Turks flock to mosque to view clothes which belonged to Prophet Muhammad

Large number of Turks have flocked to a mosque in Istanbul to see a set of clothes believed to have belonged to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, Rassd.com reported on Friday. The items on display were among those that the Prophet sent as a present to one of the early Muslims in Yemen.

The clothes were taken to Istanbul during the 17th century. In the 18th century, the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Majeed built a mosque where they were kept. Every year during the holy month of Ramadhan the clothes are put on display for the public to see.

It is reported that there are two keys for the display case: one of them is kept with the organisation charged with preserving the clothes; the other is kept with Parish Sameer, the 59th grandson of Owais Al-Qarni, the man to whom the Prophet presented the clothes.

The story of this man is narrated in the accepted canon of Islamic source books. Al-Qarni believed and accepted the message of Prophet Muhammad without ever meeting him. As he prepared to go to Makkah to meet the Messenger in person, his mother fell sick and he could not leave her alone. He asked his fellow pilgrims to pass his greetings to the Prophet, and they did.

Out of admiration for what Owais Al-Qarni had done for his mother, the Prophet sent the clothes to him. The Prophet told his Companions that he had been granted Allah’s Mercy and Grace for looking after his mother in this way.