The world-famous Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul, originally a cathedral, has been re-converted into a mosque

The Blue Mosque undoubtedly has its place in Istanbul but it is the Hagia Sophia which has the heart of every visitor. For rarely does one find such a secular icon in any world culture. Built as a cathedral, it has lasted since the 6th century through waves of conquests in Turkey, each era adding a layer of syncretism and a defining mark but never swamping its preceding legacy. So even though it was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453, with domes on the outside, its insides were not defaced but just covered with lime wash and concealed. Just the practice of faith and its prayers changed. So Christian emblems, including the famous mosaic of the Virgin Mary on its central dome, were preserved through hundreds of years. And citizens internalised this co-existence as part of their DNA, one that Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, envisioned as being the progressive face of an Islamist republic, one which would endure in the modern world. So he decreed that it should be a museum, where every faith symbol would be respected and kept the way they were, and welcome believers from everywhere. But according to a new decree by Turkish President Recep Erdogan, this all-faith shrine will revert to being a mosque as the courts annulled its museum status following petitions by staunch Islamists.  

By changing the status of Hagia Sophia, Erdogan is symbolically taking down Ataturk’s inclusive and secular vision that had endeared Turkey to the world. To him, that amounts to pandering to the West. Yet that would have been the only antidote to the growing Islamophobia around the world. Powered by new-fangled radicalism, hyper-nationalism, immense nativism and a maximalist desire to lead a post-modern Islamic world, the Turkish leader has made Hagia Sophia’s status a matter of Turkey’s sovereignty. And a message for his core Islamist constituency that his leadership is worth its support. So though the move invited criticism from around the world, particularly the UNESCO, which said that the shrine was a part of shared world heritage and should not be appropriated by religiosity, Erdogan ordered the first prayers there and took down the site’s social media handles. Of course, non-Muslim visitors would continue to be allowed in. Islamists have been campaigning for the reconversion of Hagia Sophia for long but a secular Opposition had been able to hold them off. But in a post-pandemic world, where Governments are justifying power grabs by all means, Erdogan has used this sensitive religious matter to justify his leadership, which is increasingly coming under criticism for mishandling the post-COVID economy and rising unemployment. And since Hagia Sophia was an Orthodox shrine once, his unilateral move has upset both Greece and Russia, both of which have sizeable Orthodox church followers. At a time when inter-faith dialogues have been replaced by collisions, Hagia Sophia has been a bridge in a deeply divided world. To challenge its status is to challenge civilisation itself. To define its identity sits at odds with a city that has bridged Europe with Asia. With this move, Erdogan has only stereotyped Islam further as revisionist and archaic. Hagia Sophia represented the dynamism he could have used to change the discourse and debunk myths. Perhaps even reclaim his ambition to craft a neo-Islamic world. A secular icon strengthens faith, does not erode it.