In a condolence message on Facebook following the demise of Pope Francis, Muslim League Kerala State President Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal reminded people about ‘global religious harmony’. He stated that Pope Francis had upheld ‘global religious harmony’. The question now being raised against the Muslim League is whether their call for religious harmony is, in fact, a one-way traffic, especially in light of their support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. At the time, Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal authored an article in the Muslim League’s mouthpiece, ‘Chandrika’, taking a radical Islamic stance by describing Christians as “double-minded,” calling Erdogan “a voice for Muslims,” and asserting that the Hagia Sophia mosque is “waqf property.” The article also alleged that “Christians are anti-secular”. It was at the same time when Christians from all over the world came out in protest, Panakkad Syed Sadiqali Shihab Thangal, who expressed his joy. His article glorified Erdogan and rejected the religious beliefs of Christians.
This contradiction was further evident when the Indian Union Muslim League came under scrutiny for describing itself in a Supreme Court affidavit as “a political entity dedicated to safeguarding Muslim rights” while challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. Although the party claims to uphold secular values and religious harmony, its affidavit emphasized the religious autonomy of Muslims and positioned the IUML primarily as a defender of Muslim interests. This description, which aligns with the party’s constitution filed with the Election Commission of India, sparked debate about its secular stance. The tension between the IUML’s proclaimed secular image and its community-based positioning became more pronounced in the context of the Munambam Waqf dispute in Kerala. Despite calls for broader religious and communal dialogue, the party was not willing to mediate or take a reconciliatory approach to the issue. Instead, it maintained a firm stance on waqf property rights, reinforcing its alignment with Muslim community interests, even at the cost of wider religious consensus.
This ideological contradiction further extends to the IUML’s stance on preserving the status of religious institutions as they were before India’s independence, citing the Place of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 and fundamental rights. This includes their opposition to the Ayodhya verdict, where they rejected the conversion of the Babri Masjid into a Ram temple. However, paradoxically, the IUML supported the conversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, overlooking the broader implications of religious harmony that they purportedly advocate. In this context, the question arises: Is religious harmony a one-way traffic, or is the responsibility solely that of Hindus and Christians?.
Full Version of Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal’s Article on Hagia Sophia in ‘Chandrika’ Newspaper (Translated)
“Hagia Sophia, the symbol of Istanbul and a symbol of the cultural and political history of humanity, has once again made its way to the front pages of newspapers. Hagia Sophia was restored as a mosque by the current Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, shortly after the Turkish court overturned the 1934 cabinet decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a museum, on the grounds that it was registered as waqf land in the name of Fatih Sultan Mehmed when the Turkish Republic was established. Today, Muslim brothers are once again performing Friday prayers under the leadership of the Head of the Turkish Religious Affairs Department, Professor Dr Ali Erbas.
Built in 537 by Justinian II with architectural elegance, Hagia Sophia remained a Christian church for 900 years and a Muslim mosque for 500 years. It remained an important place of worship for every religious community for 1,900 years and, moreover, the administrative centre of the most powerful empires the world has ever seen—the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires—which is what makes Hagia Sophia so famous. After being a museum for 86 years, its restoration as a mosque has opened the way for different reactions and new discussions from different corners of the world.
Even though contemporary Christian political and religious leaders disagree with the decision, the fact that they have not claimed ownership of Hagia Sophia must be due to the realization that it is historically unlikely. It is also noteworthy that Russia, which is home to 25 per cent of the world’s Orthodox Christians, did not interfere in the decision, even though countries like the United States opposed it. When we also realize that Muslims are not even allowed to pray in many European countries that oppose this decision, we realize how one-sided and hollow the secularism they are advocating truly is. In this modern political situation, the very people who use the 350 mosques built during the Ottoman and Muslim Spain era as churches and theatres are the ones raising their voices against this decision. When coronavirus gripped Europe, we saw news of churches being reopened after many years in several European countries. Isn’t it a double standard that in Greece alone, which reacted strongly to this issue, about 100 mosques have been converted into churches and prisons, and that in the capital, Athens, the first mosque without minarets was approved only last year after years of clamouring by Muslim believers?
It is also worth noting that not only do all religious believers have the freedom to worship in Turkey, but even the government led by Erdoğan has restored and handed over half of the Christian religious properties, including a mosque and a Christian church in the same compound in Istanbul, and a Jewish synagogue nearby all of which operate with equal freedom. Hiding all these facts and targeting Turkey in the name of secularism, and Erdogan, who raises his voice in international forums for the systematically oppressed Muslims in various parts of the world, is only a continuation of the long-standing, insidious efforts against Islam.
Isn’t it truly anti-democratic to deny access to a place of worship that was officially registered as a mosque in the documents of the Turkish Republic, and whose reopening was demanded by the people of Turkey, regardless of whether they support the ruling or opposition parties? The restoration of Hagia Sophia is undoubtedly a turning point, from Western secularism, which shuts down places of worship and mosques, to Eastern secularism, which opens places of worship to believers”.
