On July 17, 2020, Imam Feisal delivered a khutba on the decision by the government of Turkey to revert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia to a mosque.
Imam Feisal discusses the history of pain associated with the decisions of the Ataturk era and explains that when Hagia Sophia was originally constructed as a church by the Byzantines, it was for the glorification of God, a purpose that carried over under the Ottomans when the building was a mosque.
Reverting Hagia Sofia to a mosque would restore the sacred space’s original purpose and function, a purpose it cannot serve as a museum.
