1934 as part of its intensive secularization campaign.

Today, water stains, dirty windows, peeling paint, haphazard scaffolding and amateur lighting are evident. More ominous, it’s increasingly a contested political symbol, possibly, the latest evidence that Turkey is secular no more.

Demands for Change

On May 31, thousands of Muslims gathered outside the museum for morning prayer led by a renowned, radical Saudi imam (banned from France), Sheikh Abdullah Basfar—roughly on the 561st anniversary of the Ottoman conquest.

The crowd demanded Ayasofya (its Turkish name) back for Islam. A petition with 15 million signatures backs the demand.

Turkish press reported the lead organizer said, “It is our duty to convert it back to its original state [sic] to show Islam’s prevalence in this region and carry out the nation’s will."

This movement is more plausible than many imagine for two related reasons.

First, two smaller Hagia Sophias in Turkey already have been converted from museums into mosques since 2011. Second, leaders in the ruling party are behind the changes, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, running now for president, has not opposed it.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia

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