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History of the Kiswah

by Luqmaan Rawat
The black and gold Kiswah that covers the Kabah had different iterations before this Photo pexels

Makkah – Muslims have an intense desire to see the Holy Kabah and the beautiful Kiswah that adorns it. The history of the Holy Kabah is known but the Kiswah also has an interesting history.

It is said that the first person to place a covering over the Holy Kabah was the Yemeni King Tubba (Abu Karib). He is said to have used a red striped Ma’afir cloth, a special cloth woven in the Ta’izz district of Yemen. After him, many others used to hang several types of fabrics on the Kabah. At the time, it was considered religious to do so. With time, the Kabah was under danger of collapsing from the fabrics covering it. The Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mahi, eventually ordered that all the old fabrics be removed, and a new covering should only be placed once a year. This routine is practiced till today.

The Kiswah in the time of the Prophet (SAW)

The Prophet (SAW) witnessed the covering of the Kabah as a six-year-old child. Before the Conquest of Makkah, the Prophet (SAW) and his companions (RA) were not allowed to cover the Kabah. Moulana Suhail Wadee, Executive Director of Ashraful Aid, explained the cloth was changed after it was burnt by a woman who wanted to perfume it with incense.

“Historians make mention that one lady was trying to put incense. It was burnt and then replaced. The Prophet (S.A.W) covered it with a red and white striped Yemeni cloth … The following Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman (R.A) covered it with a white cloth.”

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The assorted colours of the Kiswah

The Kiswah was not always the black and gold it is today. During the three Caliphs’ time it was white, but the colour would change a few more times before it would become the colour we know and love today.

“It was during the Abbasid era it was once in white and once in red. When the Seljuk Sultan covered it, they covered it with a yellow brocade. When the Abbasid Caliph Al-Nasir covered it, he changed it to green and then later it was changed to the black brocade. This has remained its colour to the present day.”

According to Moulana Wadee, he was informed by the directors of The Centre of Makkah History that the choice of colour was “based on the financial means of that era”.

The different colours of the Kiswah rendered by IslamicLandmark.com

 

The historical manufacturing and transporting

The Kiswah wasn’t always manufactured in Makkah. For an exceptionally lengthy period of time, it was manufactured in Egypt. The materials were sourced locally as well as from Sudan, India, and Iraq. In 1817 the manufacturing process for the Kiswah the Sitara for the door of the Ka’bah and the Bab ut-Taubah, the Hizam (the belt around the Ka’bah), the bag holding the key and the Kiswah for the Maqame Ebrahim were moved to a factory in Cairo. Muhammad Ali Pasha built this factory.

The Kiswah used to travel from Egypt to Makkah in what was called a Mahmal. It was a large container made of a silk cloth embroidered in silver and gold-plated silver wire, with inscriptions from the Quran. It was also in the form of a tent and was carried by a strong camel. This journey became known as the Mahmal procession. The Mahmal would then go back to Cairo with the old Kiswah in it.

Currently the Kiswah is made in a factory that was established in 1972 in the Umm Al-Joud district in Makkah. The factory is situated next to the Exhibition Of The Two Holy Mosques.

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Materials used to make it

It takes an enormous amount of fabric and gold to construct the Kiswah. It’s made from 650kg of natural silk. It also uses 120kg of gold and silver threads. These are imported from Italy and Germany, respectively. These threads are used to embroider the Arabic inscriptions on the Kiswah. The process of embroidery takes around 8-10 months with over 200 people working on it every year. It is estimated that it costs around $4.5 million to $6 million to make.

The cloth is changed every year on the 9th Dhul-Hijjah. The old Kiswah is cut into pieces and given to Muslim countries and dignitaries as gifts. Master craftsmen use traditional methods and technology to design and manufacture the Kiswah and other holy textiles.

The kiswah will be changed, as is done annually, on the second day of Hajj which falls this year on 8 July.

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