Can the preservation or historical display of a bodily relic lead to shirk? Hair, for example, once formed part of the body, whereas a garment or book only belonged to its owner. Does this closer physical connection make its preservation more liable to shirk? Relics can undoubtedly be misused, as can images, graves and places associated with holy persons. But did the Promised Messiah (as) prohibit the preservation and viewing of bodily relics? Did he regard their bodily origin as a separate danger? A believer who legitimately seeks blessing through an object holds that Allah has placed a particular good in something He created and seeks that good from Him. He does not attribute independent power to the object. Whether respect or tabarruk is being turned into worship depends upon the use made of the object. Hair, cloth and paper do not acquire such a tendency merely by existing. The possibility of later misuse does not make every present use impermissible. To say that a practice leads to shirk requires some reason to expect that people will invoke the object, seek powers from it, turn it into an object of devotion or gather around it in a manner resembling worship. The Promised Messiah (as) permitted the photograph for a missionary purpose and condemned its use in a form associated with religious veneration. The physical image was the same in each case. His answer turns upon the manner and purpose of the photograph’s use. The kurta of Hazrat Mian Abdullah Sanori (ra) is more directly relevant because it was itself a relic. The Promised Messiah (as) answered the general question by permitting the preservation of a garment or another relic of a holy person, since the Companions had preserved relics of the Messenger (sa) of Allah. The same report which records the burial undertaking given by Hazrat Mian Abdullah Sanori (ra) also records that the Promised Messiah (as) subsequently permitted others to take portions of the kurta without imposing that undertaking upon them. Such an account cannot support a universal rule requiring every relic to be buried. Hair provides an especially instructive example of a bodily relic. The Messenger (sa) of Allah had his head shaved, gave his hair to Abu Talha (ra) and instructed him: “Distribute it among the people.” The Messenger’s (sa) family and Companions preserved his hair, cloak, perspiration and drinking vessels. They also sought blessing through his ablution water and saliva without attributing independent power to any of these relics. Nothing in these Prophetic reports supports a prohibition peculiar to bodily relics. The Jamaat subsequently began to collect and preserve the relics of the Promised Messiah (as). The committee sought authenticated relics of established provenance for preservation and display in a historical museum. A bodily relic may be displayed for historical viewing without touching, supplication or any other devotional conduct. Such a display does not reproduce the practice against which the Promised Messiah (as) warned. The warning of the Promised Messiah (as) against shirk must be observed. It must not be enlarged into a prohibition of what he expressly allowed.