The Holy Kaaba has been draped over the ages…
Even today in Makkah the years old ritual is being practised with
full enthusiasm. The holy Kaaba is covered with new kiswa (cover)
every year on the 10th Dhul Hijjah, which coincides with Haj.
Every year the old Kiswa is removed, cut into small pieces and gifted
to certain individuals, visiting foreign Muslim dignitaries and
organisations. Some of them sell their share as souvenirs of Haj.
Earlier Umar bin al-Khattab(radiyallahu anhu) would cut it in to
pieces and distribute them among the pilgrims who used them as
shelter from the heat of Makkah.
The present cost of making the kiswa amounts to SR 17 million. The
cover is 658 sq. metres long and is made of 670 kgs of pure silk. For
embroidery 15 kilos of gold threads are used. It consists of 47
pieces of cloth and each piece is 14 Metres. long and 101 cms broad.
The kiswa is wrapped around the Kaaba and fixed to the ground with
copper rings.
Traditionally the pattern of kiswa has not changed. The material is
made up of silk and a gold embroidered band is sewn about three
fourth the distance from the bottom. The part covering the door,
which stands 2.13 metres above the ground on the north-east side
wall, is covered separately with richly embroidered Quranic verses,
leaving an opening for the black stone.
The colour of Kiswa kept changing during the reigns of different
Caliphs and rulers. In earlier days the kiswa was changed on 10th of
Muharamm but slowly it was shifted to 10th of Dhul-Hijjah. Amir
Maawiya(radiyallahu anhu) started to cover it on 10th Muharram (first
month of Muslim calendar) as well as on Idd ul-Fitr (Ramadan).
In olden days different clans of Makkah would cover the Kaaba by
turns yearly. Tribal leaders would also bring small drapes to cover
the walls of Kaaba.
Once the grand mother of Prophet Mohammed (sallallahu alaiyhi
wassallam) had offered a white Kiswa. Prophet Muhammed(sallallahu
alaiyhi wassallam)) used the Kiswa made of Yemeni cloth. Caliphs Umar
(radiyallahu anhu) and Uthman(radiyallahu anhu) covered it with an
Egyptian white cloth, Qubati. Haroon Al-Rasheed used a white Kiswa.
The cloth would come from Baghdad, Egypt and Yemen depending on whose
influence was greater in Makkah. Viceroy of Egypt Mohammed Ali Pasha
after splitting from the Turkey Empire, made making of the Kiswa the
state responsibility. The Kiswa was brought by annual caravan from
Cairo.
Nassir Abbasi (1160-1207) started using a green Kiswa and later
shifted to black, since then the black kiswa has become the
tradition. Earlier the Kiswas were plain. Only in 1340 the embroidery
border tradition was introduced by the Egyptian ruler Hassan.
During World War I Turkey joined Germany and there were doubts that
will it be possible to bring the Kiswa from Egypt. So Turkey
organised a very grand Kiswa from Istanbul and by Hejaz Railway it
was sent to Madinah. But the Kiswa from Egypt reached Makkah in time,
so the Istanbul Kiswa was kept back in Madinah.
In 1923 when the relations of Sheriff of Makkah and Egypt were sour,
the Egyptians called back their Kiswa which had reached Jeddah by
that time. That year the Istanbul Kiswa lying in Madinah was
utilised. Ibn Saud used the Kiswa made in Iraq.
In 1926 a factory was set up at Makkah by Late King Abdul Aziz to
make the Kiswa. Initially all the craftsmen were brought from India.
It took more than 100 craftsmen the whole year to weave the cloth on
ancient wooden handlooms and to embroider it in magnificent
calligraphy. In 1937 the factory was closed down due to non
availability of modern machinery.
The factory was re-opened after a long gap in 1962. Making of the
Kiswa is an interesting process and done in different stages. The
best silk is imported from Italy and Germany. With the help of
special detergents and special olive oil soaps the silk is washed to
remove its protective wax.
The silk is exposed to high temperatures of 90c and washed several
times to get its natural colour. The best results of dyeing are
achieved on the natural colour. Ten years before, dyeing was done
manually and now it is being done through specialised machines. Later
weaving is done.
In the beginning the belt of the Kaaba had 8 pieces and later it was
doubled. In 1971 two additional pieces of YA HAYYU and YA QAYUUM were
introduced. The cover and inner layer are done in one department.
Designing of Quranic verses is being computerised. Computerised
designing has slowly replaced manual designing and increased the
speed of work.
The Making of Present Day Kiswa
Silver and golden threads are used for embroidery. Embroidery threads
are now made locally in Saudia Arabia, by the same goldsmith who made
the door of Kaaba. Finished pieces under go strict quality control
tests in the laboratory before being stitched together.
Engraved with verses from the Holy Qur’an, the Kiswa is intricately
woven with gold and silver threads.
The Kiswa is made in many stages. After the cover is designed by well-
known artists, it is colored. Intricate work includes the design of
decorations, the embroidered inscriptions on the belt and the Kaaba
door curtain, and the decorations on Jacquard cloth for the outer and
inner cover.
Next come the printing and dyeing stages. The Kiswa is later woven
and embroidered. Manual weaving is done by experienced craftsmen and
mechanical weaving on modern looms.
The unique embroidery is achieved in several stages. First by sewing
cotton thread, on the inscriptions and decorations printed on the
cloth. Then comes the embroidery threads of yellow cotton.
The embroidery is then covered with gold plated silver threads which
protrude two centimeters above the cloth.
The New Kiswa is made of approximately 670 kilograms of pure white
silk and 150 kg of gold and silver. It cost more than SR17 million
and is considered one of the most exquisite works of Islamic art. It
is manufactured at the factory of Kiswa at Ummal-Joud, a suburb of
Makkah.More than 240 employees, work in the factory. Skilled
craftsmen use a combination of the latest technology, ancient looms
and artistic calligraphy to produce a work of exotic beauty. Usually
the new cloth is to be ready two months before Haj.
Before placing the new dress, the old Kiswa is cut into pieces and
presented to leaders of Muslim countries, diplomats and major
institutions around the world. One such piece was presented to the
United Nations.
Sources: saudinfo and islamicvoice
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