Hagia Sophia- Church, Museum or Mosque?

Hagia Sophia-Church, Museum or Mosque?

Hagia Sophia, the Church of Holy Wisdom, built between 532 and 537 by the Eastern Roman emperor
Justinian, had functioned as a church – the principal cathedral of Eastern Christianity - until 1453, when it
was converted to a mosque by Sultan Mehmed II, after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. From that
moment, it served as the central mosque of imperial Istanbul. Although Hagia Sophia was not only a
church but also a center of crusaders, when Ottomans won the war they did not destroy it; instead, they
used it as a place of worship of God. The sultan ordered the removal of Christian statues, some icons
and mosaics depicting Christian symbols were plastered over, but some also remained visible for
centuries. Over time, mosque elements were added to the structure: four minarets, the mihrab (a niche that
shows the direction of Mecca) and the minbar (a raised platform from which sermons are given).
The building remained a mosque from 1453 until 1934, when the founder of the Republic of Turkey,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, turned it into a museum of Christian and Muslim artifacts. The carpets were
removed and the mosaics were uncovered and restored. Apart from the carpets, all mosque furniture and
decorations remained in place. The result was a structure that was visually both a Byzantine church and an
Ottoman mosque. The political atmosphere in the young republic of Turkey ctrictly protected the fragile
secular status of the building, giving the Ministry of Culture and Tourism authority to ban the hosting of any
events and religious services of any faith.
After 86 years, in July 2020, the Turkish court decided to restore its status as a mosque, as the
government stated that the conversion of the Hagia Sophia Mosque into a museum was unlawful because
it violated the will of Sultan Mehmed II. The Council of State cancelled the 1934 decision saying that it
violated waqf, the Islamic law. The custodianship of Hagia Sophia was transferred from the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism to the Presidency of Religious Affairs. Turkish government also decided to maintain
part of the building as a fee-free museum open to all, and promised that the Christian icons would be
conserved.
While Christians everywhere in the world condemned this decision, Turks are stil divided on the issue –
many are happy to see it as a mosque, while certain secularist groups want it to retain its museum status.
The Muslim community all over the world is also divided, with certain groups supporting the Turkish court
decision and some of them condemning it. There is also a group that sees it as a wrong move that may hurt
Muslim minorities in some countries where their mosques can become targeted.
It is a obviosly a political decision of the country that has ambition to have a main geopolitical role in the
Middle East and influence in the Islamic world; as its EU membership has been postponed for such a long
time, Turkey probably felt forced to turn towards the East. The reconversion can be seen as glorifying of the
defeat of the Byzantine Empire six centuries ago by the Ottomans. That victory was followed by the
territorial expansion and the regional dominance of the empire for centuries. Some see this reconversion as
part of president’s intensions to reverse the secularizing reforms that started in the 1920s by Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk. Fast forward to modern times – the failed coup attempt on July 15th 2016 had a very bad
impact on country’s economy; once the ruling party started losing its supporters, president had to find other
ways of making them happy – and turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque was a clever move, if we have on
our mind that the majority of his voters are devoted Muslims.
The decision was not a total surprise. In the 1930s, various groups had criticized the process of turning
the structure into a museum, claiming that its spiritual function would be lost. By the early 1950s, it would
become a symbol for right-wing intellectuals and political groups in Turkey. They believed that with the
change of its status, Hagia Sophia lost its historical and spiritual importance as a symbol of the Ottoman
conquest of Constantinople, when it became one of the most sacred monuments of Islam. During the last
three decades, one part of Hagia Sophia complex has already been used as a Muslim prayer space and
ezan – the call to prayer, has been sung five times a day; since 2016 there has been a full-time Imam, so
Hagia Sophia was already functioning as both a museum and a mosque… So, it seems that the 2020
reconversion into a mosque has been part of the plans of conservative Islamists and nationalists for long
time…
Some critics of the reconversion see the Hagia Sophia as primarily a Christian and Byzantine monument;
they accept only its history until 1453, looking at later developments as irrelevant, and according to them its
reconversion is a threat to Christian spirituality and history. Other critics, mostly members of academic
community, see Hagia Sophia as a museum and cultural heritage, a universal artifact that should be valued
as a masterpiece of architecture open to all, that belongs to the world. However, there are also those

emphasize the Ottoman, Islamic layers of the structure, pointing out the importance of the Ottoman
conquest…
Some critics say that Turkey could have offered a satisfying solution for all parties, allowing both
Christians and Muslims to pray in separate spaces, while retaining the museum form. Ideally, the layers of
the past of Hagia Sophia — a church, a mosque and a museum — should be seen as inseparable parts of
the building’s history, with great significance within the cultural context of each period.
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