Caliph Omar, centuries after his first prayers in Jerusalem, continues to command only respect and admiration from Muslims and Christians alike, whose actions resonate with people of all faiths.
By Aditi Bhaduri
Today, July 24, 2020, marked a historical day for Turkey and especially for President Reception Tayyip Erdogan. After 86 years Muslim prayers were once again offered at the iconic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, which will henceforth function as a mosque. In fact President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recited the first chapter of the Quran at the reopening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque
The monument for many has come to be an enduring symbil of the beautiful, resilient city of Istanbul. Like many others I have had the pleasure of visiting, living in and admiring the city and the many treasures it had to offer it’s visitors. And like many others before me and no doubt after, I too was captivated by the Hagia Sophia. If it’s exterior was a trifle brooding, then the interiors were simply resplendent. A beautiful confluence of Orthodox Christianity and Islam merged in the beautiful minbar and the mihrab so close to the mosaics of the Christ and the Madonna. In fact I had the distinct pleasure of living just a stone’s throw away from the majestic monument in the city’s Sultanahmet area, and so passed it by numerous times a day.
But Hagia Sophia’s glory and magnificence was to be found not only in it’s beauty; it’s history was what in many ways imparted to it that uniqueness that sets a thing apart from it’s peers. And that history was not of it’s conquest or it’s many avatars. True, that history is every bit important. Built first on the ruins of a pagan Roman temple in the fourth century by Byzantinian Emperor Constantius, it became a centre of Orthodox Christianity. The church burnt down twice and The current cathedral was built by Emperor Justinian I in 537 AD. In 1453 Constantinople fell to the Muslim Ottoman Turks and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed turned Constantinople into Istanbul and the Hagia Sophia Cathedral into a mosque.
In 1934 the founding father of the modern republic of Turkey – Mustafa Kemal Ataturk – turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum. It is said that the mosque was undergoing renovations when the Christian mosaics and frescoes were discovered under the plasters. Instead of covering them again in keeping with Muslim sensibilities Ataturk decreed that the place be preserved as a museum – a testimony to both it’s Christian and Muslim past, as also to the present coexistence and dialogue of religions and civilizations.
Pragmatists say that Ataturk was trying to forge closer relations between Turkey and the west and it was a step in that direction. Others today say that he was dictatorial in his decision which did not reflect the will of majority of the Turkish people. YetYothers argue that the Sultan had actually paid for the building and hence it is now waqf property which should not have been converted into a museum. History will, no doubt, impute various reasons and motives to Ataturk’s decision. But the Turks had been content with upholding the status quo since. Till now.
But watching the Friday prayers at the Hagia Sophia today, turned my mind to another mosque in another contested, coveted, loved city, every bit as historical and with an even more chequered history than Istanbul – Jerusalem.
Over the centuries and certainly many more before Istanbul, Jerusalem has been coveted and conquered and each conquering people have left their mark on it, adding strata after strata of history, beauty, and bitterness. Unlike Istanbul, Jerusalem even today remains contested, it’s status disputed. Yet, there is a lesson to be learned in a mosque there – the Mosque of Omar ibn Al Khattab, or simply the Mosque of Omar as many call it.
It is almost tucked away from public eye, with shops forming a cordon in front of the entrance. But it’s minaret is visible and at the very entrance to the old city – where it is located – at the Jaffa Gate an arrow points the way to the Mosque of Omar Al Khattab. And neither is it a popular place on the tourist circuit. But when curiosity took me inside I found a low ceilinged, simple, almost austere interior which was incredibly peaceful. Thick red carpets covered the floors leading towards a simple mihrab – the niche that represents the qibla or the prayer direction. Low hanging chandeliers cast a warm glow. But it’s history is enthralling.
The interiors of the Mosque of Omar ibn Al Khattab
When the Arabs conquered Jerusalem in 637 AD Patriarch Sophranius surrendered to the Second Caliph Omar and then invited him to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, then known as the Church of the Ressurection. While there it was time for Omar’s prayers. Sophranius invited him to pray in the church but the caliph refused. He went out and prayed where the mosque was later constructed. He explained that had he prayed inside the church his followers would have turned it into a mosque. To prevent that he prayed outside.
That is how the Church of the Holy Sepulchre survived and remains a Church till today. And the mosque came up beside it. The original mosque of Omar does not exist, another was built in it’s place. But they stand side by side today – the church and the mosque, and that is how they have endured.
Reopening Hagia Sophia as a mosque has brought President Erdogan accolades and applause from many Muslims not just from Turkey but from across the world. Equally many Muslims across the world have regretted the move to change Hagia Sophia’s status. The Christian world too has regretted the move. Both Orthodox and Catholic churches have come together on this.
But Caliph Omar, centuries after his first prayers in Jerusalem, continues to command only respect and admiration from Muslims and Christians alike, whose actions resonate with people of all faiths.
