@@eternaljade97 I don't think he can find a place near of the prophet grave.it's always full of people. Maybe in a rainy cold night he can be close some meters
I visited this stunning piece of history back in 2015 when it was still a museum. I had to pay to get inside, now with Allah's mercy it's open 24/7 for everyone.
Really appreciated. A couple of people I follow share some footage of their trips and it makes me feel I'm traveling with them. Actual videos of places related to the channel contents add another level to the message conveyed. I must say that your care choosing the words you use ascertains, for me, your clearly clean, positive intentions. We all choose what we say and how we say it. Going to bed after a night shift. 👍🏽😘
Dear Brother Paul, your lovely video transported me back to when I visited Istanbul two months ago. During my visit---my first to Istanbul, twice a capital to two magnificent empires---Hagia Sophia was, far and away, my favorite place. To walk amidst 1,500 years of sacred history, to worship God where emperors and sultans, empressss and sultanas, patriarchs and shayukkh-ul-Islam had worshipped for so many generations was immensely humbling and profoundly beautiful. Many mystical writings in the Christian and Islamic traditions hold that Hagia Sophia, along with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and (for Muslims) Makkah, Madinah, and Karbala are all portals between this world and the celestial one. Allahu 'alim.
By the way brother Paul I wish you visit us here in Egypt one day, there are a lot of interesting masjids, most notably Sultan Hasan's mosque and Al-Azhar.
Thank you, I’m jealous in a good way, I feel as if I went on a vacation to a beautiful mosque 🕌 through your lens. Thanks for the more lengthy video. Safe travels back home friend.
I've been there twice and spent a good amount of time both occasions. Do I dare to say this five minutes show around video is far more encyclopedic and educational than I could have drawn from my visits! Thank you Paul for such an enjoyable channel!
Nice work. The floor is called a Cosmati floor. The one in Westminster is very cool but not near that nice.....bigger, though. I did not know about what the stones meant. Thanks for that!
I’m planning to come to Istanbul as a tourist in some days, inshaAllah, and Hagia Sophia is the most important point I want to visit. So thank you for this guide, mr. Williams! This information will help me to know this place better 👍
Mashallah great tour; I would not call it amateur. This was the one place I missed, it was a museum and I reached a few minutes too late on Sunday (as that day it had shortened hours) and Monday it was closed, and Tuesday I left for East Turkey. So really glad I got to see it through your tour
Brother Paul i heard your reaction when going underneath the large chandelier 🤣🤣🤣🤣👏👏👏 you are right, anyone upon whom that massive chandelier falls, will definitely pancake them.
A very interesting Travel video blog. You defiantly have a talent for reporting. Who knows what the future might bring. Have been watching your Turkish vids. Amazing! have a great time. You're not missing much here in London. Please bring back with you some sun and warmth from Turkey. Bon Voyage! InshAllah.
When I went there a guide explained to me that those burgandy pillars are actually from the old.temple of Apollo. Because when the east Roman empire became Christian they used all the old Greek temples to build their new churches/palaces etc. Also he told me that on that coronation area the crusaders had a woman dancing while they were slaughtering everyone there. Crazy things, don't know if it's all true but still. Lots of history in Turkey
IF BROTHER PAUL ENTER THE AQSA MOSQUE I AM SURE HE WON'T GET OUT OF IT.IT'S SOMETHING FROM AN OTHER WORLD. AND ESPECIALLY THE FRIDAY WHEN YOU PRAY HAND TO HAND WITH 50000 MUSLIMS. IT'S MIND BLOWING AND FULL OF EMOTION
Romans knew how to make awe inspiring architectures. I remember when I first entered it how dumbfounded I was with the vast space inside, I thought if I, a modern person in 2015, could be made to feel so small inside, imagine a tribal chieftain 1,500 years ago visiting this place. They would have had no choice but to mentally surrender to the magnificence of the people who created these structures when almost everyone else was living in mud huts.
Romans did not know as this is Greek and Greek also did not know until they took over the formal urban ex civikizarions like Phoenicians ancient Egyptians Babylonian assyrians and these civilisations melted under the control of strictly militant Greek and Romans Greek and Romans were only militant war machine that absorbed ancient Middle East and North African intellectual civilizations and make them part of them. This start from alphabet that are Phoenicians ( ancient syrian Lebanese ) to other architectural and cultural elements. Even bread came from North Africa but people only know France. The human civilization are a build up on previous ones and Romans and Greek are not an exception. Read history in more depth and don’t stop in specific era to understand the human civilisation
I went to Istanbul first time in 1994. My 1st time taking plane, and from Singapore to Istanbul. Hagia Sophia was a museum and we could enter it for free. But I went to Istanbul again in 2009 and we need to pay to enter Hagia Sophia museum. Now it has turned to mosque, maybe I need to go to Turkey again Insya'allah, if the government allows visitors.
When Sultan Ahmed on his white horse and with his soldiers marched into Haghia Sophia in 1453 eyewitnesses said the floors were ankle deep in the blood of Byzantines that had sought refuge from the invaders. Christian priests and civilians came running out of underground trap doors and fell at the feet of the sultan pleading for their lives. This ended 1000 years of Christian worship there since the times of Constantine the Great, founder of the city. I've been several times. Ataturk declared it a musemn, I believe correctly. The celebrate Blue Mosque located opposite is more appropriate for Muslims. Laying down prayer rugs etc is cultural appropriation, it is a denial of history, there are mosques all over Istanbul. Greeks designed Haghia Sophia, it was dedicated in the 8th century.
@@hrundibakshi4125 The classic account is The Fall of Constantinople by Steven Runcimann, author of a multi volume history of the Byzantine state. Eye witnesses on both sides wrote accounts. "Indignant vanquished parties" is putting it mildly. Sultan Ahmed had allowed his soldiers 3 days of rape and pillage of the city before he arrived, this was a standard military procedure of the Ottomans. The Christians that remained were mostly priests and their retainers, they were pleading for their lives. Sultan Ahmed issued a general amnesty, he was celebrated for his probity and conscience, to this day his name is ubiquitous all over Istanbul.
My mistake, not Sultan Ahmed, but Mehmet the 2nd was the conqueror of Constantinople, most of the rest correct, Mehmet was lauded by many westerners, he was a classical scholar who knew Latin and Greek, and often engaged scholars in theological reflection.
@@srnp0007 Before it became a church, it was built as a pagan temple, then they became a catholic church, then the orthodoxes become a church, and the last time it was 550 years ago, it passed to Muslims who worshiped the creator of the universe, as a mosque! If Hagia Sophia is standing today, thanks to the Muslims, the minarets and structures around it and the constant renewal of the Muslims have kept it standing today, even honest Christians say this.
@@srnp0007 Illegally how? It's in Turkey so it's owned by Turkey. You don't think that every other countries are still being colonized by the Christians like in the past several hundred of years, aren't you?
You will not find better, deeper and more details in the sites and services of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque.. Maybe if I travel to it, I will send you special links to things that many Muslims do not know About the two greatest mosques in Islam.
Very interesting insight from your perspective. The ginormous green entrance doors are actually from ancient antiquities period. Making them older than Jesus christ. I was simply blown away discovering this fact on my last visit when it was still a museum.
MashaAllah.. love ur tour guide, Paul💝 I attempt to write for a writing competition which the prize is a travel to Turkey fully funded... Pray for me all...💜💜💜💜 I want to visit Hagia Sophia too😊😊😊😊
I just back from Istanbul 2 days ago for four days holiday! Very nice n beautiful. Hagia Sophia 😍 and Sultanahmet Mosque (blue mosque) unfortunately is under renovation🤨☹ will be ready in 3 years time🤔. God will definitaly will visit there again because i got not enough😁😁
I have been to the Hagia Sofia many times when I lived in Üsküdar, which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. I preferred it when it was a museum. The green carpet doesn't look good and what a shame that such beautiful icons have been covered up! Also, I think muslims are often hypocrites. Muslims are outraged that the Grand Mezquita (Mosque) in Cordoba has been turned into a church, yet they all seem to support a church being turned into a mosque.
@@BloggingTheology Do you say the same about the mosque that's now a church in Cordoba? The Reconquista is wrong; but the conquering of Constantinople by the Ottomans is ok?
@@bayreuth79 My question to you is this: is it better as a house of prayer open for all 24 hours a day, or as a museum that charges and is closed half the day?
Can anybody shed some light on how was it converted to a mosque? Did Sultan Mohammed AlFateh buy the premises from the Christians? I’m sure there is some law in the Sheria as to ownership of properties belonging to conquered people.
But forcefully converting a church to mosque has any place in islam ? Moreover there is no evidence for sultan purchasing it. Turkish court ruling can be compared to the Ayodhya case . Power manipulates court.
Now waiting for your tour of Makkah and Madina . 🖤.God willing one day .
th-cam.com/video/qaW1OXRaBiY/w-d-xo.html
Hadith besides the Prophet’s grave would be epic 😍
@@eternaljade97 I don't think he can find a place near of the prophet grave.it's always full of people. Maybe in a rainy cold night he can be close some meters
Inshallah
I visited this stunning piece of history back in 2015 when it was still a museum. I had to pay to get inside, now with Allah's mercy it's open 24/7 for everyone.
Allah's mercy really?
More like the barbaric conquest by Sultan Muhammad and the Ottomans who destroyed everything Christian in it.
@@jeanclaudepierrot2971 Go cry to your mommy.
@@jeanclaudepierrot2971 thousands of old mosques today are churches..
@@WM5000-ek9nk They weren't conquered desecrated and people murdered in the name of God!
@YYY MMM I am sorry, could you write that up again please.
Really appreciated. A couple of people I follow share some footage of their trips and it makes me feel I'm traveling with them. Actual videos of places related to the channel contents add another level to the message conveyed.
I must say that your care choosing the words you use ascertains, for me, your clearly clean, positive intentions. We all choose what we say and how we say it.
Going to bed after a night shift. 👍🏽😘
Hope Cordoba Mosque can reopen as well soon..insya Allah.
So magnificent.. Stunningly beautiful. Shukran for the tour brother Paul.
Dear Brother Paul, your lovely video transported me back to when I visited Istanbul two months ago. During my visit---my first to Istanbul, twice a capital to two magnificent empires---Hagia Sophia was, far and away, my favorite place. To walk amidst 1,500 years of sacred history, to worship God where emperors and sultans, empressss and sultanas, patriarchs and shayukkh-ul-Islam had worshipped for so many generations was immensely humbling and profoundly beautiful. Many mystical writings in the Christian and Islamic traditions hold that Hagia Sophia, along with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and (for Muslims) Makkah, Madinah, and Karbala are all portals between this world and the celestial one. Allahu 'alim.
Its Al Aqsa Mosque not temple mount
Two things to love about a mosque
1: open 24 hours a day.
2: always peaceful silence.
By the way brother Paul I wish you visit us here in Egypt one day, there are a lot of interesting masjids, most notably Sultan Hasan's mosque and Al-Azhar.
Loved this video! So peaceful,relaxing and calming.
Dear and respected Paul Williams , thank you , thank you so much. Such a happy feeling to watch this . God bless you with a long healthy happy life .
Lovely, thank you mr paul for the tour.
4:24 Funny hearing you say (by accident) that that we preach at sundays haha. May Allah bless your work. I love it!
Thank you, I’m jealous in a good way, I feel as if I went on a vacation to a beautiful mosque 🕌 through your lens. Thanks for the more lengthy video. Safe travels back home friend.
It's not a beautiful mosque but a beautiful Byzantine Cathedral that was desecrated into a mosque
@@jeanclaudepierrot2971 still beautifu.l even st Paul's cathedral in London is amazing .
@@samgoldberg7494 Was St. Paul's ever a mosque?
I've been there twice and spent a good amount of time both occasions. Do I dare to say this five minutes show around video is far more encyclopedic and educational than I could have drawn from my visits! Thank you Paul for such an enjoyable channel!
Nice work.
The floor is called a Cosmati floor. The one in Westminster is very cool but not near that nice.....bigger, though. I did not know about what the stones meant. Thanks for that!
Thank you for one of the most beautiful channels on TH-cam.
MashaaAllaah Jazzaak Allaahu khayre for showing us this Beautiful place
A wonderful guide! You did great. Really makes me want to visit it.
I’m planning to come to Istanbul as a tourist in some days, inshaAllah, and Hagia Sophia is the most important point I want to visit. So thank you for this guide, mr. Williams! This information will help me to know this place better 👍
May God bless you brother Paul for sharing this valuable video
Thanks for the tour brother. One of its kind I would say.
Absolutely Magnificent Paul, Beautiful and Peaceful.
Glad you enjoyed it
Insya Allah we will visit Istanbul in near future. Thanks for sharing bro Paul. Bless you. 😇
Mashallah great tour; I would not call it amateur. This was the one place I missed, it was a museum and I reached a few minutes too late on Sunday (as that day it had shortened hours) and Monday it was closed, and Tuesday I left for East Turkey. So really glad I got to see it through your tour
Thanks for the Tour,means alot to people to can't visit the place
Thank you Paul 👍
Beautiful construction. Nice peace of architect
Thank you dearly brother Paul 🥰🥰
Our greatest tourist guide 🤩🤩🤩
🤗
Brother Paul i heard your reaction when going underneath the large chandelier 🤣🤣🤣🤣👏👏👏 you are right, anyone upon whom that massive chandelier falls, will definitely pancake them.
Right!!
A very interesting Travel video blog. You defiantly have a talent for reporting. Who knows what the future might bring. Have been watching your Turkish vids. Amazing! have a great time. You're not missing much here in London. Please bring back with you some sun and warmth from Turkey. Bon Voyage! InshAllah.
Thank you so much!
@@BloggingTheology : )
You are an amazing guide brother Paul
Glad it was helpful!
When I went there a guide explained to me that those burgandy pillars are actually from the old.temple of Apollo. Because when the east Roman empire became Christian they used all the old Greek temples to build their new churches/palaces etc. Also he told me that on that coronation area the crusaders had a woman dancing while they were slaughtering everyone there. Crazy things, don't know if it's all true but still. Lots of history in Turkey
Oh 👍😔
That was wonderful. Thank you brother.
So nice
Thank you so much
Yah Allah allow me to pray over there, ameen 🤲
Paul, 7:51 xD. An amazing guide with wonderful commentary
Beautiful...
Show us cats. Turkey & Cats have beautiful relationship from the time of kings.
Thank you so much for this video brother Paul Williams…
Just a tip akhi. The ğ in Hağia sofia is silent. So it’s pronounced “haya”.
Wonderful video Ma sha Allah
thanks!
IF BROTHER PAUL ENTER THE AQSA MOSQUE I AM SURE HE WON'T GET OUT OF IT.IT'S SOMETHING FROM AN OTHER WORLD. AND ESPECIALLY THE FRIDAY WHEN YOU PRAY HAND TO HAND WITH 50000 MUSLIMS. IT'S MIND BLOWING AND FULL OF EMOTION
Paul you are legendary!
Brother Paul you are an incredible person with great inflence
Your Camera Quality Is Just AMAZING..!!!
Wow what a tour exceptional vid 😍😍😍
Paul you crack me up! “And here is the ladies section” lets go check if there are any women here 😂
wonderful, thanks for sharing.
Masha'Allah! That's such a gorgeous looking masala.
would be amazing to see you go to mecca and medina and do a tour/vlog. So much history in those holy cities
You’ve already started to miss İstanbul, didn’t you Mr. Williams? 😊
Stunning 🤩
Romans knew how to make awe inspiring architectures. I remember when I first entered it how dumbfounded I was with the vast space inside, I thought if I, a modern person in 2015, could be made to feel so small inside, imagine a tribal chieftain 1,500 years ago visiting this place. They would have had no choice but to mentally surrender to the magnificence of the people who created these structures when almost everyone else was living in mud huts.
Romans did not know as this is Greek and Greek also did not know until they took over the formal urban ex civikizarions like Phoenicians ancient Egyptians Babylonian assyrians and these civilisations melted under the control of strictly militant Greek and Romans
Greek and Romans were only militant war machine that absorbed ancient Middle East and North African intellectual civilizations and make them part of them. This start from alphabet that are Phoenicians ( ancient syrian Lebanese ) to other architectural and cultural elements.
Even bread came from North Africa but people only know France. The human civilization are a build up on previous ones and Romans and Greek are not an exception. Read history in more depth and don’t stop in specific era to understand the human civilisation
Many thanks ! It's as i was there !
May Allah bless you with longevity and good health in this world and jannah in the hereafter.
Mind blowing insights ... May Allah reward you ....
I went to Istanbul first time in 1994. My 1st time taking plane, and from Singapore to Istanbul. Hagia Sophia was a museum and we could enter it for free. But I went to Istanbul again in 2009 and we need to pay to enter Hagia Sophia museum. Now it has turned to mosque, maybe I need to go to Turkey again Insya'allah, if the government allows visitors.
jazakallahukhyr, enjoyed it
I was there two weeks ago, I love that mosque
جزاك الله خيرا
When Sultan Ahmed on his white horse and with his soldiers marched into Haghia Sophia in 1453 eyewitnesses said the floors were ankle deep in the blood of Byzantines that had sought refuge from the invaders. Christian priests and civilians came running out of underground trap doors and fell at the feet of the sultan pleading for their lives. This ended 1000 years of Christian worship there since the times of Constantine the Great, founder of the city. I've been several times. Ataturk declared it a musemn, I believe correctly. The celebrate Blue Mosque located opposite is more appropriate for Muslims. Laying down prayer rugs etc is cultural appropriation, it is a denial of history, there are mosques all over Istanbul. Greeks designed Haghia Sophia, it was dedicated in the 8th century.
"eyewitnesses said" ... seriously? I believe that translates as the indignant vanquished party...
@@hrundibakshi4125 The classic account is The Fall of Constantinople by Steven Runcimann, author of a multi volume history of the Byzantine state. Eye witnesses on both sides wrote accounts. "Indignant vanquished parties" is putting it mildly. Sultan Ahmed had allowed his soldiers 3 days of rape and pillage of the city before he arrived, this was a standard military procedure of the Ottomans. The Christians that remained were mostly priests and their retainers, they were pleading for their lives. Sultan Ahmed issued a general amnesty, he was celebrated for his probity and conscience, to this day his name is ubiquitous all over Istanbul.
My mistake, not Sultan Ahmed, but Mehmet the 2nd was the conqueror of Constantinople, most of the rest correct, Mehmet was lauded by many westerners, he was a classical scholar who knew Latin and Greek, and often engaged scholars in theological reflection.
@@christophermorgan3261 ✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️♥️🙏🙏🙏✝️✝️✝️♥️🇬🇧✝️🙏🇬🇧🏴
@@valeriesotiropoulos9720 Not an emoji specialist, if you send prose to clarify, it would be appreciated!
The title is completely wrong, supposed to be advanced guide tour of Hagia Sophia
Sobhanallah alhamdulillah Allah hu Akber
Great. Thanks. God bless.
Beautiful 🙏🙏🙏
Wow! I haven't seen such details before! The pagan symbol is very interesting. Was it originally built as a temple or over the remains of one?
@@srnp0007 That's the kind of illegality I like the most ❤👍
@@srnp0007 Before it became a church, it was built as a pagan temple, then they became a catholic church, then the orthodoxes become a church, and the last time it was 550 years ago, it passed to Muslims who worshiped the creator of the universe, as a mosque! If Hagia Sophia is standing today, thanks to the Muslims, the minarets and structures around it and the constant renewal of the Muslims have kept it standing today, even honest Christians say this.
@@srnp0007 Illegally how? It's in Turkey so it's owned by Turkey. You don't think that every other countries are still being colonized by the Christians like in the past several hundred of years, aren't you?
@@srnp0007 If course not, why would I support a religion I disbelieve in? 🤷
@@nutzhazel It was legally a religious endowment (Waqf) not a state property and that's why it returned to be a masjid.
The first one was Abu Bajr, the second one was Umar r.a.
MasyaAllah..thank you brother Paul..very educational ( not travel to Turkey yet )...🙂
i wonder what's inside those big white vases in Aya Sofia ?
if im not mistaken there is part of hajr aswad in that mosque
Beautiful mashAllah
Definitely next Makkah and Medinah
Insha'Allah
You will not find better, deeper and more details in the sites and services of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque.. Maybe if I travel to it, I will send you special links to things that many Muslims do not know
About the two greatest mosques in Islam.
An expert amateur. Ma sha ALLAH.
اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على سيد الاولين والآخرين سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ما تعاقب الليل والنهار
Awesome guide masha Allah
You should show Qurtaba Mosque in Spain also It’s construction is magnificent.
Amazing
Very interesting insight from your perspective. The ginormous green entrance doors are actually from ancient antiquities period. Making them older than Jesus christ. I was simply blown away discovering this fact on my last visit when it was still a museum.
I THINK BROTHER PAUL DOESN'T MIND THEY BUILD HIM A SMALL ROOM IN AYA SUFIA AND LIVE THERE.HE IS IN LOVE WITH THIS PLACE LOL 😂💙
safe journey INSHA ALLAH
Beautiful video 👍🇮🇳👍☝️
Thanks a lot
Is there any restriction to visit the mosque because of covid19❓
none that I saw
@@BloggingTheology
Thank you
nice, new type of content.
MashaAllah.. love ur tour guide, Paul💝
I attempt to write for a writing competition which the prize is a travel to Turkey fully funded...
Pray for me all...💜💜💜💜
I want to visit Hagia Sophia too😊😊😊😊
Sounds great!
@@BloggingTheology wish me luck 🙏🙏
This was wholesome :)
Thanks.
Wow, congratulation. you already visited the Mosque
soon I will go there
I just back from Istanbul 2 days ago for four days holiday! Very nice n beautiful. Hagia Sophia 😍 and Sultanahmet Mosque (blue mosque) unfortunately is under renovation🤨☹ will be ready in 3 years time🤔. God will definitaly will visit there again because i got not enough😁😁
'will be ready in 3 years time'!!
@@BloggingTheology that is what we have been told by the tour guide 😏😊
1:15 is Umar.
Buitiful lovely
Liked.
Thanks.
Thanks for liking
I dont know if you are a muslim but if you do please go to mecca make a vlog there...tell us more about mecca coz you are a knowledge person...
subhanAllah mashaAllah chashme bad door ho
I visited the Hagia Sofia a few months before it's restored into a masjid, and I must say it looks so much more peaceful and magnificent now.
Did you see the cat's? Or is that in another masjid?
eye opening
take care
I have been to the Hagia Sofia many times when I lived in Üsküdar, which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. I preferred it when it was a museum. The green carpet doesn't look good and what a shame that such beautiful icons have been covered up! Also, I think muslims are often hypocrites. Muslims are outraged that the Grand Mezquita (Mosque) in Cordoba has been turned into a church, yet they all seem to support a church being turned into a mosque.
It is better as a house of prayer open for all 24 hours a day, than a museum that charges and is closed half the day.
@@BloggingTheology Do you say the same about the mosque that's now a church in Cordoba? The Reconquista is wrong; but the conquering of Constantinople by the Ottomans is ok?
@@bayreuth79 My question to you is this: is it better as a house of prayer open for all 24 hours a day, or as a museum that charges and is closed half the day?
@@BloggingTheology Would you say the same about Cordoba?
@@bayreuth79 I see you are avoiding the question. Never mind Michael.
❤️NYC
Please Don't say that it's your unexpert guide to this place. It's your expert guide. 👌
Can anybody shed some light on how was it converted to a mosque? Did Sultan Mohammed AlFateh buy the premises from the Christians? I’m sure there is some law in the Sheria as to ownership of properties belonging to conquered people.
But forcefully converting a church to mosque has any place in islam ? Moreover there is no evidence for sultan purchasing it. Turkish court ruling can be compared to the Ayodhya case . Power manipulates court.