Bohra Presence in Istanbul / Turkey

Istanbul — historically Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine and then the Ottoman Empire — occupies a unique place in Islamic history as the great city at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, the seat of the Ottoman Caliphate from 1517 to 1924. For Bohra mumineen, Istanbul is historically significant as the city where the Fatimid-era Islamic artifacts and manuscripts are preserved in the Topkapi Palace Museum — including the Prophet's cloak (khirqa-i sharif), relics of the Prophet (SAW), and rare Quran manuscripts. The Bohra presence in Istanbul consists primarily of professionals, businesspeople, and students who maintain their community practices while living in this great Muslim-majority city. The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque), the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Eyüp Mosque and shrine (near the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari RA, the Companion in whose house the Prophet stayed upon arriving in Medina), and the Hagia Sophia (restored as a mosque) are among the sacred spaces that Bohra visitors to Istanbul encounter as part of the broader Islamic heritage of this extraordinary city.