Relics of Muhammad
Traditionally, Islam has had a rich history of the veneration of relics, especially of those attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. There exists historical evidence that some of the earliest Muslims practiced the veneration of relics, and the practice continued to remain popular in many parts of the Sunni Islamic world until the eighteenth-century, when the reform movements of Salafism and Wahhabism began to staunchly condemn such practices due to their linking it with the sin of "shirk" (idolatry). As a result of the influence of these perspectives, some contemporary Muslims influenced by these ideologies have rejected the traditional practice of relic-veneration altogether. The most genuine prophetic relics are believed to be those housed in Istanbul's Topkapı Palace, in a section known as "Hirkai Serif Odasi" (Chamber of the Holy Mantle).
Topkapı Palace
The Sultan or the Valide Sultan was able to follow deliberations of the council without being noticed from a window with a golden grill. The window could be reached from the imperial quarters in the adjacent Tower of Justice ("Adalet Kulesi"). The window is mentioned for the first time in 1527 by the scholar Celalzade Mustafa Çelebi: "His Majesty [...] had built a high throne and a lofty loggia above the outer Council Hall where viziers sat, inventing a veiled window overlooking the Council Hall below. From this window, his Noble Excellency sometimes watched the events of the divan, checking the truth of affairs." The Tower of Justice ("Adalet Kulesi") is located between the Imperial Council and the Harem.