Muslim Friday prayers back at Hagia Sophia after 86 years

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recited the first Muslim Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia in 86 years.

For 86 years Hagia Sophia was a symbol of Turkey’s secularity, the monument coveted by Muslims and Christians that had been taken out of the hands of both.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan etched his own place in the building’s twisting 1500-year history as he recited verses from the Koran under the 60-metre dome during Friday prayers marking the start of its second era as a mosque.

Thousands of people packed into the square outside and surrounding streets, many having camped overnight. Chants of “Allahu akbar” broke out as Mr Erdogan recited. Ali Erbas, head of the Diyanet, Turkey’s state religious agency, which has taken ownership of the building, led the prayers and gave the sermon, in which he hailed Sultan Mehmed II, who conquered Constantinople for the Ottomans and turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 1453.

A crescent moon over Hagia Sophia in Istanbul on Saturday. Picture: AFP

“Hagia Sophia is the place from which the boundless mercy of Islam is again declared to the whole world … The reopening of (it) to worship is evidence that the Islamic civilisation continues to rise,” Dr Erbas said on Friday (Saturday AEST).

Later he praised Mr Erdogan: “May Allah regard particularly His Excellency and … all people sharing our happiness today.” As he left the mosque Mr Erdogan said that the nation’s “10-year longing” had been achieved.

Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th century and served as a Christian church for nearly a millennium before becoming a mosque. In 1934 Kemal Ataturk turned the building into a museum. Its unique blend of Christian and Muslim features made it the most visited tourist site in Turkey and won it a place on UNESCO’s world heritage list.

There have been calls to turn it back into a mosque since the 1990s but the pace gathered over the past decade as Mr Erdogan sought to harness Turkey’s Islamist tendencies. He issued the decree turning the monument back into a mosque two weeks ago after a court ruling. Since then the marble floor has been covered with a blue carpet and a sign saying “Hagia Sophia grand mosque” has been erected at the entrance, along with Turkish flags. Ninth-century mosaics depicting the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus and the archangel Gabriel, which face Muslim worshippers as they pray towards Mecca, have been fitted with curtains that close for prayer times. Koranic recitations will be performed 24 hours a day.

THE TIMES