The Church of Hagia Sophia, the largest church of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, the Christian cathedral of Constantinople, dedicated to the Wisdom of God, the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity (Jesus Christ) – 1453: Being trapped in the church, the many congregants and yet more refugees inside became spoils-of-war to be divided amongst the triumphant invaders – In early July 2020, the Council of State in Turkey ordered the reclassification of Hagia Sophia as a mosque!...

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«...... Throughout the period of the siege of Constantinople, the trapped worshippers of the city participated in the Divine Liturgy and the Prayer of the Hours at the Hagia Sophia and the church formed a safe-haven and a refuge for many of those who were unable to contribute to the city's defence, which comprised women, children, elderly, the sick and the wounded. Being trapped in the church, the many congregants and yet more refugees inside became spoils-of-war to be divided amongst the triumphant invaders. The building was desecrated and looted, with the helpless occupants who sought shelter within the church being enslaved.

While most of the elderly and the infirm/wounded and sick were killed, and the remainder (mainly teenage males and young boys) were chained up and sold into slavery. The church's priests and religious personnel continued to perform Christian rites, prayers and ceremonies until finally being forced to stop by the invaders. 

When Sultan Mehmed and his entourage entered the church, he ordered that it be converted into a mosque at once. One of the ʿulamāʾ (Islamic scholars) present climbed onto the church's ambo and recited the shahada ("There is no god but God, and Muhammed is his messenger"), thus marking the beginning of the conversion of the church into a mosque. ......»

See the post here, please... 

 
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See also

Türkçe dilinde Ortodokslukla ilgili metinler - Orthodoxy in Turkish - Ορθοδοξία στα τουρκικά
İlahiyatçı ve İman İkrarcısı, Şehit Peder Daniel Sysoev (1974–2009)  
BÜYÜK ŞEHİT AZİZ GEORGİOS
Meryem Ana, Kutsalların Kutsalı - Yaşam bağışlayan kaynak
ŞEHİT AHMET - Two Turkish Saints Aziz Porfirios - Aziz Paisios (Türkçe Altyazılı)
 
A Christian perspective on Islam
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From Islam to Christianity: To our brethren who converted from Islam to Protestantism or Roman Catholicism
From Islam to Christianity: Saints in the Way to the Lihgt
The Orthodox Christian sentiment regarding the persecutions of Christians by Islamists
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Murdered by Muhammad - The Brutal Deaths of Islam’s Earliest Enemies

 

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