All over the world, you’ll find ancient objects that are revered for their significant place in history, or for being a tangible connection with religious figures. Often their provenance is a matter of faith more than documented history. And as the centuries go by, their stories grow more complicated as the objects are coveted by other believers. For example, a cloak worn by the prophet Muhammad is now in the possession of the Taliban, the same group that destroyed so many artworks and icons of other religions.
According to legend, the cloak made its way to Afghanistan in the possession of the first king of the modern Afghan state, Ahmad Shah Durrani. When visiting what’s now Uzbekistan, he saw the cloak and knew that it needed to return home with him. He made a promise to the keepers of the cloak, pointing to a rock and swearing that he wouldn’t take the cloak very far away from that particular stone. Today, that stone, the king’s remains, and the cloak rest in a heavily guarded shrine in Kandahar.
The cloak is kept under lock and key with a single family of honored custodians. It’s an honor that they take very, very seriously; many assassins have tried and failed to reclaim the cloak.
In 1996, the cloak became a part of the imagery of the Taliban when Mullah Omar, the man nominated to become the figurehead of the next holy war, requested an audience with the cloak. When he removed it from the shrine and appeared in public with it—a holy symbol that’s usually absolutely off-limits to the general public—it gained him the support of the people and the legitimacy he needed to make the Taliban a force to be reckoned with.
There are also stories about body parts belonging to Buddha and John the Baptist, swords and stones used to crown kings, and what some consider to be the Holy Grail, all at Listverse. -via Daily of the Day