Hagia Sophia Officially Returns To Mosque In Today's Memory, July 10, 2020

Hagia Sophia who switched functions from museum to mosque. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA Memories of today, five years ago, July 10, 2020, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially designated the Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque. This change in status does not make Hagia Sophia exclusive only to Muslims. Erdogan provides space for other religious people to enter the Hagia Sophia.

Previously, no one doubted the beauty of the Hagia Sophia as a historic building in Turkey. The building has changed its function several times. At first it became a church, mosque, and museum.

No one doubts Hagia Sophia as the pioneer of architecture in her time. Hagia Sophia is also often considered the highest point of Byzantine architecture. The narrative is not just an empty message. Hagia Sophia has been around for a long time.

Development is devoted to being a church during the reign of the 5th century Islamic Byzantine Empire. The Hagia Sophia itself is interpreted as sacred wisdom. The presence of the Hagia Sophia was greeted with joy.

The building became a comfortable place of worship for Christians. Later the status of Hagia Sophia changed. The emergence of the Caliphate of Turkey Utsmani (Ottoman) as the new ruler of the Kontantinopel (now: Istanbul) became the estuary.

The Hagia Sophia under the power of Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih turned the Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 1453. The presence of Hagia Spohia as a mosque made Muslims happy. The narrative was because the Hagia Sophia made racism as a center of Islamic culture.

The building was renovated. Maintenance is carried out seriously. This condition made Hagia Sophia appear like a symbol of the glory of Turkey Utsmani. The extension of the Hagia Sophia as a mosque began to be disrupted as the Ottoman Turkish regime weakened.

The change arose because the modern Turkish Republic was born in 1924. Modern Turkish father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk then made Hagia Sophia a museum in 1935.

The decision was regretted by Turkish Muslims. However, this condition made the Hagia Sophia increasingly known because other religious people could enter and enjoy the beauty of the Hagia Sophia.

A bad-written notification, with ink on a warped cardboard sheet, tells visitors, with capital letters in the new Latin letter Turkish: Closed to be cleaned and converted into a museum.

The small group of ulama and their servants have been led out just like that and placed in other mosques in the city. Even if they look at them, they do it with their beards. No sound of protest, "is written in the report of The Guardian's page entitled Saint Sophia: Convert Into a Museum (1935).

The extension of the Hagia Sophia as a museum was able to bring many tourists to Turkey. This condition lasted a long time. However, everything changed when Erdogan became President of Turkey. Erdogan repeatedly voiced that Hagia Sophia was again used as a mosque.

This wish began to get the blessing of the Turkish people. Erdogan also said that his decision to turn the Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque was the right of sovereignty. At its peak, the Turkish high court canceled the Attaturk era decree which changed the status of the Hagia Sophia to a museum on July 10, 2020.

The decision was celebrated by Erdogan. As a result, on the same day Erdogan officially changed the Hagia Sophia from the museum to the mosque. The decision was pros and cons.

Other religious people think Hagia Sophia is the monopoly of Muslims. However, Erdogan immediately denied it. All religious people can enter the Hagia Sophia.

"Those who do not take steps against Islamophobia in their own country try to attack Turkey's desire to exercise its sovereign rights to make Hagia Sophia a mosque," Erdogan said as quoted on the tempo.co page, July 10, 2020.