Hagia Sophia: Conversion of A World Heritage to A Worship Place for One Community Is an Insensitive Act
By
Fr. Midhun J Francis for New Age Islam
20 July
2020
The conversion of a symbolic world heritage to
a mosque amid widespread international protest is an insensitive act that would
turn millions of Christians around the world against Islam. This also goes
against the wish of the document “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living
Together,” signed by His Holiness Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar
Ahamad al-Tayyib, which states, "In the name of human fraternity, which
embraces all human beings, unites them and renders them equal.”
Hagia Sophia
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Hagia
Sofia, the Byzantine cathedral, is renowned for its wonder since it was built
in the sixth century by Emperor Justinian I. It has also witnessed the “Great
Schism” between Latin West and Greek East, when Cardinal Humbert, a French
Benedictine, laid a papal bull of excommunication of the patriarch Michael I
Cerularius, on the high altar of the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia during the
celebration of the Divine Liturgy on 16 July 1054. (Note: This excommunication
was lifted by the "Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of 1965”, signed by
Pope Paul VI and Constantinople's Patriarch Athenagoras I). The fourth
crusaders from the western church invaded the Byzantine Empire and occupied it
in 1204, converting the Hagia Sofia to the Roman Catholic Church, later
recaptured by the Byzantine Emperor in 1261, restoring it to the Greek Orthodox
Cathedral. The Ottomans under the rule of the Sultan, Mehemet II, conquered the
Byzantine Empire and converted the cathedral into a mosque on 29 May 1453 and
it remained a mosque until 1931. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of
the Republic of Turkey, who served as the first president from 1923 until his
death in 1938, turned the mosque into a museum for the entire of humanity,
recognizing the legacy of Hagia Sofia. The Byzantine Empire, as the new Rome,
lasted nearly a thousand years. It was renowned for its literature, politics,
theology, and architecture. The empire is also a synthesis of Roman politics,
Greek philosophy, and Christian spirituality: the Asian religion founded in
Jerusalem. So, the empire’s history has political, military and ecclesiastical
past as well.
Also Read: A Nationalist
Takeover of Hagia Sophia is not What the Muslim World Needed Now
The Hagia
Sofia Cathedral has been a synthesis of all these traditions, Greek philosophy
and Christian theologies, with the Emperor of Byzantine as its political head
and the Patriarch of Constantinople as its ecclesiastical head. The study of
Hagia Sofia is not merely an archaeological investigation of a building, but
more than that, it is a political, religious and cultural investigation. Hagia
Sophia remains so exceptional that it has also been used to promote tourism in
Istanbul, Turkey in the 21st century. This classical building is the most
visited tourist spot in Turkey since the early 21st century, and few modern
tourists are likely to visit Istanbul without seeing at least the exterior of
the building designed by Isidorus of Miletus, a mathematician, engineer and an
expert on Archimedes and Anthemios of Tralles, a mathematician and experimental
scientist of the Classical tradition.
President Recep Tayyip Erodgan allowed Muslim prayers at Hagia Sophia in
May as part of a ceremony to commemorate the 567th anniversary of the conquest
of Istanbul. Credit...Associated Press
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On 10 July
2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially turned Hagia Sophia
into a mosque that had been a museum for nearly a century, despite strong
opposition from Christian Orthodox Church leaders in Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and
Russia, and from secular world leaders who wanted Hagia Sophia to remain
unchanged as a museum. Erdogan 's decision on Hagia Sofia seems like a victim's
decision, since Turkey's 20th-century secular rulers have also restricted
freedom of religious speech, for decades banning headscarves in state
institutions, among other initiatives. Erdogan being the conservative
victimized leader of the country said, “The revival of Hagia Sophia is the
harbinger of freedom of Al-Aqsa and the footsteps of Muslims emerging from the
era of interregnum.” Converting the museum into a mosque has also his political
motives, which aim to score political points more than anything else and to
drum up the electoral support he needs after his loss at the municipal
elections in Istanbul last year. In a way, he claims to be the saviour of the
Turkish Muslims nation, which endangered human family.
As a human
heritage building, its architectural roots lie, at least in part, in the
Classical heritage of the early Byzantine period, it has become a mosque with
pure political and fanatical religious motives. Hagia Sophia sang exultantly,
"Allah is Great," as news came out. It hurt the Arab Christians who,
in their daily lives, declare that "Allah is Great" as their
principle of faith. The Orthodox Christians have expressed deep dismay. Pope
Francis said that during his Angelus prayer in St Peter 's Square on 12th July,
he was deeply pained. The ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Istanbul's
spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christians of the world, considered the
President's decision disappointing. Patriarch Kirill, patriarch of the Russian
Orthodox Church, called for "prudence" and the protection of the
"current neutral status" of Hagia Sophia, which he said was one of
the "devoutly venerated symbols" of Christianity.
Illustration by Abro
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It affected
the heart of the religious-secular life of Turkey. When Hagia Sofia was turned
into a museum on 1 February 1935, Kemal Atatürk, the father of the modern
Turkish Republic, had in mind that it was no longer a religious property, but
that it belonged to all the people of the world who had witnessed great
historicity and architecture. This was ruined by the decision of the Turkish
government to convert it into a mosque. This government’s decision would have
affected the peace and harmony that many peace-loving people of both religions
have established among these religions for many decades.
Hagia Sophia/Wikimedia Commons
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The
conversion of a symbolic world heritage to a mosque amid widespread
international protest is an insensitive act by President Erdogan and reveals
Turkey's lack of respect for its international obligations. The decision would
turn millions of Christians around the world against Islam, which is not
expected from both religions. This also goes against the wish of the document
“Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” signed by His Holiness
Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahamad al-Tayyib, which states,
"In the name of human fraternity, which embraces all human beings, unites
them and renders them equal.” The call is to respect the human sentiments,
which cultivate peace and harmony on earth.
Fr.
Midhun J Francis, SJ is a Jesuit Priest and a Theologian, working in
Christian-Muslim Relationship for the South Asian Conference.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/hagia-sophia-conversion-world-heritage/d/122419
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