Aya Sofia Grand Mosque || Perform Friday Prayers after 86 Years

People began to gather early in the morning for Friday prayers at the Aya Sofia Grand Mosque in Istanbul.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled a new plaque on the building. Today, 86 years later, Friday prayers were offered at the Aya Sofia Grand Mosque.

People started gathering in the morning to offer prayers, including women and children. People camped outside the mosque overnight, but due to the lack of space for one and a half thousand worshipers and the lack of space in the mosque, thousands of citizens prayed outside on the streets.

People were wearing shirts with pictures of the Turkish president and the Ottoman caliph. Strict measures were taken to prevent and control the epidemic on this historic occasion. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ministers, dignitaries and members of parliament also attended Friday prayers.

It should be noted that on July 10, Turkey's highest administrative court, the Council of State, overturned the 1934 ruling in favor of Aya Sofia in favor of the Sultan Muhammad Fatih Foundation. The ruling said it could not be used for any purpose other than a mosque. The building was built in the sixth century.

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Turkey's Supreme Court Council of State has decided to convert the historic Aya Sofia building in Istanbul from a museum to a mosque. The Turkish president has also signed a presidential decree to convert the museum into a mosque.

Was Sofia a church in the past? Then the Ottoman Sultan Muhammad the Conqueror conquered Constantinople and defeated the Byzantines. He bought the church from his personal property and converted it into a mosque. The mosque became known as "Jamia Aya Sofia" and continued to pray five times a day for five hundred years until the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Mustafa Kemal Atatrk overthrew the Ottoman Empire and closed the Aya Sofia Mosque for prayers and turned it into a museum.

Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of many countries, including the United States and the European Union, has criticized Turkey for rebuilding Sofia.

On the other hand, Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected all international criticism and called it an internal matter of Turkey. He said the decision was an expression of Turkey's exercise of its sovereign rights, adding that countries that did nothing to curb Islamophobia were attacking Turkey's sovereignty.