Hilya

Later ḥilān were written for the four Rashid caliphs, the Companions of the Prophet, Muhammad's grandchildren Hasan and Husayn, and walis or saints.

Hilye, both as the literary genre and as the graphic art form, originates from shama'il, the study of Muhammad's appearance and character.

The acceptance and influence of this work have led to the use of the term shama'il "appearance" to mean Muhammad's fine morals and unique physical beauty.

[4] Among other descriptive shama'il texts are the Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah of al-Bayhaqi, Tariḥ-i Isfahān of Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Al-Wafāʾ biFaḍāʾil al-Muṣṭafā of ibn al-Jawzi and Al-Shifa of Qadi Iyad.

[8] Other notable ḥilān are Dursunzâde Bakayi's Hilye'tûl-Enbiya ve Çeyar-ı Güzîn (hilye of the prophet and his four caliphs), Nahifi's (d. 1738) prose ḥilya Nüzhet-ûl-Ahyar fi Tercüment-iş-Şemîl-i and Arif Süleyman Bey's (1761) Nazire-î Hakânî.

Because of their supposed protective effect, a practice developed in Ottoman Turkey of the 17th century of carrying Muhammad's description on one's person.

[2] Thus, the ḥilya, as a vehicle for Muhammad's presence after his death, was believed to have a talismanic effect, capable of protecting a house, a child, a traveller, or a person in difficulty.

These calligraphic panels were often framed and came to be used as wall decorations in houses, mosques and shrines, fulfilling an equivalent role to that played by images of Jesus in the Christian tradition.

[13]: 276 [16] As symbolic art, they provided an aesthetically pleasing reminder of Muhammad's presence without involving the type of "graven image" unacceptable to most Muslims' sensitivities.

[17] Although not common,[18] some ḥilān show the influence of Orthodox Christian icon-making because they are made like triptychs with foldable side panels.

It consisted of a description of Mohammad in Arabic, and below that its Turkish translation, written in diagonal, to create a triangular block of text.

[14] A characteristic feature of the texts shown at the centre of ḥilān is their praise for the beauty of Muhammad's physical appearance and character.

[9] It contains the following elements:[6] The remainder of the space is taken up with decorative Ottoman illumination, of the type usual for the period, often with a border framing the whole in a contrasting design to the main central field that is the background of the text sections.

[11] The names in Turkish of the central structural elements of the ḥilya are, from top to bottom, başmakam (head station), göbek (belly), kuşak (belt) and etek (skirt).

This anthropomorphic naming makes it clear that the ḥilya represents a human body, whose purpose is "to recall semantically the Prophet's presence via a graphic construct".

[23] It has been suggested[21][23] that Hafiz Osman's ḥilya design might have been inspired by the celebrated Hilye-i Şerif, which in turn was based on the possibly spurious hadith according to which Muhammad has said "... Whoever sees my hilye after me is as though he has seen me... ".

Many authors have commented that another reason is the affection that Muslims feel for Muhammad, which leads them to read about his physical and moral beauty.

Muslim people's love for Muhammad is considered to be one of the reasons for the display of ḥilya panels at a prominent place in their homes (see Graphic art form section below).

Hakani wrote that his reason was to be worthy of Muhammad's holy intercession (shefaat) on doomsday and to receive a prayer from willing readers.

A small number of instances of ḥilya panels were made in Iran[25] and they reflect a Twelver Shi'a adaptation of the form: there is a Persian translation below the Arabic text and the names of the Twelve Imams are listed.

[17] In Turkey, giving a ḥilya panel as a marriage gift for the happiness of the union and safety of the home has been a tradition that is disappearing.

[22] It is a common tradition for masters of calligraphy to obtain their diploma of competency (icazetname) after completing a ḥilya panel as their final assignment.

In his ḥilya, Hakani mentions the following hadith, which he attributes to Ali:[4] A short time before Muhammad's death, when his crying daughter Fatima said to him: "Ya Rasul-Allah, I will not be able to see your face any more!"

[10] These elements from Hakani's ḥilya have established the belief that reading and writing ḥilān protects the person from all trouble, in this world as well as the next.