: Emotional Reactions Stirred over Prophet’s Relics

Last week, a pair of slippers once worn by Prophet Muhammad were stolen from the 17th century Badshahi mosque in Lahore, Pakistan (also the home of other Prophetic relics including a green turban and two other pairs of shoes). The theft sparked demonstrations over what a local minister called “the worst ever incident in our history.” Eight employees of the mosque were later arrested and could face death for “insulting Islam.” The slippers have not been recovered, although one rumor alleges they were sold to the Sultan of Brunei. The incident mirrors another one earlier this year when the authenticity of a beard hair belonging to the Prophet (stored in a shrine in Kashmir) was challenged by a right-wing Hindu group in India who claimed it belonged to a Hindu seer, sparking angry denunciations. In 1996, Taliban leader Mullah Omar appeared on a rooftop in Afghanistan wearing a cloak that once belonged to the Prophet that hadn’t been removed from its shrine in Kandahar for over sixty years. The relics, mostly passed down from rulers in Central Asia, are touted as an incentive to the Muslim faith. But whether or not the distinction is made between a historic interest and the near reverence for inanimate objects (and subsequent politicizing) is still unclear.

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com.  He is based in London, England.