EYUP SULTAN MOSQUE

EYUP SULTAN MOSQUE

Turkey’s most sacred mosque, the Eyüp Sultan Mosque, is located on the southern coast of Halic (the Golden Horn), a refreshing haven from the hubbub of Eminonu and Beyoglu..

The mosque is not Turkey’s oldest at nearly 560 years old, but has always been more than a beautiful place for worship. The Eyüp Sultan Mosque was the first mosque built by the Ottoman Turks after their conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Originally built in 1458, it was rebuilt in the baroque style in 1800 by Sultan Selim III, the 28th Ottoman ruler, after the ruinous effects of an earthquake. Yet the significance of the mosque extends far beyond Turkish lands, reaching into the wider Islamic World.

In 622, when the Prophet Muhammad completed hijrah—the migration from Mecca to Medina—he lived with a close companion for seven months. That trusted friend was Abu Ayyub, one of the first to convert to Islam. Abu Ayyub served as the standard-bearer for the faith, a testament to how respected he was, since a standard-bearer was chosen for his noble traits to carry the flag at the forefront of battles as the most pious of Muslims. Before he died in the first Arab siege of Constantinople (674-678), Abu Ayyub made known his dying wish, a final rally for the Muslim army: “Abu Ayyub urges you to penetrate deep into enemy territory, as far as you can go. That you should carry him with you, and that you should bury him under your feet at the walls of Constantinople.” While the troops failed to breach those walls, they did manage to honor their revered martyr, erecting Abu Ayyub’s grave by the Golden Horn.

To commemorate the gravesite of this important figure in Islamic history, Sultan Mehmet II commissioned a grand tomb and a massive complex, the Eyüp Sultan Mosque and Mausoleum. Thereafter, the Mosque stood watch as the Turks transformed Byzantine Constantinople into Ottoman Istanbul.