- On Thursday, the head of Turkey’s religious authority, Ali Erbas, announced the appointment of the three imams who will lead prayers at the reconverted mosque: Mehmet Boynukalin, a Professor of Islamic law at Istanbul’s Marmara University, as well as Ferruh Mustuer and Bunjamin Topcuoglu, the imams of two other Istanbul mosques.
- Senior officials at Egypt‘s Al-Azhar argued that turning the Hagia Sophia from a church into a mosque Is forbidden by Islam and that the building should remain either a museum or a church.
- Sudan‘s transitional government eliminated a number of Islamic laws, including those relating to apostasy, alcohol and female dress. This elimination has provoked both praise and anger from different segments of society, resulting in limited demonstrations in Khartoum.
- The Muslim World League and the United Arab Emirates Council for Fatwa and Sharia organized an international virtual conference titled “Emergency Jurisprudence Post-Coronavirus” to address legal issues that have arisen because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Malaysia’s Religious Affairs minister, Zulkifli Mohamad, called for the arrest and reeducation of transgender people in the country.
- Singapore resumed congregational prayers on June 26 after developing an online booking system to maintain the 50-person limit.