Several thousand Muslims took part on Friday July 31 in the first Eid al-Adha prayer organized in the former Hagia Sophia since the conversion into a mosque of this emblematic building of Istanbul.
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A crowd of worshipers had formed even before sunrise on the outskirts of Hagia Sophia, some taking selfies before prayer, noted an AFP reporter. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of people allowed to pray inside the mosque has been limited to a few hundred. Several thousand faithful therefore prostrated themselves on the square of the building.
Senior Turkish officials such as Religious Authority Head Ali Erbas or Parliament Head Mustafa Sentop participated in this first prayer of Eid al-Adha, the great Muslim holiday, in Hagia Sophia for 86 years. " I wanted to pray for Eid here (...) in this magnificent atmosphere and live this historic moment in the company of Muslims from all over the world, " Mustafa, a school principal, told AFP. Praying in Hagia Sophia “ was a childhood dream. Seeing Hagia Sophia chained, the doors closed, it was a great frustration, ”added Murat Fidan, 50 years old.
Wrath of Greece
A major architectural work built in the 6th century, Hagia Sophia is an important place for both Christians and Muslims, having first been a Byzantine basilica before being converted into a mosque after the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 In 1934, the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal, converted the monument into a museum to make it the symbol of secular Turkey.
Read also: Erdogan re-Islamizes Hagia Sophia and challenges Europe again
But on July 10, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided to return the building to Muslim worship, following a court decision revoking its status as a museum. This measure aroused the anger of Greece, a neighboring country of Turkey which closely follows the fate of Byzantine heritage. Pope Francis also said he was " very distressed ".
