Shahid A Abbasi is Emeritus Professor at Pondicherry University in India. In this article, he hits on the real why Erdogan should not have converted Hagia Sophia to a mosque. Not out of respect for the Christians of Turkey and for the country’s Christian heritage. Not to demonstrate his commitment to Kemalist secularism. Not because Hagia Sophia as a mosque is a quintessential symbol of the imperialism and colonialism that the world rejects today (but only when Western countries can be accused of engaging in it). No, the real problem with converting Hagia Sophia to a mosque is that it will increase “Islamophobia,” you see. For Islamic supremacists, the moral evaluation of actions is based on whether they are good for Islam or harmful to Islam. That’s the only consideration.
“Erdogan’s hour of shame,” by Shahid A Abbasi, Indian Express, July 28, 2020:
Conversion of the Hagia Sophia to a mosque has handed right-wingers in non-Muslim nations an excuse and impetus to demonise Islam
…Now the chief of Turkey has put the Hagia Sophia into a rewind mode. So has gone into reverse all that the Hagia Sophia stood for until the other day. After decades of futile hope and posturing to get accepted as a “genuine” European country by the European Union, July 24, 2020, threatens to mark the commencement of its distancing from Europe and its return journey to theocracy. Erdogan has, of course, issued the expected denials but the writing is there on the walls of the Hagia Sophia. He also has obviously handed the right-wingers of all major non-Muslim countries a new excuse and impetus to demonise Islam. One can picture them salivating at this “typical Islamist excess” to justify their own thrusts backwards….
Dude says
Let me count the ways…..
Chrissie01 says
in which the base transgressions of Islam are represented as virtues that put Muslims into the victim’s position…
Creative, I agree…
Something like: “The fact that I robbed your house made me prone to unjust persecution under the unjust generalization of being a robber…!
gravenimage says
Good analysis, Chrissie.
mortimer says
Yes, Islam gives authorization for Muslims to plunder the kafirs. A chapter in the Koran is named ‘BOOTY’.
DH says
You’re qualified to teach ethics at Georgetown University.
David Curtis says
Well he is qualified to teach pork.
David Curtis says
N.o one else is responsible for this islam phobia than those who kill, behead rape etc etc.
Their PR is atrocious. Im being kind when I say that.
mortimer says
Response to Chrissie: more like ‘I STOLE YOUR HOUSE, THEN MOVED INTO IT WITH 30 OF MY RELATIVES’.
But Hagia Sophia is not ‘any old house’. It’s the main, home church of Orthodoxy.
Muslims would not want the Kaaba to be stolen and then converted into a Hindu temple.
Martin says
MONDAY AUG 03 – TALIBAN FLAG UNFURLED INSIDE HAGIA SOPHIA MOSQUE
On August 3rd, a Taliban flag was unfurled inside Hagia Sophia.
southfront(dot)org/taliban-flag-unfurled-inside-hagia-sophia-mosque/
==================================================
Afghanistan Calls On Turkey To Take Action Against People Who Unfurled Taliban Flag
[…]The video shot in Hagia Sophia showed men dressed in traditional Afghan clothes and unfurling the Taliban banner, shouting slogans at the mosque’s entrance and then inside the prayer hall.
www(dot)avapress(dot)com/en/news/216076/afghanistan-calls-on-turkey-to-take-action-against-people-who-unfurled-taliban-flag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vVi9eLrUlo
gravenimage says
Muslim prof: ‘Conversion of Hagia Sophia has handed right-wingers an excuse and impetus to demonise Islam’
…………………..
Yes–this is always the “real” problem, isn’t it–not the oppressive brutality of Islam, but anyone daring to say anything critical about Islam as a result of that brutality.
Also note his claiming that saying anything negative about Islam is a civilized nation’s “own thrusts backwards”–as if only in our being silent about Muslim savagery are we ‘progressive’.
By the way, Shahid A Abbasi seems to have primarily written about methane prior to this.
Horace Jeffery Hodges says
Oh, has he always dealt in BS?
– Jeffery
mortimer says
Yes, the methane gas from farm-fresh piles of hot, steaming taqiyya.
gravenimage says
Yep.
SAFI says
It always is the “real problem” isn’t it? I mean even when “Asian groomers”(fancy term for Pakistani Muslim rapists) go on “grooming”(raping) countless thousands of non-muslim english girls for decades the “real problem” and the real concern is how this could “play into the hands of the far-right” if it became widely known. In fact they would cover up the truth and let this horror go on for years simply because they were so afraid it might be used by the “far-right” in the upcoming elections which as we all know is the “real problem” in any situation.
That said, having now read this guy’s entire article, I think Robert Spencer is being a bit unfair in the description he gives before only quoting this one paragraph. At least this guy seems to possess a minimum of consistency in saying that Erdogan (whose motives and muslim credentials he apparently doubts) should not have done this. There’s many others who will attack the “far-right” for taking advantage of this while still praising Erdogan’s decision. He does clearly have an islamic bias and apparently feels it’s necessary to cite a couple of the usual muslim “grievances” from Andalucia to the “genocide” in Bosnia and he pretty much whitewashes the ottoman conquest and Mehmet II (…though he says it was wrong even for him to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque) But whatever his biases and flaws may be, his saying that it was better off as a museum and implying that what Erdogan did has no justification outside the middle ages should count for something before we label him a supremacist…
Terry Gain says
SAFI
If he’s a Muslim, he is by definition a supremacist. And he is intolerant, xenophobic, filled with hate for Christians and Jews and in denial concerning the contents of the Koran, the character of the vile Mohammed and the violent history of Islam.
Other than that he’s no doubt a great guy.
mortimer says
Reply to TG: ‘A great guy?’ But one who cannot observe reality fairly.
Abbasi accuses: ‘Conversion of Hagia Sophia has handed right-wingers an excuse and impetus to demonise Islam’.
Abbasis fails to observe that the same may be said about Muslim ‘right-wingers’:
‘Conversion of Hagia Sophia by Erdogan has handed Muslim right-wingers an excuse and impetus to demonise Christianity.’
SAFI says
Terry Gain have you read the entire article? I don’t think an actual literal “supremacist” would have gone as far as to suggest that the Hagia Sophia should perhaps have been reverted into a chuch (quoting)
“Had Turkey been a progressive, confident, and strong country as President Erdogan would like to project it, it would have either left the Hagia Sophia as a museum, or reverted it to a church. That would have been an hour of glory for the religion Erdogan claims to practise, and wishes to use as a political prop.”
Like I already said, yes, he’s clearly biased and has a rosy picture of Mehmet the Conqueror (typical among Muslims and even among westerners due to the influence of the muslim-pandering western academia) but he strikes me more as one of those self-deluded “moderate” muslim who thinks his religion is against seizing people-of-the-book places of worship than an actual supremacist (his concern that it will give “right-wingers” an “excuse to demonize Islam” is only expressed in one brief sentence towards the end, the one quoted by RS)
Henricus. says
Methane from the festering pile of ordure know as Islam?
Vladimir says
Most of the public arguments between Muslims do appear to be about differences in strategy and tactics in reaching the goal of claiming the world for Islam, not in Islamic theology so much except with the Shia/Sunni divide. All faithful practicing Muslims naturally want the world to be Muslim.
Terry Gain says
Vladimir
The ideologies so dictates. 9:29
CogitoErgoSum says
What about the religion of Islam is different today than on the day the Hagia Sofia was taken and the people being sheltered inside were raped, murdered or enslaved by Muslims? Just exactly what is different about the beliefs Muslims are supposed to profess today than what they were in 1453 – or on the day in 632 for that matter when Muhammad died? Doesn’t the Koran say that Islam was perfect then? So what has changed? If Islam was perfect then would it not be perfect today without any changes? Did the Ottomans commit a sin against Allah by what they did 1453? Did Muhammad do anything wrong handing down to them the message from Allah that it is okay to kill, rape and enslave Infidels? Islam is Islam, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Islam needs no help in demonizing itself. It is what it is – demonic.
Edmund says
+1 If only everyone knew it …
Michael Copeland says
“There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam, and that is all there is to it.”
Erdogan
mortimer says
‘Moderate’ Muslims like Shahid A Abbasi are not observant Muslims. They neglect the duty of jihad.
Terry Gain says
Is he moderate or is he just engaging in public relations?
Janice Mermikli says
Agreed, so instead let’s hear the truth: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.”
Hebrews 13;8
FYI says
And remember that the HAGIA SOPHIA,to whom that STOLEN church is dedicated, refers to the Divine Wisdom of Jesus Christ who is the One{according to Christian belief} who will be judging these arrogant muslims who strut around like peacocks in a place stolen from christians,saying their worthless ‘prayers’ to their Arab god{who calls himself the best of deceivers koran 3:54 and whose enemy is a MAN called the king of kings Sahih Muslim vol 5 hadith #5611}
You can see who ‘allah’ is:all that false islamic piety is for nothing!
As for ‘tomorrow’:well,if you read Biblical Prophecy{and you should} you will know that this apparent victory of antichrist is really only temporary:I wouldn’t be TOO upset about the THEFT of this church.That is what the ‘holy’ muslims want.Actually it makes me laugh at the stupidity and blindness of muslims.
Tomorrow belongs to Jesus Christ the HAGIA SOPHIA:the Parousia.
muslims won’t even get the IRONY of ‘praying’ in this STOLEN PROPERTY dedicated to the very One who has the authority to Judge them{not their pathetic Arab god ‘allah’}
The name of that Judge is: Jesus Christ the HAGIA SOPHIA
muslims don’t get it.They won’t see it.
DavidW says
Islam demonizes itself, we don’t have to. It is amazing how weak such a bloodthirsty religion is (any attempts to even identify the shaky foundation of Islam and the Koran are met with threats or cries of victimhood).
mortimer says
Accurate description of Hitler’s holocaust does not ‘demonize’ Hitlerism, and accurate description of the history of jihad doe not ‘demonize’ Islam either.
The diabolical, sadistic cruelty of Hitlerism and Mohammedanism should be revealed to the world and not concealed by dissembling propagandists like Shahid A Abbasi.
Erdogan’s conversion of Hagia Sophia is meant as a supremacist slap in the face of all Christians.
We get it. Shahid A Abbasi doesn’t get it.
Dave from San Antonio says
I’ve read the qur’an. Islam demonizes itself quite well.
mortimer says
The Koran reveals its agenda, just as Mein Kampf revealed Hitler’s agenda.
Wellington says
Islam needs no excuse or impetus to demonize it.
It does this all by itself if only one is determined to learn what Islam is really all about. Sadly, many still aren’t—people like Pope Francis and Joe Biden come to mind.
Furthermore, this doofus Muslim professor in India unwittingly reveals that, with a few exceptions here and there, the vast majority of those in the West who oppose what Islam has in store for all of mankind can be found on the right side of the political spectrum. Anyone doubting this need only look at the Labour Party in the UK or the Democratic Party in the US for a validation of this hypothesis.
And this reality, this truth, necessitates the demonization of the Right in general, a classic example being how Leftists aplenty are so ill-informed that they can’t even make a distinction between conservatives and reactionaries. Indeed, fusing the two as essentially the same is one of modern Western Leftism’s overall nefarious designs (and errors).
Meanwhile, traditional liberalism, moderately left of center, has become an increasingly rare species as the Far Left keeps inexorably taking over its “territory” more and more and claiming it as its own. Sadly, most old fashion liberals do nothing about this “takeover” because, as Dennis Prager has sapiently opined, there are three kinds of good people—those who fight, those who aid the fighters, and then the vast majority of good people who no nothing. And proving that goodness without courage means very little.
Long ago, back in the 1950’s, courageous conservatives like William F. Buckley Jr., distanced themselves from the Far Right (e.g., the John Birch Society). This has hot happened with your standard liberals who are a dying species PRECISELY because the overtaking of traditional liberalism by the radicals on the Far Left is yearly eradicating old fashion liberalism. One knows this or should know it. Even that pompous little twit, AOC, said earlier this year that a person like Joe Biden would be in a different party from hers if America were run as many Western European nations are.
Yeah, Joe Biden is too far to the right for AOC. See what I mean? Oh yeah, QED.
Damn ominous when the extremists appear mainstream. This long ago was rejected by the mainstream Right. Not so with the mainstream Left. Quite the opposite in fact. Arguably the single greatest menace for the preservation of true liberty in the West, even eclipsing that horrid religion, that proto-type for Nazism which has since the 7th century preached a master faith just as Nazism preached a master race, i.e., Islam, is the woeful, pathetic abnegation of common sense, courage and overall reason by what used to exist, i.e., a very extensive liberalism that understood iniquity and how to deal with it. Those days of Truman and Atttlee, et al. are now largely gone.
Beyond sad. Beyond tragic. Actually dangerous.
James Lincoln says
Wellington says,
“Beyond sad. Beyond tragic. Actually dangerous.”
Yes, I’m very worried regarding the future of United States of America.
As a post-World War II kid, I had the privilege of growing up in small town New England Americana. And in a wonderful loving American family – with traditional values. There was a feeling of excitement – and great hope for the future.
The public schools that I had attended were still good, Leftism had not yet infiltrated. And catechism on Saturdays, mass on Sundays.
I still have friends from grade school, junior high, and high school. They share my feelings:
The country that we grew up in is no longer recognizable – and we all worry about where it is all going…
mortimer says
The Left actually knows Islam is not trustworthy, but they pretend they do not know and they ‘virtue-signal’ by criticizing all critics of Islam, even ex-Muslims who actually do know how horrible Islam is.
When the Left fails to criticize Islamic atrocities, they are condoning and abetting those crimes. The Left emboldens the jihadists.
Terry Gain says
Mortimer
I respectfully disagree with your assertion that the Left actually knows that Islam is not trustworthy. All of my leftist friends think Islam is benign and it is right wingers who are the real threat to our civilization.
mortimer says
TG, your leftist friends are repeating their dogma uncritically. However, if the leftist hierarchy decided next week to say that Islam is dangerous to Marxists, then your acquaintances would suddenly change with the new party dogma.
If you probe, you will find they understand that there is a lot of Islamic terrorism … they just don’t know HOW MUCH. (Answer: there are an average of 5 lethal jihad attacks every day in which up to 50 people are killed for a total of about 15,000 jihad deaths each year… mostly in Africa and Asia).
Leftards dare not disagree with the party line or they will be slandered and expelled by their ideologically fashionable comrades. They are sheep following the tail of the sheep ahead and calling it virtuous.
Their minds can be changed by facts.
gravenimage says
I agree with Terry–this is how many of those on the Left I know think–I use this last term loosely, of course.
Terry Gain says
Great post Wellington,
R Russell says
Another victim.
mortimer says
I agree with Professor Shahid A Abbasi that it is “Erdogan’s hour of shame”, but not for the reason he says.
Erdogan, after all, conforms with classical Islamic supremacism. This is not a ‘right-wing’ idea, but the opinion of all jihadists.
ERDOGAN IS A ‘GOOD’, MOHAMMED-IMITATING MUSLIM.
Professor Abbasi has made a straw-man argument for condemning criticism of Islam, even when critics cite Islamic primary source texts chapter and verse.
Professor Abbasi is another TAQIYYA ARTIST … he creates a FANTASY ISLAM, rather than acknowledge Islamic supremacist ideology.
Koran 61.9 Muhammad Sarwar: It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the true religion to STAND SUPREME OVER all religions, even though the pagans may dislike it.
mortimer says
It’s not ‘DEMONISATION’. Islam is genuinely and constitutionally INTOLERANT and SUPREMACIST.
tim gallagher says
What a joke. I already loathed Islam for all of its evil barbarism, for all the slaughter it has carried out in its vile 1400 year history. Turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque is a small, added reason to loathe Islam compared to all the murderous terrorist attacks on non-Muslims, the Muslim rape gangs, the institutionalised paedophilia, the honour killings. and so on. Islam is satanically evil. It deserves to be demonised, and, if more people actually knew about islam’s evil content it would be demonised more strongly. As Dude says in his witty comment up above, “Let me count the ways” that Islam deserves to be demonised. If only more people understood the nature of Islam it would be hated and demonised by far more people. If any ideology deserves such a fate, it is islam.
Idol and Icon says
Well said. This cult is demoniacal.
tim gallagher says
Thanks for the comment, Idol and Icon. It is a mystery to me why Islam is not hated far more than it is. It deserves to be.
sidney penny says
“For Islamic supremacists, the moral evaluation of actions is based on whether they are good for Islam or harmful to Islam.”
Robert Spencer keeps hitting the nail on the head.
This Professor works for the Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering.( nothing to do with Islam.)He seems to be advocate for fostering inter-faith harmony.
sidney penny says
Why does he not focus on making India a progressive, confident, and strong country.( as he wants Turkey to be)
President Erdogan in his view does not practice Islam properly.To do so, Erdogan would either have left the Hagia Sophia as a museum, or reverted it to a church.
President Erdogan not a good Muslim according to Shahid A Abbasi the Emeritus Professor at Pondicherry University.
shoehorn says
Yes I’ve been searching high and low for an excuse to demonise Islam, for a couple decades now.
sidney penny says
Poor Turkey will not become a good European Nation says Professor Shahid A Abbasi
Jayell says
“For Islamic supremacists, the moral evaluation of actions is based on whether they are good for Islam or harmful to Islam…..”
Absolutely, it’s not rocket science. It’s exactly the same as saying that the publication of details of places like Ausschwitz ‘wasn’t good for the Nazis’. Yet we have all the evidence about islam staring us in the face; apart from all the incoherent criminal trash in the ‘Holy Qur’an’, there’s catalogue of global terrorist atrocities, the obscene evidence of the grooming gangs, the insufferable presumptious arrogance of the self-appointed muslim ‘councils’, ‘commisssions’ and ‘parliaments’ worldwide………
And still they get away with it!!!
Narayan Srikanth says
Its sort of quirky. He advocates against the conversion of Hagia Sophia on proper principles of secular mutliculturism but because of Islamaphobia. Its similar to saying that HALALA , advocating eye for an eye and marrying many women should not be practised not because they are abhorrent, but because they create Islamaphobia. So he feels that these practises are acceptable except that others view it differently …
Ludwig says
The prof. is right.
Erdogan has indeed given us a chance to signal our hatred of Islam and people are actually listening at last!
In terms of strategy, Turkey is doing us a favour. We finally have a title to defend. And the price is just an old church/museum.
gravenimage says
The Hagia Sophia is not just an “old church/museum”–this was Christendom’s greatest Cathedral for a thousand years. And turning this great Cathedral into a Mosque again is because Erdogan is feeling emboldened. I wish I could say he is wrong.
mortimer says
ABBASI’S DOG WHISTLE
Abbasi particularly singles out ‘right-wingers’ for criticism and thereby AFFIRMS the RED-GREEN AXIS existing between neo-Marxists and jihadists.
What Abbasi has done here is a clear example of the MARXIST DOG WHISTLE.
He not so subtly calls on all Marxists to ‘DEAL WITH’ those who criticize Islam in any way in order to silence all criticism of Islam.
Abbasi calls on Marxists and Muslims to close ranks so that no criticism of Islam may be heard or seen.
James says
We don’t need the conversion of the Hagia Sophia to a mosque to demonize Islam. The Koran does a pretty good job of demonizing (and condemning) Islam all by itself.