The Mantle of the Prophet (Hırka-i Şerif) in Fatih: Enquiries into a Fabric of Traditions and Its Intertwined Threads

You are cordially invited to the upcoming lecture in the Nafi Baba Sufism Talks Series titled "The Mantle of the Prophet (Hırka-i Şerif) in Fatih: Enquiries into a Fabric of Traditions and Its Intertwined Threads" by Esther Voswinckel Filiz. 

The talk is scheduled to take place in Nafi Baba Building 103 on February 18, 2025, at 17:00. Additionally, the lecture will be live-streamed via the following link: bit.ly/SufismTalks

The Mantle of the Prophet (Hırka-i Şerif ) in Fatih: Enquiries into a Fabric of Traditions and its Intertwined Threads

Istanbul is home to two Mantles of the Prophet: The Hırka-i Saadet in the Topkapı Palace and the Hırka-i Şerif in the eponymous mosque in the district of Fatih. While the Hırka-i Saadet – kept in an illustrious chest in a section of the imperial chamber of sacred relics (Kutsal Emanetler Dairesi) – is not accessible to common visitors, the Hırka-i Şerif becomes a vital destination of pilgrimage each year during the month of Ramadan. Drawing on my ongoing anthropological fieldwork around the pilgrimage to this mantle, and on recent enquiries into its material composition, in my presentation I wish to inquire into the various threads of transmission and oral tradition that are woven together in the Hırka-i Şerif. How do some strands of local Sufi tradition in Istanbul relate to the very fabric of this extremely refined garment with its ornamental texture composed by thousands of holes? A close look at the Mantle’s complex texture – and this fabric’s relations with accounts of the Prophet’s ascension (miraç) and with the angels as textile experts – invites us to approach Islam not only as text, but also as a rich repository of cultural practices related to experiences of touching  – and being touched by – textiles.  

Short Bio

Esther Voswinckel Filiz studied Cultural Anthropology and Religious History in Tübingen and Bologna. For her doctoral thesis Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi in Istanbul – Biography of Place (published in 2022), she conducted anthropological fieldwork in Istanbul over many years. Since 2020, she has been a researcher at the German Orient-Institut Istanbul, where she is responsible for the department “History and Anthropology of Religion”. She has organized a number of lectures dedicated to fabric and religious practices (Fabrics of Devotion, 2020) and has been fostering scholarly conversations dedicated to the material religion approach in Turkey. Her postdoctoral research İpuçları (Threads and Traces) is an enquiry into Sufism and textile forms of knowledge in Istanbul.