The term hilya (, plural: ḥilan, or ḥulan; , plural: ) denotes both a visual form in Ottoman art and a religious genre of Ottoman Turkish literature, each dealing with the physical description of Muhammad. Hilya literally means "ornament".
They originate with the discipline of shama'il, the study of Muhammad's appearance and character, based on hadith accounts, most notably Tirmidhi's al-Shama'il al-Muhamadiyyah wa al-Khasa'il al-Mustafawiyyah ("The Sublime Characteristics of Muhammad").
In Ottoman-era folk Islam, there was a belief that reading and possessing Muhammad's description protects the person from trouble in this world and the next, it became customary to carry such descriptions, rendered in fine calligraphy and illuminated, as amulets. In 17th-century Ottoman Turkey, hilyes developed into an art form with a standard layout, often framed and used as a wall decoration.
Later hilyes were also written for the first four Caliphs, the companions of Muhammad, Muhammad's grandchildren (Hasan and Hussein) and Islamic saints (walis).
Origins in hadith
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 best source on this subject is considered to be Imam Tirmidhi's al-Shama'il al-Muhamadiyyah wa al-Khasa'il al-Mustafawiyyah ("The Sublime Characteristics of Muhammad"). The acceptance and influence of this work has led to the use of the term "shama'il" (appearance) to mean Muhammad's fine morals and unique physical beauty. As they contained hadiths describing Muhammad's spirit and physique, shama-il have been the source of hilye. The best known and accepted of these hadith are attributed to his son-in-law and cousin Ali. The sources of hilye have been the six main hadith books along with other hadith sources, attributed to people such as Aisha, `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas, Abu Hurairah, Hasan ibn Ali. While shama'il lists the physical and spiritual characteristics of Muhammad in detail, in hilye these are written about in a literary style.
Among other descriptive Shama'il text are the Dala'il al-Nubuwwah of Al-Bayhaqi, Tarih-i Isfahan of Abu Naeem Isfahani, Al-Wafa bi Fadha'il al-Mustafa of Abu'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi and Al-Shifa of Qadi Ayyad are the main shemaa-il and hilya books.
Literary genre
Although many hilyes exist in Turkish literature, Persian literature does not have many examples of the shama'il and hilye genre. Abu Naeem Isfahani wrote a work titled Hilyetü'l-Evliya, but it is not about Muhammad. For this reason, the hilye is considered one of Turkey's national literary genres. Turkish literature has also some early works that may have inspired the appearance of the hilye as a literary genre. The Vesiletü'n-necat of Süleyman Çelebi (1351–1422 :fr:Suleyman Çelebi (de Bursa)), and the Muhammeddiye of Yazıcıoğlu Mehmed, referred to Muhammad's characteristics.
A 255-verse long Risale-i Resul about the attributes of Muhammad, written by a writer with the penname of Şerifi, was presented to Şehzade Bayezid, one of the sons of Suleiman the Magnificent, at an unknown date that was presumably before the Shahzade's death in 1562. This is believed to be the earliest hilye in verse form in Turkish literature. However, the Hilye-i Şerif by Mehmet Hakani (d. 1606–07) is considered the finest example of the genre (see section below). The first hilye written in prose form is Hilye-i Celile ve Şemail-i 'Aliye by Hoca Sadeddin Efendi.
Although the hilye tradition started with descriptions of Muhammad, later hilyes were written about the first four Caliphs, the companions of Muhammad, Muhammad's grandchildren (Hasan and Hussein) and Islamic saints (walis) such as Mevlana. The second most important hilye, after Hakani's, is considered to be Cevri İbrahim Çelebi's hilye, Hilye-i Çihar-Yar-ı Güzin (1630), about the physical appearance of the first four caliphs. Another important hilye writer is Neşâtî Ahmed Dede (d. 1674), whose 184-verse long poem is about the physical characteristics of 14 prophets and Adam. Other notable hilyes are Dursunzâde Bakayi's Hilye'tûl-Enbiya ve Çeyar-ı Güzîn (hilye of the prophet and his four caliphs), Nahifi's (d. 1738) prose hilye Nüzhet-ûl-Ahyar fi Tercüment-iş-Şemîl-i and Arif Süleyman Bey's (1761) Nazire-î Hakânî.
Hilyes can be written as standalone prose or poems (often in the masnavi form). They can also be part of two other forms of Turkish Islamic literature, a Mevlid (account of Muhammad's life) or a Mir'aj-name (accounts of Muhammad's Night Journey).