Sociological analysis of religious symbols: The case of Hagia Sophia in Islamic journals

This study is a research aimed at identifying the issues that make Hagia Sophia, which has a symbolic meaning for Islamists, important and determining the effects of symbols on groups. As a method of study, a qualitative research method was adopted. Content and discourse analysis techniques were used to conduct more comprehensive research. Islamist authors constitute the sample group of the study. This research includes discourses after 1934, when Hagia Sophia was a museum. In the first chapter, the relationship between identity and social memory due to the fact that Hagia Sophia is a symbol has been revealed in a conceptual framework. In the last section, classifications related to the Hagia Sophia discourses of Islamist authors have been made and analyzed. In this section, it is aimed to determine the source of the symbolic power of Hagia Sophia and to determine the important elements affecting the society.