Relics of Muhammad

The Relics of Muhammad are a series of objects venerated in Islam that are associated with Muhammad.

Islam has had a long history of relic veneration, especially of veneration of relics attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.^[1] There exists historical evidence that some of the earliest Muslims practiced the veneration of relics, and the practice remained popular in many parts of the Sunni Islamic world until the 18th-century, when the reform movements of Salafism and Wahhabism began to staunchly condemn such practices, linking them with the Islamic sin of shirk (idolatry). As a result of the influence of these perspectives, some contemporary Muslims have rejected the traditional practice of relic veneration altogether.^[1] Some of the most prominent relics include those housed in Istanbul's Topkapı Palace,^[2][3][4] in a section known as Hirkai Serif Odasi (Chamber of the Holy Mantle), and those at Hazratbal, in the Vale of Kashmir including what is claimed to be a hair of Muhammad.

The 17th-century French explorer Jean-Baptiste Tavernier wrote about his discussions with two treasurers of Constantinople, who described the standard, mantle and the seal.^[5] Two centuries later, Charles White wrote about the mantle, the standard, the beard, tooth, and footprint of Muhammad, the last of which he saw personally.^[6]