This article is about the reopening of the Hagia Sofia so I wanted to write about this topic specifically because the Hagia Sofia is the museum/mosque not sure what I’m supposed to call it now it was a museum at the time so I’m just going to say museum it was a museum maybe I should say mosque it was a museum/mosque that I was standing next to when I heard the azan for the first time.

 

I was standing in between the Hagia Sofia and blue mosque when I heard the azan for the first time it’s really special to me and I feel sad in connection to the place purely because of that experience standing next to it hearing the azan and going on this journey it’s purely because of this personal connection that I feel like I have with the place is why I wanted to make the article so let me tell you a little bit of history about the place.

The hagia sofia was originally built as a church then it became a mosque then it became a museum then it became a mosque again so that area where the original church was built was already the home to a church in 360 CE there was a church that was built on that same plot but rioters come along and they destroyed it so the second church was built but same thing happened those little rioters come along and they burnt it down again then justinian just just seeing i don’t know how you say it but he was some roman dude jossinian and roman emperor came along he built the structure in 537 CE just seven years it took him to build it which was incredibly quick in those days considering that Notre dame took a century to build it was originally built as a Greek orthodox cathedral but then for a brief moment in time it became a roman catholic church and then again it went back to being a Greek orthodox cathedral so it was called this name meaning holy wisdom it was kind of interesting to think about it because when i was standing next to the hagia sophia and i heard the azan for the first time.

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I just had a really big revelation anyway then came along sultan Muhammad ii he conquered Istanbul which then was called Constantine nova on the 29th of May 1453 CE now this is where history gets a little bit confusing some people say that the sultan brought the church with money and therefore it was a legitimate transaction obviously that when he conquered it was there was no payment transaction that took place it became his responsibility and his right to the place after he conquered it I’ve tried doing a lot of research into it a lot of places are saying that there was no transaction that was made a lot of places that are saying there was a transaction that was made without actually seeing proof that he didn’t either or i don’t actually know there’s a transaction or not. 

There was a story that was told on a website that I was reading that said the first thing he did is he conquered the cities he went straight to the Hagia Sofia he took some soil from the ground and he poured it on his head as a sign of humility to Allah now I hope that story is true because it’s just so beautiful to imagine this great sultan outside of this at that time church taking the soil putting on his head and just showing humility towards Allah mashallah it’s amazing so he turned it into a mosque and he put a little crescent on years and years and years later in 1931 Kamel atartuk.

I hate these names and i feel like I’m saying them wrong but I’m giving it a go anyway kamel atartuk he turned the mosque into a museum so he found a modern Turkish state based on secularism and actually he closed the mosque in 1931 for four years then in 1934 it was turned into a museum so now back into modern day times here we are in 2020 the museum/mosque/ was a Christian church is now open for the first time in 86 years for Friday prayers i was looking at some articles it was kind of interesting because they covered up all the Christian artwork with uh cloths but the thing is with mosques they should be kept as mosques unless there’s a dire need to change it a lot of the big Islamic scholars are saying there’s a transaction that took place Greek orthodox cathedral was sold for gold to the sultan and he turned it into an amazing mosque alhamdulillah now if this is true then there isn’t really any arguments to be made against the mosque because there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of mosques even in the UK there used to be churches that were sold to Muslims.

Now mosques there are plenty of transactions that take place of other faiths selling their religious places and turning them into mosques especially in European countries and no one’s ever had a problem with this and then also there’s the argument about in Spain during the crusade hundreds of mosques were destroyed or even converted into churches it’s like if i had a car and then i sold you my car then that’s not my car anymore that’s your car i don’t have any rights over that car obviously my opinion is going to be a little bit biased as i am a Muslim and that is the place i was standing when i received holy wisdom so there is a lot of bias in my opinion i could be very much wrong I’m open to hearing how i am wrong but i believe turning into a mosque is a great idea i think more benefit can come from a place of prayer and worship than a place of going and looking at artifacts or whatever was in there i don’t know I’ve never been in there inshallah no more problems will be caused I know a lot of people are hating on the president right now for changing it into a mosque it’s in a Muslim country we should be happy with what we got and what we got is actually something amazing and i cannot wait to visit.