Eski Imaret Mosque / Church

I was born and lived the first seven years of my life, next door, literally, a few houses away from the church / mosque named, Eski Imaret.

As a little kid I have played inside it hundreds of times. I use to play while the older people prayed. It is so nice inside it. They say there are graves under it, and you sure can feel something there. 

Go there, if you ever make it to Istanbul. 

It is about a 30 walk from the Blue Misque.

Kalenderhane Mosque

Kalenderhane Mosque

Kalenderhane Mosque is a former Eastern Orthodox church in Istanbul, converted into a mosque by the Ottomans.   The church, when built was originally dedicated to the Theotokos Kyriotissa, meaning Virgin the mother of God.

Kalenderhane Mosque

Built on top of a fifth or sixth century Roman bath complex, the Church of Theotokos Kyriotissa was built in the twelfth century during the Komnenian Dynasty and functioned as a Greek Orthodox Byzantine church until 1453.  In 1453, after the conquest of Constantinople the church was assigned to the Kalenderi Dervishes and they used the structure as a zaviye (Islamic religious school) and imaret (soup kitchen).

In 1746, Haci Besir Aga - chief eunuch of the Topkapi Palace converted the church into a mosque by adding mihrab, minbar, and mahfil.  The structure was restored several times due to the fires that took place in the late nineteenth century.

This is my video filmed in August of 2017 of the interior (hyperlinked below), there is a second video of the exterior, (please find it in YouTube as well), enjoy. 

https://youtu.be/glNk-kRIFVE

Ahmet

Ahmet

     Drawing inside Zeyrek Church/Mosque

This is a very nice name for a boy, the meaning is as following 'Highly praised One'.  I really love that meaning.

Peace everyone,

Ben

🤓

Being a Muslim in Angola

Being Muslim in Angola

Some of us may have read recently that the country of Angola has outright banned Islam and that it is now illegal to be a Muslim in this Southern African nation.  

This is not true.

The news has been spreading fast, however, we need to not believe everything that is written or stated in the media.  We need to fact-check and confirm a news by means of further investigation.  

The story was printed days ago by a Moroccan newspaper called ‘La Nouvelle Tribune’.  The newspaper stated that the governor of Luanda had spoken against 'radical Muslims' and stated that they are not welcome in Angola.  It then quoted Angolan politician Roza Cruz de Silva, stating that Islam has not yet been approved by the Angolan Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. 

The statement about 'Islam' not being recognized is not something new but has always been the case.  This is an interesting fact that not many will know, but many European countries such as Italy, France and Belgium also do not recognize 'Islam' at an official level.  It does not mean that the religion is illegal or that it is banned.

What happened after the initial story broke out from Morocco, however is where we see the dangers of spreading unverified information.  Many articles in different papers around the world were claiming that Islam had been banned in Angola, and that mosques were ordered to be destroyed, and that being a Muslim was now illegal. 

After doing some checking, it has been made clear that Angolan politician Roza Cruz de Silva was speaking about a few Muslim groups who were on the list of proscribed religious groups that would not be allowed to operate mosques, some of which were built without permits.  The list contains 194 groups from all religions, yet only a few are Muslims.  So it was not true that all mosques would be closed, nor is Islam ‘illegal’ in Angola.

Just wanted to clarify this 'news' to people that want the 'truth'. 

Thank you for visiting, 

Ben here