Joseph678 at 19:09, 8 April 2026

2026-04-08T19:09:03Z

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{{Short description|1963 incident in Jammu and Kashmir, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
On 27 December 1963, ''Moi-e-Muqqadas'', a relic believed by many to be strand from the beard of [[Prophet Muhammad]], went missing the from the [[Hazratbal Shrine]] in [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], leading to widespread protests across the Indian subcontinent.

The relic was recovered on 4{{nbsp}}January 1964.

== History of the relic ==
[[File:HAZRATBAL SHRINE 01.JPG|thumb|The [[Hazratbal Shrine]] in 2010]]
The Blessed Relic was brought to Indian city of [[Bijapur]] in 1635 by Syed Abdullah Madani. It was then passed through his son Syed Hamid to a Kashmiri businessman named Nooruddin. In the late 17th century, the [[Mughal emperors|Mughal emperor]] [[Aurangzeb]] imprisoned Nooruddin and seized the relic, moving it to the [[Ajmer Sharif Dargah|Sufi tomb in Ajmer]]. Aurangzeb returned the relic in 1700 after Nooruddin had died. The relic was preserved by his descendants and kept in a place that later became the [[Hazratbal Shrine]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Mīr Qāsim|first=Sayyid|title=My life and times|date=1992|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=81-7023-355-0|location=New Delhi|pages=95–96|oclc=27815766}}</ref>

== Theft ==
On 27 December 1963, news broke out that the holy relic was stolen from the shrine. Around 50,000 people carrying black flags demonstrated in front of the shrine.<ref name="Hanging By The Relic" /> According to ''[[The Times of India]]'', the [[Srinagar]] superintendent of police said that he believed that the theft had occurred around 2{{nbsp}}am when the custodians of the shrine were sleeping.<ref name="Hanging By The Relic">{{cite web|title=Hanging By The Relic|date=7 July 2014 |url=http://www.kashmirlife.net/hanging-by-the-relic-issue18-vol06-61615/|publisher=Kashmir Life|access-date=23 January 2017}}</ref>

The next day, the Chief Minister of the state, [[Khwaja Shams-ud-Din]], reached the shrine and announced an award of {{currency|100,000|inr}} for providing information regarding the theft. On 29{{nbsp}}December, a curfew was imposed and police arrested the [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] leader [[Mohammad Shafi Qureshi]]. To investigate the theft, on 31{{nbsp}}December, Indian Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] sent the head of the [[Central Bureau of Investigation]], [[Bhola Nath Mullik]], to Kashmir.<ref name="Hanging By The Relic"/> [[Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq]] set up the Sacred Relic Action Committee, of which he was the president.<ref>{{cite web|title=The mystery of Moi-e-Muqqadas theft|url=http://www.risingkashmir.in/news/the-mystery-of-moiemuqqadas-theft|publisher=Rising Kashmir|access-date=23 January 2017}}</ref>

On 4 January 1964, the relic was recovered, and the ''[[Governor of Jammu and Kashmir|Sadr-i-Riyasat]]'' [[Karan Singh]] organised prayers at a Hindu temple to help dispel communal tension.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Schofield|first=Victoria|title=Kashmir in conflict : India, Pakistan and the unending war|date=2003|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=1-4175-6080-0|edition=|location=London|pages=103|oclc=57182067}}</ref> The relic was inspected and identified by [[Sayyid Meerak Shah Kashani]] as being genuine. Shah Kashani said he had seen the relic many times and could easily identify it.<ref name="Ahmad 2018">{{cite web |last1=Ahmad |first1=Khalid Bashir |title=Kashmir: The Sacrilege And The Turmoil |publisher= Countercurrents |url=https://countercurrents.org/2018/12/kashmir-the-sacrilege-and-the-turmoil/ |website=countercurrents.org |access-date=19 January 2023 |date=27 December 2018}}</ref>

Sayyid Meerak recited a poem:<ref name="Ahmad 2018"/>
{{blockquote|text=
The Garden is bright with the light of Muhammad
The light of Muhammad is reflected in every flower and every plant.
|multiline=yes
|author=Sayyid Meerak
|source=<ref name="Ahmad 2018"/>
}}

When Mullick informed Nehru about the recovery, Nehru said to Mullick that "you have saved Kashmir for India". In his memoirs, Mullick claims that the information about the investigation was not disclosed. The Home Minister of India, [[Gulzarilal Nanda]], also said in the parliament that the thieves "shall be identified".{{cn|date=September 2025}}

On 17 January 1964, Nanda publicly identified the suspects, all three of whom were Kashmiri Muslims: the shrine's ''[[mujawar]]'' (caretaker) Abdul Rahim Bandey, local villager Abdul Rashid (who was caught while returning the relic), and "an important person who we believe has some affiliation with Pakistan" giving his name as Kadir Butt.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1964-02-18 |title=3 Kashmiri Moslems Held In Theft of Prophet's Hair |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/18/archives/3-kashmiri-moslems-held-in-theft-of-prophets-hair.html |access-date=2022-06-17 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250923211052/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/18/archives/3-kashmiri-moslems-held-in-theft-of-prophets-hair.html |archive-date=2025-09-23 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> (The third's name was briefly reported in Parliament as "Ghulam {{abbr|Mohd.|Mohammed}} Butt,"<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement re Theft of Sacred Relic from Hazratbal |date=1964-02-17 |website=Digital Sansad |url=https://eparlib.sansad.in/bitstream/123456789/873760/1/03_VII_17-02-1964_p50_p50_PII.pdf |access-date=2025-09-23}}</ref> but was corrected later the same day.)

== Aftermath ==
Identification by its caretakers and other investigation made by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir (law and order), special identification team says its authenticity is indeed original. Post identification, a public [[wikt:دیدار|deedar]] ("viewing") of the relic was organized on 6 February coinciding with the anniversary of martyrdom of the fourth Caliph of Islam, [[Ali bin Abu Talib]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://countercurrents.org/2018/12/kashmir-the-sacrilege-and-the-turmoil/|title=Kashmir: The Sacrilege And The Turmoil| Countercurrents|date=27 December 2018|website=countercurrents.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.awazthevoice.in/india-news/hazratbal-shrine-with-holy-relic-has-a-tumultuous-history-16384.html|title=Hazratbal shrine with holy relic has a tumultuous history|website=Awaz The Voice}}</ref>

The incident triggered [[1964 East Pakistan riots|riots and ethnic cleansing]] of Hindus in [[East Pakistan]].<ref name=Keesings>{{Citation|date=25 July 1964 |title=Widespread Communal Riots in India and Pakistan |page=1 |work=[[Keesing's Contemporary Archives]] |url=http://web.stanford.edu/group/tomzgroup/pmwiki/uploads/1310-1962-xx-xx-KS-a-JZW.pdf}}</ref> Hundreds of thousands of Hindu refugees poured into India between December 1963 and February 1964 as a result of the violence.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Das|first=Mayurakshi|title=Title: Calcutta Cauldron: City-life during the January 1964 Riots|url=https://www.academia.edu/43473655|journal=Indian History Congress Proceedings|date=January 2018 |language=en}}</ref> The stories of atrocities told by these refugees caused [[1964 Calcutta riots|violence and rioting]] against Muslims in Calcutta in the Indian state of [[West Bengal]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=Keesings/> Thousands of Christian tribals were also evicted later from East Pakistan and arrived in India as refugees.<ref name=Keesings/>

A fictionalized version of the incident is the subject of [[Salman Rushdie|Salman Rushdie's]] short story "The Prophet's Hair" (1981).

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazratbal Shrine theft, 1963}}
[[Category:Individual thefts]]
[[Category:Relics]]
[[Category:Religious controversies in India]]
[[Category:1960s in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:1963 crimes in India]]
[[Category:Crime in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:1960s in Islam]]
[[Category:1963 in religion]]
[[Category:1964 in religion]]

1963 Hazratbal Shrine theft - Revision history

Joseph678 at 19:09, 8 April 2026