Sultan Mehmed II Never Bought Hagia Sophia

A heavily circulating claim has been doing rounds that Sultan Muhammad II (Muhammad al-Fatih) had bought the Hagia Sophia building from the Patriarch when he conquered Constantinople in 1453 and then converted it into a mosque. Claims were circulating across the MENA region.

This claim originated after a Turkish court officially annulled a 1934 government decree to turn Hagia Sophia into a museum, stating that it was unlawful, thus opening the door to turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque again. This news has aroused many concerns and caused huge controversy.

It is also widely spread in multiple languages by well-known people, Islamic figures, journalists and accounts with a large follower and audience base.