THE SHAMEFUL ACT OF ERDOGAN AGAINST HAGIA SOPHIA AND RESPONSE TO EXTREMIST ISLAMIC CLAIMS

THE SHAME OF ERDOGAN REGARDING HAGIA SOPHIA AND THE SHAME OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISM!

I wanted to write this down long back when I first got the news that Erdogan, the President of Turkey wanted to convert the Hagia Sophia originally a church then converted to Mosque by the Ottoman Empire and then later made into Museum by Ataturk the founder of modern Turkey. He then later finally did convert the Hagia Sophia, the seat of the Eastern orthodox church and a marvel of Byzantine architecture. It is a noticeable trait in many Muslims to defend their actions even if they are wrong which then becomes the seeds of extremism. There is no chance for rational dialogue or discussion with others. However, some hope came to light when some Secular Muslims spoke against the decision of Erdogan. Now those who support Erdogan’s decision gave some reasons which they feel are rational and logical but actually are not. And in this small article I am going to prove how the Erdogan supporters are wrong and why Muslims need to watch out on their support for such decision that bring religious divide specially when Pope Francis has been working hard to build bridges between the two religious communities.

1. The first main argument put forth by the Erdogan supporters is that since many Mosques in the Balkans (Spain) has been converted to churches then why can’t they convert the Hagia Sophia into a Mosque when it was actually a Mosque for almost 500 years till the first world war ended the Ottoman Empire. But here is the problem. Comparing the situation of Hagia Sophia with the churches, formerly Mosques, in Spain is like comparing apples with bananas, though both are fruits yet they are different. I personally dug into the past of the churches of Spain, the Balkan Mosques were not originally Mosques but were Basilicas, churches or chapels or even temples. Including the Cathedral or Cordoba which was formerly a Mosque was actually a Monastery. None of these churches were originally built as mosques from scratch but were built over existing structures which were mostly Christian then. King Ferdinand III began the reconquest of Spain after the Arabs had invaded Spain in the 8^th But the foundation of historical research and claim or evidence is to understand the context and circumstances including the ideologies and cultural context in which the events happened. Even when the Ottoman Turks captured Hagia Sophia the cultural circumstances could be understood, but then turkey decided to go secular and undo the controversial past. Erdogan is de-sanctifying the idea of modern Turkey for his personal political greed. When it comes to the Churches in Spain which were former mosques, all of these were ‘reconverted’ (I use the word ‘reconverted’ as I already established that these were actually Christian structures) to churches or Cathedral by the 15^th century itself and continue to be. Till then there was no idea of secularism and state and religion divide. In fact the society was governed by theocracy. But the cultural and political circumstance in which Hagia Sophia is dealt with is different and it was originally a church. Therefore the justification offered by the Erdogan supporters is idiotic. Let us not forget that that Christianity existed in Europe at least 600 years before Islam was born. (for more please refer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_mosques_in_Spain . I still remember how in India when the Babri masjid was being destroyed by the extremist hindus claiming that there was a Ram mandir there, many Muslims  protested even recently when supreme court passed judgement allowing the construction of the Mandir. So if Muslims feel the pain when masjid are brought to reclaim the place of worship which once might have existed in the past and you were not responsible for it, the others also feel the same.
2. The other justification they give is that like other mosque Hagia Sophia will be open for all tourists Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Well this is another nonsense. Hagia Sophia cannot be just another cultural piece of architecture. Its significance as the centre of Eastern Orthodox Church and also important for catholic church is undeniable. In fact one of the decisive church councils which settled the controversy regarding the icons was held here. If Hagia Sophia be opened for Muslims then it should be opened for Christians as well.

The difference between sacredness and importance of Mosques for Muslims and that of churches for Christians is different. Mosques for Muslims are of course places of Worship but the Quran never stresses upon the importance of a mosque as necessary place of prayer. The same is with Christians that church buildings are not important while the church i.e. the faithful are, however, we must not forget the history of Christianity and its way of worship. Christian prayer especially the Eucharist is necessarily a community prayer. That is why even Jesus Christ would sit with his desciples in their houses or in a particular place. He had his certain places fixed which he used periodically. Later the apostles would meet in the houses of believers or in particular tents where they had their settlements for the prayer and Eucharist. They then began meeting in caves and catacombs and this gave birth to Christian art. As we should know that Eucharist means and meant always the turning of the bread and wine into real body and blood of Jesus right from the beginning of the church, the vessels and the place which was used was considered sacred. When the persecution period was over and Christians had the freedom to practice their religion the emperor Constantine offered the Basilicas which were celebration halls of the emperor to be converted into churches. The church buildings became necessary as the number of believers began to increase and shifting from house to house of a faithful to gather for prayer became difficult as some houses were not big enough to accommodate the believers. As I said the Eucharistic celebration is a necessary one and it is necessarily a community celebration and as houses of faithful would not be feasible it was now time to have common house of worship and prayer and for the celebration of the eucharist. Gradually, as new churches or basilicas or cathedrals were built, the main altar would contain the pieces of the true cross of Christ or relic of any saint. Sometimes the churches were built on the tombs of saints. So this distinguishes the churches from Mosques.

Evaluating Erdogan: well its very clear to the world that this is totally a political mover. Erdogan is losing his popularity in Turkey and is being questioned for the depleting economy, mishandling the covid-19 pandemic etc. Even the odd celebration of the siege of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks as has been announced by him is a clear sign to appease the majority and divide the country based on religion.

If you think you have something more to add or to disagree with please drop in your ideas thorugh an email to mathew7heaven@gmail.com .