«May you have everything and may nothing happen to you» — this half-joking wish is remembered today after the Turkish Council of State’s decision to return the Hagia Sophia to the faithful. It has been functioning as a mosque for the past five centuries since it was opened to Muslims in Anatolia and Constantinople-Istanbul. Insha Allah, it will be so! It will happen because the nature of this small part of Istanbul and Turkey is changing its character on a symbolic level. The Islamic spirit with which the opening of Anatolia and Constantinople to Muslims took place was symbolically turned into a history museum in 1934, when the Hagia Sophia was converted from the House of Allah. And now the Islamic spirit has come out of the museum walls and turned it back into a mosque, becoming the main symbol of the city that was the political capital of the Islamic world for five centuries, and it is beginning to regain that role, even on an informal-symbolic level.
The active policies in Syria, Libya, northern Iraq, in other parts of the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe — all this was unnatural as long as the main Islamic symbol of the country that pursued these policies was turned into a museum, handed over to the Museum of History, along with the Islamic spirit. However, the country that restored the symbol of Islam’s triumph over the largest world empire of its time, made it its home, and received a symbolic trump card to return to world politics, which it did not have while this symbol was in the museum of history. And, insha Allah, nothing will happen to them for it! Putin managed to annex Crimea, which he considered to be part of Russia, in spite of all international laws. And despite all the sanctions, in the grand scheme of things, nothing happened to him for it. Netanyahu managed to declare Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel, which is recognized by international standards and law as the capital of two states: the western part is Jewish and the eastern part is Palestinian. Not only did he not face any consequences, but the same American leaders who asked Erdogan not to return the Hagia Sophia to the Muslims supported and recognized this decision of Netanyahu, ignoring the protests of numerous states.
On the other hand, Turkey and Erdogan are not violating any international law by returning the Hagia Sophia to the Muslims. They are acting within the framework of their undisputed, internationally recognized territory and in relation to an object that is under the national jurisdiction of Turkey. There is no doubt that Turkey will comply with the international requirements arising from the status of Hagia Sophia as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This includes not doing anything that would threaten the frescoes, which Christians are concerned about and want to continue to see as they do in the museum. All historical mosques in Istanbul are open to tourists, and most likely a compromise will be reached that will allow the needs of Islam for a place of collective prayer to be met, while allowing Christians to see the symbols they have seen for decades in the museum, which is no longer a Christian church.
Millions of Muslims have been waiting for this moment for decades, and the decision made by the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will undoubtedly immortalize himself in the memory and history of Muslims as the new conqueror, reopening for Islam what Mustafa Kemal took from them. The rest will just have to accept it. Muslims have reclaimed what is rightfully theirs, not only by their own right but also by international law, unlike those who hypocritically invoke it but blatantly disregard it before the whole world and even take pride in it. With God’s help, this will become a symbol of a new era that the world and its Islamic part will enter in this significant year of 2020.