A court hearing in Turkey regarding the restoration of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia as a mosque is raising concern internationally.
As reported by 5pillaruk, the Russian Orthodox Church voiced its opposition to converting the current museum back into a mosque.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Greek government have also urged Turkey to keep the building as a museum.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described foreign criticism over the proposal as an attack on Turkey’s sovereignty.
Since 1453 Hagia Sophia was a mosque, until the militant-secular pro-Western dictator of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal, converted it into a museum in 1934.
Many Muslims worldwide view the current Turkish attempt to make Hagia Sophia a mosque once again as a Muslim assertion of themselves on the international arena. There are, however, some alternative views on the Turkish move as well.
Prominent British-Muslim journalist Roshan Muhammad Salih wrote that “I'm actually against turning the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. I think it sends out the wrong message to Christians about tolerance and just invites retaliatory action against mosques in non-Muslim countries. Also, isn't it haraam to forcibly convert the places of worship of the Ahl al Kitaab? Muslims don't need fancy places to pray in; they just need places to pray in and we already have enough of those. I think this is just political posturing by Erdogan.”
Courtesy: 5pillarsuk.com
When Turkey reversed the nearly century-old policy to revert the Hagia Sophia back into a Mosque, all hell broke loose around the world. Thi...
