Daria Yaroshenko heard the call to prayer from the Church of Hagia Sophia, also known as the Orhan Mosque, while eating at a restaurant with her husband during their visit to the old Iznik area of northwest Bursa province.
Yaroshenko went to the mosque with her husband and met the muezzin, Osman akmak, who recited the adhan. Yaroshenko told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Thursday that she was charmed by the muezzin’s voice and expressed her desire to convert to Islam after hearing the adhan.
“I felt something tremble inside me. I researched the Quran on the internet and then I decided to become a Muslim,” she said.
After converting to Islam, the Ukrainian woman changed her name to Derya and now resides in the northwest city of Yalova.
Yaroshenko expressed concern for her relatives, saying she was deeply touched by the current conflict in Ukraine. She also stated that after the war is over, she would return to her homeland.
The war between Russia and Ukraine, which began on February 24, has sparked international condemnation, with the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom, among others, imposing harsh financial sanctions on Moscow. According to a United Nations assessment, at least 1,480 people have been killed and 2,195 injured in Ukraine, with the true amount likely to be much higher. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 4.24 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced.
Üzeyir Yavaş, the mufti of Iznik, revealed that Yaroshenko contacted them after being moved by the call to prayer. “We are extremely happy for this wonderful event that took place in the holy month of Ramadan,” Yavaş said, adding that they also gifted Yaroshenko a Quran.
“We congratulate our sister, her husband and our muezzin who recited the call to prayer. The good recitation of the prayer can lead to such wonderful events,” he noted.
