About Us
A mosque built by the people who live around it, with a congregation that now reaches far past the street it stands on.
Our mission
To keep Hamza Mosque open every day for the people who live around it, and to put what happens inside it within reach of everyone else, in a language they understand: a place to pray, a school where the Quran is taught free of charge, and a table anyone is invited to.
The association was founded to build this mosque and exists to keep it running. Everything we do falls under one of four commitments.
- Worship
All five daily prayers and the Friday ceremonies (khutbah), led by our resident imam. The mosque is open to anyone, with no fee and no membership.
- Teaching
Quran recitation, tajweed, memorisation, and weekly lecture series, taught free of charge to more than 340 students in the hall, streamed live on YouTube with live translation into several languages, and kept online in full. For students who want a chain of transmission, we arrange a sheikh to take them through to ijaza.
- Neighbourhood
More than 2,000 iftar meals served each Ramadan, a public library, and a hall the neighbourhood uses for its own gatherings.
- Language
Nobody should have to sit through a khutbah or a lesson they cannot follow. The Friday ceremonies (khutbah) and every lecture are interpreted live into Arabic, English, and other languages through Baian.ai. You hear it as it is being said, in the hall or at home, with nothing to wait for afterwards.
Our Story
The dome
240 m² over three levels, with a lift to all of them, a women's prayer area, and a balcony that opens when the main floor fills.
In 2014 Ziya Gökalp Mahallesi had no mosque and no social centre. There was nowhere close by to pray in congregation, to teach children the Quran, or to gather at all. HZ HAMZA CAMİİ YAPTIRMA VE YAŞATMA DERNEĞİ was registered on 18 August 2014 to build one.
The association was founded by Ismail Karvanchi and is registered under the category of associations that provide and facilitate religious services. After more than five years of fundraising and construction, Hamza Mosque opened on 1 January 2020.
The mosque stands on a 400 m² plot with 240 m² of interior space arranged over three levels: the main prayer hall, an upper floor with a balcony, and a large basement. Both stairs and a lift connect them. There is a women's prayer area, wudu facilities, a library, and parking.
Today Hamza Mosque works as both a mosque and a community centre, and its congregation is no longer only the one in the building. The Friday ceremonies (khutbah) and the lecture series are translated live into several languages through Baian.ai, and every lecture is streamed live on YouTube and kept online afterwards. Our imam, Ali Sağ, leads the five daily prayers and the Friday ceremonies (khutbah), provides Islamic education, and offers guidance and support to members of the community.
Official signage
The Başakşehir Müftülüğü sign on the north wall reads HZ. HAMZA CAMİİ. The brass plaque below records that the building was constructed by Emlak Konut GYO in 2020.
Official Association Info
Name: HZ HAMZA CAMİİ YAPTIRMA VE YAŞATMA DERNEĞİ
Registry No: 34-206-146
Registered with the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Interior, Directorate General for Relations with Civil Society.
Milestones
18 August 2014
Association registered under Kütük No 34-206-146
1 January 2020
Hamza Mosque opens its doors in Ziya Gökalp Mahallesi
2026
The library extended and a new prayer area added to the mosque
Today
A working mosque, school, and community centre
The mosque in numbers
600
Capacity of the main prayer hall
1,000
Friday attendance, across all three levels
150
Daily prayer attendance
340+
Students enrolled
2,000+
Iftar meals served each year
240 m²
Interior area over three levels
The main hall holds 600. On Fridays the upper gallery and the entrance hall open as well, and the rows carry on into the forecourt. That is how attendance passes a thousand.
The building
The prayer hall
Five prayers a day, led by our imam Ali Sağ, in a hall that holds 600.
The library
Five shelves of tafsir, hadith and fiqh references, kept for the 340 students on the Quran and tajweed courses and open to everyone else.
The entrance
The doors are open from fajr to isha every day of the year, with no fee and no membership.
The terrace
In Ramadan the tables go out here every evening: more than 2,000 meals over the month, with nothing to pay and nothing to register for.
- Women's prayer area
- Wudu facilities
- Library
- Parking
- Lift to all three levels
- Balcony on the upper floor
- Terrace
The mosque in use
A mosque is easier to show than to describe. These were taken during ordinary weeks at Hamza Mosque.
Youth programme
The hall splits into small circles, a teacher to each group.
Youth programme
The youngest work in groups of a few, so each of them gets read with directly.
Quran day
Yawm al-Himma al-Qur'ani, 22 November 2025: more than 100 students registered to recite what they had memorised.
Ramadan
Two taraweeh prayers every night, and the congregation completes the whole Quran twice before the month is out.
Volunteers
Volunteers put tea out after the evening lectures so people stay on and talk.
The building
The upper gallery opens when the main floor fills: Fridays, Eid, and the last ten nights of Ramadan.
Our Imam
Ali Sağ
Leads the five daily prayers and the Friday ceremonies (khutbah), provides Islamic education, and offers guidance and support to members of the community.
Founder
Ismail Karvanchi
Why the association exists
To serve the religious, educational, and social needs of the people who live nearby, and, through everything we publish, of anyone following from further away. A place where anyone is welcome to pray, learn, and belong.