Nobody Is Hailing Erdogan As the Mahdi Or a Hujjat Al-Islam For Conversion of Hagia Sophia in a Mosque
By
Zimarina Sarwar
09 August
2020
It has been
just over two weeks now that the Hagia Sophia has returned to a fully
operational mosque. The furore over the decision was stormy, if predictable.
UNESCO lamented the ‘regrettable’ decision; Orthodox Christian leaders felt it
was a loaded threat to all of Christian civilisation; the Greek minister of
culture labelled it “open provocation to the civilised world”; the French
foreign minister “deplored” the move; the former deputy prime minister of Italy
rallied demonstrators outside the Turkish embassy in Milan, claiming this was
the nail in the coffin of Turkey’s ambitions to join the EU.
Quite a
firestorm indeed.
Olena Z / Shutterstock.com
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Among the
vitriol, some more unusual grumbles came from Muslim quarters. Yes, observant
Muslims greeted the news with less than positivity. A rough rehash of their
arguments are as follows:
“This Is
A Political Move – Erdogan Is A Politician After All!”
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is no doubt a politician, and any policy
decisions he makes will be political. However, ‘political’ is not always
shorthand for cunning, calculated, and disingenuous. Erdogan could have used
his sovereign powers for anything. There was no express ‘need’ for this,
political or otherwise. Nobody is hailing Erdogan as the Mahdi or a Hujjat
Al-Islam for lahmacun-munching millennials. He is a human and will have
shortcomings and flaws like everybody else. Nobody is advocating getting
delusional here, but we must stay fair at least.
“This Is
Purely Symbolism – It Does Not Have Any Real-World Impact!”
Symbolic
gestures actually have incredible real-world impact. The symbols we create,
honour, and uphold say everything about the values system we live by. Why was
it such a big deal when Colin Kaepernick ‘took the knee’ at the American
national anthem in protest, but was condemned then and now celebrated as an
acceptable act of defiance after the death of George Floyd? Why, in the UK, do
we hold a minute’s silence on the 11th hour of the 11thday of the 11th month,
without fail? You probably see the swastika as a symbol of fascism, but did you
know that it represented good fortune in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism before
the Nazis usurped it? It will likely never now shake off its evil associations,
and people are arrested for displaying it publicly. Such is the power of a
symbol and the ideas it contains.
The
‘symbolic’ return of the Hagia Sophia says something far deeper than a physical
structure changing its core purpose. It is an open and unapologetic reclamation
of Turkey to stand by its core religious values in a country split along raging
secularist lines, as well as a world that wants to stamp out open religious
expression altogether.
Saint Sophia museum in Istanbul
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“This Is
Meaningless – The Ummah Is Still in A Mess!”
We
definitely are a mess, that is for sure. We do not claw our way out of this
mess by lamenting the fact or knocking small or large attempts to crawl out of
the abyss. There is not a single action anybody could take that will magically
propel the Ummah forward towards justice and goodness. Instead, it will only be
the collective and sincere grassroots efforts on the ground, which will nudge
us closer to getting there. Nothing is ‘meaningless’. With a genuine intention,
any action can invite untold barakah, and Allah can throw open the doors of
khayr without a moment’s hesitation. Value what others may dismiss as
insignificant because every drop raises the ocean.
Consider
the Climate We Are Living in Today
We are not
living in the time of the female Muslim warrior Khawlah bint al-Azwar of the
7th century,[1] who was taken to the Byzantine enemy leader’s tent when she was
captured by enemy soldiers. The leader openly declared his intention to rape
her, whereupon all the other prisoners were roused to use tent poles as weapons
to attack the Byzantine guards and a few more knights on the way out too.
No – we are
living in a time of forgotten Muslim women, like Aafia Siddiqui, a
neuroscientist and scholar in the USA who continues to languish in inhumane
conditions following mental, physical, and sexual abuse, including the
‘disappearance’ of her son.[2] Muslim leaders were not only silent on her cause
but were actively complicit in her treatment. Yet her case was ceremoniously
kicked around like a political football during election time.
We cannot
even receive an apology from a prime minister who, when criticising a genocide,
said that Muslim victims “aren’t exactly angels”.[3] BBC Radio is still puzzled
over whether colonialism may have had more benefit than harm for the untamed
savages abroad,[4] and headlines on the spread of the coronavirus blame Muslims
celebrating Eid (and not English beach-goers) and Pakistanis coming into the
country.[5]
Even our
children are not even afforded basic humanisation. Shukri Abdi was drowned in
broad daylight in the presence of live witnesses, but her ‘black-ness’ and
‘Muslim-ness’ meant that the police closed the case as a ‘tragic accident’,
despite many gaping and unavoidable question marks around what actually
happened that day by the river. Abdi can barely secure mainstream news
coverage, even for a fleeting article.[6] When Shamima Begum left the UK as a
15-year-old schoolgirl, she was not considered a vulnerable child who was
groomed and radicalised. Begum was portrayed as a cunning and calculated
terrorist capable of taking absolute responsibility for all her decisions.
There was no rehabilitation, therapy, or help afforded to this
child-turned-woman who has already watched three of her children die. It was a
‘Muslim’ politician – who has previously claimed that ‘Christianity is the only
religion practiced in our home’ – [7] who rallied the most to strip Begum of
her citizenship, hoping to prevent her from ever returning to UK shores again.
Flashes
Of Light In Relentlessly Dark Times
In these
often infuriating and demoralising dark times for Muslims, it is important not
to get swept in the tide of negativity around local and global challenges
facing the Ummah. The power of positive thinking is well known in human
psychology and is associated with many wonderful things.[8] These include an
increased lifespan, lower rates of depression, resilience, and overall physical
wellbeing on a personal level, as well as progress, empowerment, and
achievement on a public level.
Muslims
desperately crave this in days like today. Maybe this is why we get a little
too happy when we witness Liverpool football fans chanting the virtues of
congregational salah in the Masajid, or see Khabib Nurmagomedov openly
praising Allah in an arena filled with every flavour of godlessness imaginable.
Or even when we watch those grainy Michael Parkinson videos with a loud and
proud Muhammad Ali declaring just how wonderful and amazing it is to be a
believing Muslim. This is not the answer to everything, but it is a much-needed
boost in a world where there may be little to smile about.
So when I
gather the kids to witness the Takbirat at the Hagia Sophia, and the
crowds who eagerly gathered to offer Jumu’ah prayer there, I will allow them
the adrenaline rush they get, the dreamy connection to the glorious
Ottomanpast, and the few short moments where they witness the open and joyous
proclamation of Allah’s greatness in a world that is wholesale geared to stamp
it out.
Let us
cherish these desperately sought-after flashes of ‘izzah today – Allah knows
they do not come too often…
“And to
Allah belongs [all] honour, and to His Messenger, and to the believers.” [9]
Notes:
[1]
https://today.salamweb.com/the-incredible-story-of-khawlah-bint-al-azwar-one-of-the-greatest-female-military-leaders-in-history/
[2]
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/the-us-can-do-more-to-compensate-for-pakistans-sacrifices-during-the-war-on-terror-the-plight-of-dr-aafia-siddiqui/
[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53370703
[4] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000l0kg
[5]
https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/islamophobia-covid-19-pandemic-uk-67037/
[6]
https://www.burytimes.co.uk/news/18482068.petition-investigate-girls-drowning-death-hits-100k/
[7]
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/31/sajid-javid-accused-shamima-begum-case-syria
[8] https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/positive-thinking/art-20043950
[9] Al-Qur’an 63:8
Original
Headline: When moments like the Hagia Sophia come
source: The Islam 21
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/nobody-hailing-erdogan-mahdi-hujjat/d/122598