The Grand Hagia Sophia Mosque is preparing to receive arrivals to Tarawih prayers for the first time in 88 years, after two years of delay due to the Corona epidemic.
For two years, Tarawih prayers in congregation were prohibited, as part of measures to confront the outbreak of the epidemic, and with life returning to normal, the Great Hagia Sophia Mosque will receive the first Tarawih prayer on the evening of Friday, the first of April.
Various activities will be held in Hagia Sophia and the rest of Istanbul’s mosques throughout the holy month, from reciting the Qur’an and concluding it in the manner of interview, supplications, chants, invocations and preaching lessons.
Tarawih prayers will also be held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays using the “Andron” method, which was present in the traditions of the Ottoman palaces in the past.
Seal of the Qur’an and I’tikaf
Within the framework of the “Ramadan and the Truth” program launched by the Istanbul Ifta Authority on the occasion of the month of Ramadan, 158 mosques will be opened throughout the state for worship 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to the Turkish Anatolia News Agency.
The Qur’an will be sealed in Tarawih prayers in 93 mosques, and the reading of the Qur’an with interpretation will be sealed in the manner of interview in 63 mosques across the city.
And 209 mosques in Istanbul will receive worshipers wishing to retreat, after it was banned for two years due to Corona.
During the period of seclusion, all precautionary measures will be adhered to, and a maximum of 5 people will be accepted into each mosque.
The Istanbul Ifta Authority will also announce on its website the mosques participating in the program and the events that will be organized in each mosque.
The “Andron” method
Tarawih prayers will be held in the Andron method in 34 mosques, in addition to the Great Hagia Sophia.
Tarawih prayer with “andron”, a method that appeared in the Ottoman palace and moved from it to mosques and was held on special days, and has continued to this day.
In this method, the reading takes place in the first 3 rak’ahs of Tarawih prayer at the shrine of Isfahan, and the imam moves in the fourth rak’ah to the shrine of the youth, while the muezzins recite songs and prayers for the Prophet in the shrine of youth.
The imam continues to move between the shrines every four rak’ahs according to the shrine in which the chief muezzin recites supplications and prayers for the Prophet.
After completion, the latter recites songs and supplications, and after performing the Witr prayer, the transition to the stage of remembrance and glorification.