"Hırka-i Şerif," one of the sacred relics gifted by the Prophet Muhammad to Uwais al-Qarni, a Muslim from South Arabia who lived during the prophet's lifetime, will open its doors to visitors at 10 a.m. on the upcoming Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, as is the tradition every year for Muslims.
The relic can be visited on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during Ramadan, which is considered the most sacred month in the Islamic calendar, and from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekends.
The sacred cloak has been preserved at the Hırka-ı Şerif Mosque, built in Istanbul's historical Fatih district in 1851. It is protected by the 58th and 59th generation descendants of al-Qarni.
The cloak will be on display until the eve of Ramadan Bayram (Eid al-Fitr), the Islamic holiday that marks the end of the holy month.
Al-Qarni, a Yemeni native, traveled to Madinah al-Munawwarah to see the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century but had to return to Yemen due to his mother's illness without seeing the prophet. Impressed by his story of filial piety, the prophet gifted his cloak to al-Qarni via companions and he received the garment in Yemen.
One of the early believers, al-Qarni, died some 24 years after the prophet and fought in the Muslim army during the time of Caliph Ali. Al-Qarni had no children and the relic was passed down to his brother, which is still protected by the same family. The al-Qarni family lived in southern Anatolia for centuries; however, they later migrated to Kuşadası in the Aegean region.
In the 17th century, Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I asked them to bring the holy relic to Istanbul, where other sacred relics of Islam were being preserved. After the cloak was taken to Istanbul, two keys were made, one for the sultan and one for the al-Qarni family, for the locked box in which the cloak was displayed.
