Q; – Did the Muslims or did the Christians build the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, Turkey?
The question, asked by S Conceicao, was originally answered by the author (in brief) on November 19, 2017. @ Quora.com. before the conversion. 295 views.
Hagia in Greek (hágios ) means “Holy” and in Christian liturgy something consecrated.
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I would not blink agreeing that the timing of conversion of Hagia Sofia, back to the mosque, by the Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is politically motivated. It is to show Turkeys’ leadership resolve and to boost his popularity, domestically and internationally simultaneously. It was not, however, a religious chauvinism.
Some accounts suggest that the original church Hagia Sophia was ordered to be built, on the foundations of a pagan temple, by Constantine l in 325. Way before the advent of Islam. His son, Constantinus ll, consecrated it in 360. It was damaged in 404 by a fire that erupted during a riot following the second banishment of St. Johan Chrysostom, the patriarch of Constantinople. It was rebuilt and enlarged by the Roman emperor Constans I. Then restored building was rededicated by Theodosius II in 415. The church was burned down again in the Nika insurrection of January 532, which allowed Justinian I to envision a splendid replacement. (532-537) CE
Since Eusebius was bishop of Constantinople from 339 to 341, and Constantine died in 337, it seems possible that the first church was erected by the latter. The edifice was built as a traditional Latin colonnaded basilica with galleries and a wooden roof. It was preceded by an atrium. It was claimed to be one of the world’s most outstanding monuments at the time.
Socrates of Constantinople, writing in 440, however, claimed that the church was built by Constantius II, who was working on it in 346. A tradition which is not older than the 7th or 8th century, reports that the edifice was built by Constantine the Great. Zonaras reconciles the two opinions, writing that Constantius ll had repaired the edifice consecrated by Eusebius of Nicomedia after it had collapsed.
Yet another account suggests that this Cathedral was completed by the Byzantine king, of Eastern Roman Empire, Justinian I in 537 as an epitome of Byzantine architecture.
An account with a different perspective, suggests that this edifice was built as a result of a sectarian split in the Christian ranks into—Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians. The seat of the Roman Catholics was the Vatican whereas Hagia Sofia became the epicenter of the Orthodox Christians.
21 years old king, Fateh Sultan Mohammad II, the conqueror, after the fall of Constantinople in 1451, entered the Byzantine’s prestigious cathedral and, keeping the tradition of “general-amnesty” by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) after the conquest of Mecca, pardoned all his adversaries, thereby winning the hearts and minds of the people. The result was that in a short period a city with 99% Christians was left with only 3% Christians. [mainly Armenian-Christians]. Other accounts, however, differ and suggest that the Christians, Assyrians and Greeks’ cleansing was done through mass killing. I will, therefore, let the history bear the fact out.
When the Christian worshippers were left far and few between, and the edifice was dilapidated, King Sultan Mohammad II, in the year 1453, bought Hagia Sofia with his own money and endowed it to a trust. He, having envisioned the future cost of maintenance, also built a Bazar (market), and a museum adjoining the edifice.
{Note: The status of a “TRUST” cannot be changed/abrogated arbitrarily, even by the original donor, should he change his mind later on}
Hagia Sofia, throughout the era of the Ottoman Empire, of about 500 years, until 1935 had been a mosque held in trust.
Who was Mustafa Kemal Pasha and why did he convert Hagia Sofia into a Museum?
There are several interesting accounts about his background, his rise to the esteemed position of “Father of the Turks” and about his dubious behavior, in a wider context, relating to Islam!
He is a highly revered heroic figure, not only for Turks but also for most of the Muslims. [May not, however, be so for the Arab-Muslims]. When the Grand Vizier, Ahmed Pasha, of the Ottoman Empire planned to ratify the Treaty of Sevres, in 1918, the nationalist Turks headed by Kamal Ataturk defied the king’s will and revolted. Turkish parliament and the people refused to accept the treaty without substantive changes! Although, it was he who signed the treaty of Lausanne in 1923. This established the Republic of Turkey, and Mustafa Kemal became the country’s first president.
Kamal Ataturk in the last 150 years of Muslim history was the first leader; who not only defeated the coalition of the colonial powers; which included Britain, France, Italy, Greece and Bolsheviks supporting Armenians, but also expelled them out of Muslim-Turkey. Interestingly, American president Woodrow Wilson was planning to establish a Christian Armenian independent state out of Turkey but Kamal Ataturk, the hero of the Gallipoli war (1916), trashed his planning by defeating western colonialist forces one by one. Turkish Parliament granted him the title of “Ataturk” Father of the Turks. Parliament also made him field marshal and awarded him a title of “Ghazi” after defeating Greeks in the battle of Sakarya in1921.
Mehmed Vahideddin VI, the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, was forced to abdicate the throne and exiled to Italy in 1922. It prepared the way for declaring Turkey the Secular Republic under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. (in 1923 after signing Lausanne treaty)
President Kamal Ataturk, contemplating to keep Turkey out of the well-conceived impending WWII, approached Balkan states and Greece (Greece had been under the Ottoman rule for 500 years), to sign the Balkan-Pact. Greece suggested declaring Hagia Sofia a church, as a goodwill gesture. Kamal Ataturk capitulated, therefore in 1934, abrogated the Hagia Sofia mosque trust and declared it a museum instead. The idea was that the old structure would need a huge sum of money to be restored and maintained, therefore, declaring it a museum would not only generate funds for it but goodwill for (secular) Turkey also. It did happen and UNESCO declared it (in 1985- E. Britannica) a world-heritage-site and has been maintaining the building ever since, for almost 80 years.
Note: there are some suggestions that President “k. Attatuk’s” signature was forged on the conversion decree!
Another account about Kamal Ataturk suggests that he belonged to a Jewish sect, “Dönmeh” or “Crypto-Jews”, created by a Romaniote rabbi from Smyrna named Sabbatian Zevi. Sabbatian Zevi declared himself as the long-awaited Messiah. [Exploiting the pronouncement made by Musa bin Maymun (Maimonides) about the coming of the Messiah]
Sabbatian Zevi even at a young age displayed great brilliance and became an accomplished Talmudic and Kabbalistic scholar. Between 1642 and 1648 he lived in semi-seclusion and began to display character traits that psychologists describe as manic-depressive. His following was, nevertheless, spreading far and wide. Turkish Sultan finally arrested him and forced him to renounce the prophethood. Sabbatian Zevi offered to accept Islam and renounced Judaism taking the new name Aziz Mehmed Effendi. This way he ostensibly became a Muslim but clandestinely remained a Jew. [hypocrite]. Kamal Ataturk, according to this account, belonged to this hypocrite-Jewish cult-Dönmeh, hence declared not only Hagia Sofia a Museum but also Turkey a secular Republic.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a Free-Masonry, initiated into Freemasonry in 1907 in Macedonia Risorta Lodge # 80 under the charter and constitution of the Grand Orient De France. It was likely his involvement at a young age in Freemasonry that inspired his idealistic tendencies in life. He believed that modernization necessarily entailed Westernization, and he established a policy of state secularism, with a constitution that separated the government from religion. Although he believed he was advancing the country, not all of Mustafa Kemal’s reforms were warmly received. His policy of state secularism was particularly controversial, and he was accused of decimating important cultural and religious traditions.
Kamal Ataturk. while in a position of strength, accepted/enforced many controversial, anti-Islam measures, which afford credibility to the above assertions. Unless he was naively influenced by the western modernity and secularistic trends of his time; as many western-educated Muslims, with scanty knowledge of Islam, think even nowadays!
Anti-Islam changes accepted/enforced.
He changed the Azan (call for prayers) chanting from Arabic to the Turkish language.
He changed the Turkish language script from Arabic to Roman (Latin) so that people eventually would not be able to read/understand Arabic and Qura’an.
Mosques were locked except for a brief interval of prayers. [preventing any religious education or discourse]
Keeping or carrying the Holy Qura’an was forbidden.
No Hafiz was allowed to be a high-ranking army official.
Changed the name of Islambul city to Istanbul.
The Dardanelles (Bosporus) Straits was made an international waterway with the Ottoman Empire having no control over it. Certain ports near to Constantinople were declared “free zones” as they were deemed to be of international importance. This deprived Turkey of huge amounts of tariff collection.
Accepted the restrictions on the exploration of natural resources, such as oil and gas.
The army was made custodian of the Secular-Turkish-constitution, to perpetuate the secular character of the previously Islamic state.
Economic and political restrictions were also accepted.
The Ottoman Empire had the control of its finances and economy taken away from her and handed over to the Allies
Kamal Ataturk, in the face of Balfour declaration, acted as a vanquished (instead of an ally, Germany), acquiescing to the dictates of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”.
Although, officially, he was pursuing the “Six-Arrows” policy — republicanism, nationalism, populism, statism, secularism and revolution.
https://shakir2.wordpress.com/2017/10/25/break-up-of-ottoman-empire-through-british-conspiracy/
Conclusion: Legally or morally only UNESCO has a right to object to the status change of Hagia Sofia, for it has spent huge sums of money on this edifice as a museum.
Although originally it was built as a Church but was sold and bought legally and for consideration and the title held in trust, which cannot be changed/abrogated arbitrarily.
Turkish supreme court on this very ground annulled the decision taken by Kamal Ataturk in 1453 and ordered its restoration to its original status–a place of worship—a mosque.
A site/building declared a national heritage; also gives the owning state the right to its “Adaptive-use”, anyway suitable/beneficial.
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has changed a museum not a church into a mosque assigning only a portion of the edifice for Muslim Prayers while the remaining parts will still be open to the general public, as a tourist attraction.
These arguments, when considered rationally and logically, would repudiate any objection, especially that of religious chauvinism.
https://shakir2.wordpress.com/2018/12/14/behemoth-turkey/
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