Monday, April 15, 2019

Christian Paris is Burning. Notre Dame Cathedral burns.


Biblical holy sites

 Mosques were regularly established on the places of Jewish or Christian sanctuaries associated with Biblical personalities who were also recognized by Islam. The Caliph Umar initially built a small prayer house, which laid the foundation for the later construction of the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, the most sacred site in Judaism, possibly by the Umayyads. The Dome of the Rock was also built on the Temple Mount which was an abandoned and disused area.[5] Upon the capture of Jerusalem, it is commonly reported that Umar refused to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre[6] for fear that later Muslims would then convert it into a mosque in spite of a treaty guaranteeing its safety.[7]

 

The mosque of Job in Al-Shaykh Saad, Syria, was previously a church of Job.[4] The Herodian shrine of the Cave of the Patriarchs, the second most holy site in Judaism, was converted into a church during the Crusades before being turned into a mosque in 1266 and henceforth banned to Jews and Christians. Part of it was restored as a synagogue after 1967 by Israel.

Hindu, Jain and Buddhist temples

The destruction of Hindu temples in India during the Islamic conquest of India occurred from the beginning of Muslim conquest until the end the Mughal Empirethroughout the Indian subcontinent. In his book "Hindu Temples - What Happened to Them", Sita Ram Goel claimed to have produced a list of 2000 mosques that he alleges were built on Hindu temples.[8] The second volume of the book excerpts from medieval histories and chronicles and from inscriptions concerning the destruction of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist temples.

 

In Indonesia, where popular conversion from Hinduism to Islam was slower, it is believed that the minaret of the Menara Kudus Mosque, in Java, was originally part of a Hindu temple according to Goel.[8]

Conversion of church buildings to mosques[edit]

Hagia Sophia[edit]

Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral ofConstantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II, who subsequently ordered the building converted into a mosque.[25] The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed and many of the mosaics were plastered over. Islamic features – such as the mihrab, minbar, and four minarets – were added while in the possession of the Ottomans. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularised. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.[26]

Albania[edit]

The Catholic church of Saint Nicholas (Shën Nikollë) was turned into a mosque. After being destroyed in the Communist 1968 anti-religious campaign, the site was turned into an open air mausoleum.

Turkey[edit]

Following the Ottoman conquest of Anatolia, virtually all of the churches of Istanbul were desecrated and converted into mosques except the Church of St. Mary of the Mongols. In Anatolia outside of Istanbul, the following churches were desecrated and converted into mosques:
Orthodox
Armenian Apostolic

Cyprus[edit]

Following the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus, a number of Christian churches were desecrated and then converted into mosques.

Greece[edit]


Painting of the ruins of the Parthenon and the Ottoman mosque built after 1715, in the early 1830s by Pierre Peytier.
Numerous orthodox churches were converted to mosques during the ottoman period in Greece (turkocracy). Among them:
  • Parthenon in Athens: Some time before the close of the fifteenth century, the Parthenon became a mosque. Before that Parthenon was a Greek Orthodox church.

The Rotunda of Galerius in Thessaloniki, initially a Mausoleum of Roman Emperor Galerius, a Christian church (326-1590, then a mosque and again a church after 1912.
  • The Rotonda of Galerius in Thessaloniki, originally a Roman building of early 4th c., was consecrated as christian church in 326 and converted to mosque in 1590. After 1912 was converted back to church but theminaret was preserved.

Hungary[edit]

Following the Ottoman conquest of the Kingdom of Hungary, a number of Christian churches were desecrated and then converted into mosques. Those that survived the era of Ottoman rule, were later reconverted into churches after the Great Turkish War.
  • Church of Our Lady of Buda, converted into Eski Djami immediately after the capture of Buda in 1541, reconverted in 1686.
  • Church of Mary Magdalene, Buda, converted into Fethiye Djami c. 1602, reconverted in 1686.
  • The Franciscan Church of St John the Baptist in Buda, converted into Pasha Djami, destroyed in 1686.

Lebanon[edit]

Morocco[edit]

Syria[edit]

Post-Colonial North Africa[edit]

A number of North African cathedrals and churches were confiscated and/or forcibly converted into mosques in the mid-20th century
Others were desecrated and later destroyed after the Christian congregants were expelled.

Iraq[edit]

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria converted a number of Christian churches into mosques after they occupied Mosul in 2014. The churches were restored into its original functions after Mosul was liberated in 2017.[27]
  • Syrian Orthodox Church of St. Ephraim in Mosul, Iraq; converted to the Mosque of the Mujahideen
  • Chaldean Church of St. Joseph in Mosul, Iraq

Israel[edit]


Churches and synagogues in non-Islamic countries re-arranged as mosques[edit]

In areas that have experienced Muslim immigration, such as parts of Europe and North America,[28][29] some church buildings, and those of other religious congregations, that have fallen into disuse have been converted into mosques following a sale of the property. In the U.S., this has been mainly been occurring in the American Rust Belt, where native born Americans have tended to move elsewhere for better economics leaving the population gaps in communities to be replaced by immigrant ones,[30] as well as the American Sun Belt, where both migration and immigration have been rising due to growing economic opportunities since the 1980's.[31]
United Kingdom (not a complete list)
United States (not a complete list)

Germany (not a complete list)[edit]

  • Neuapostolische Kirche in Berlin-Tempelhof[40]
  • Methodist Church in Mönchengladbach[41]
  • Evangelische Notkirche Johannes, Kielstraße, Dortmund, now Merkez Camii (DITIB)
  • Kapernaumkirche (Hamburg-Horn)
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