History

The blessed holy relic was first brought to Kashmir by Syed Abdullah Madani, a purported descendant of Muhammad who left Medina in present-day Saudi Arabia and settled in the South Indian city of Bijapur in 1635.

By 1700, the relic had been transported to Kashmir where Inayat Begum became the custodian of the relic and established the Hazratbal Shrine. Since then, her male descendants have been caretakers of the relic at the mosque.

Initially, the relic was kept in the shrine of Naqashbad Sahib situated in the center of the city. However, the huge rush of people made the place seem quite small and it was shifted to Hazratbal.

The Moi-e-Muqqadas was reported missing from the shrine on 27 December 1963. Following its disappearance, mass demonstrations were held all over the state. The relic was recovered on 4 January 1964. A public viewing of the relic was held on 6 February 1964.

Legends

Syed Hamid, the son of Syed Abdullah Madani, gave the relic as a gift to his close Mureed (disciple) and a wealthy Kashmiri businessman, Khwaja Nur-ud-Din Ishbari. However, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb seized the relic from Ishbari and sent it to the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer. Later, Aurangzeb had a dream in which Muhammad appeared with four caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali. In the dream, Muhammad ordered Aurangzeb to send the Moi-e-Muqaddas to Kashmir from Ajmer. By the time Aurangzeb decided to restore the relic to Khwaja Nur-ud-Din, he had already died in imprisonment. Eventually, his daughter, Inayat Begum, took the relic to Srinagar and established it in the shrine.