Message regarding Hagia Sophia

Today is the day the recitations of takbir, tahlil, and salawat echo again around Hagia Sophia’s domes, of adhan and salat rise from its minarets. The longing of the descendants of Mehmed the Conqueror and the silence of the grand temple have come to an end. Today, Hagia Sophia is meeting its mu’min and muwahhid congregation again.

Salam be to that young and determined ruler Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, who produced the most advanced technology of his era, had the ships move over land, conquered Istanbul with the permission and help of Allah, and then did not allow anybody to cause even the slightest harm to even a piece of rock in this honorable city.

Hagia Sophia is the conquest’s symbol and the entrustment of its Conqueror who endowed it on condition that it remains a mosque until the Last Day. Salam be to our authorities, scholarly and intellectual people, leaders full of wisdom and benevolence, and all our brothers and sisters who have from past to present worked with their heart and soul for this rare and precious entrustment to meet its congregation.