Documentary on Kiswah (Cover) of Kaaba – الفيلم الوثائقي كسوة الكعبة المشرفة (English, Urdu, Arabic)

This documentary shows in detail how the Kiswah (Cover) of Kaaba is being prepared. Produced by The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque Media and Communication Directorate 1439 H / 2018 G.

Kiswat Al-ka’bah (Honorable Kaaba Cover)

The first house of worship established for mankind. It has been honored since Ibrahim and his son Ismail (peace be upon them) raised its foundations as Allah ordered. No place in the globe has the love and respect that the Kaaba has. People turn toward it while praying, hearts yearn to be near it. Muslims come to it from every distant place until it becomes the minaret of Islam and a defining mark of the religion.

For centuries, kings and dignitaries have made tremendous efforts to revere it and attain the honour of making a cover for it. Thus, its cover used to be made in various lands then sent as a gift to the honorable Kaaba. After Allah blessed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with serving the Two Holy Mosques, it proudly and skillfully began in making the honorable Kaaba cover. His Majesty King Abdul Aziz (may Allah rest his soul) ordered to make the honorable Kaaba cover at a private house next to the Sacred Mosque in the year 1346H. It was the first Kiswah to be made entirely in Mecca since the practice of covering the Ka’bah began.

Further exceptional development in its history took place when the facility was moved to the Umm al-Jood district of Mecca. Where the King Abdul-Aziz’s Assembly of Covering the Honorable Kaaba was built. This development was not only focused on constructing a new building. Rather, it extended to upgrading the production process after the cover was manually made.

The assembly began working in 1397 H, using the most modern machinery available and manned by a team of highly skilled and experienced technical staff contributes to making the honorable Kaaba cover in high quality. To reflect words of monotheism, magnification and reverence on it, decorated with embroideries which clearly shows its luster on the belt surrounding the honorable Kaaba along with the Quranic verses below the belt.

Beside these gilded pieces, the curtain of the Kaaba door comes down as if it were bowing down to the Lord, portraying reverence and awe. In which the Quranic verses are written and decorated with supplications and ornaments. The black cover of the Kaaba is lighted with lamps radiate faith over the year. The basis of faith lies in sincerely devoting all worship to Allah and this is why Soorah al-Ikhlaas (the chapter of the Qur’an about sincerity to Allah) is inscribed upon each corner of the cover.

The Yemeni Corner has its own special decorated frame from which a golden chain extends towards the sky and around the black stone (descended from the Paradise), we find a gilded ring with lamps reflecting takbir, full of beauty, all the more complete by the decorations inscribed on the downspout of the Ka’bah, solely out of reverence for Allah.

This awe-inspiring cover that adorns the Ka’bah and captivates people’s eyes has a year-long story behind it. It begins with acquiring the finest natural silk in the world In a form of yellowish-white strings. The laboratory runs several simulations on these strings to ensure the quality and durability of the silk because this precious cover will be on walls of Allah’s House for a whole year. Resisting pulling and friction as well as the various elements of Mecca’s climate. After passing quality tests, the silk begins its journey through the steps of producing the Kiswah. The fibers are dyed using an automated process and this is among the first steps taken.

The silk fibers are prepared for dying by being washed in basins of hot water at specific purity levels. Using special materials to clear the yellowish natural waxing layer to become softer. Then the silk returns to be pure white once again. This process automatically runs to preserve string durability, white silk strings do not remain like that for a long time until they are dyed black to characterize the Kaaba cover. So the silk strings absorb the new dyeing color. Then washed with water in a cold and hot basin in order to remove any unwanted elements.

Next, the dyed silk fibers are hung and dried. So it will be ready after total dryness to be sent to the weaving section. The dyed silk is sent to the automatic weaving section. First, the silk comes to a machine that transfers the free fibers and tightly winds them onto spools of proportionate size. These smaller spools are gathered and arranged to be included in a big spool of strong silk threads. Those are fed into two further machines which produce two types of Kaaba cloth in two lines. The first is decorated with supplications and monotheism word, the other is plain and is hand-embroidered with golden decorative elements.

Those two advanced machines prepare the fabric with enormous quantities of weaves per meter. The Ancient House is still covered, embroidered with verses of reverence, magnification, praising and supplication in the best way of writing and form, that eyes have ever seen. Embroidered writings and verses are written on the honorable Kaaba in the style of writing known as “thuluth”.

Then, in the printing stage, a loom is employed. It consists of two thick wooden pieces placed parallel to each other. Cotton fabric is tightened over them and then the plain silk fabric, which will be embroidered, is placed over it. Printing takes place using special inks penetrated through small pores in printing panels, showing lines and drawings required to be printed in an accurate way. The most important thing that characterizes the honorable Kaaba cover is the golden inscriptions that it bears.
Its decoration is embroidered using pure silver wires or plated with water of gold. The embroidery is to use colored cotton threads in different densities over the printed decorations and lines, so the yellowish color is for embroidered parts with gilded silver wires and white is used to mark the portions which will be embroidered with unplated silver wires. This is done with great precision and detail.

This manual work is made by a group of skilled technicians who produce this masterpiece skillfully. Showing magnification with high perfection and achievement accuracy and beauty of the original Arab font. After these several technical stages, it is the time of collecting the cover, which is the last production stage. After weaving process, the cover cloth is as big cloth pieces, each one is put on its side of the Kaaba then sewed by the biggest machine in the world, using automatic controlling system provided with two laser devices, to verify putting the cloth as it should be. The embroidered pieces – as the belt and the Quranic verses below – are fixed.

Keening to get a high quality in every stage of making the Kaaba cover, a committee of special technicians, formed in the assembly, just before changing the cover, to ascertain that all embroidered passages are connected correctly, and that there is consistency between various dimensions. Every year, on the first day of the month of Thul-Hijjah, An annual celebration is held to hand over the cover to the senior employee of the sacred House of Allah. The cover is handed over by Mecca mayor on behalf of the king, in the presence of General President of Haram and Prophetic Mosques’ Affairs. It is the eighth day of Dhul-Hijja month in which the ceremony of changing of the Kaaba cover starts. The technicians go to the old cover to say farewell. The Kaaba cover is removed and each side becomes separately and the curtain of Kaaba door is removed as well. This completely uncovers the door of the Ka’bah for the first time in a year.

In the next day, the new cover and door curtain will put down to decorate the sacred House of Allah. People wait in eager anticipation to behold that spectacle. On the eve of the ninth of Thul-Hijjah, preparations start to send the new cover to the honorable Kaaba. Large numbers of technical staff assemble at the King Abdul-Aziz Kiswah Facility to bring the new graceful covering out of its enclosure. They carry it with much reverence since it will grace the Sacred Ka’bah for the entire upcoming year. It is a sight to behold workers carry the new cover towards the Sacred Mosque, so the honorable Kaaba will wear its new cloth, out of Allah’s reverence and magnification. People competing to carry it, amid a much care, by Muslims all over the world, due to their happiness with this magnificent masterpiece. That takes place as the Hujjaaj make their way to ‘Arafah in order to perform the greatest component of Hajj. The only people left in Mecca that day are those who reside in and around it but did not go for Hajj. However, they get to witness an event that is no less of a spectacle.

It is the preparations of bringing the cover to the Meccan House, carried by all those seeking rewards, proudly carried towards the honorable Kaaba They hasten in their steps. Observers wait in anticipation of this moment: When the new cover raised on the ninth of Thul-Hijjah, the sun rises over two grand events in Islam. Those performing Hajj go to ‘Arafah, humbly raising their hands in supplication to Allah, the Almighty and Most Majestic. While others in Mecca fasting and raising the cover out of Allah’s reverence. Specialized staff ascends to the roof of the Ka’bah. Each cover side is raised on the Kaaba surface fixed by ropes, then fallen down on the old cover which is about to be removed.

To narrate incidents of the last year, the honorable Kaaba wears its new shining cloth before Muslims wear their new clothes on the next day of Eid Al-Adha. The pillar cloth is sewed up then down and then decorated with golden embroidery, before the final step of putting in place the curtain over the door of the Ka’bah.
The curtain is raised and attached directly to the wall of the Ka’bah due to its heavy weight and its luxurious gilded embroideries, which is the most beautiful and precious part of the cover.

The King Abdul-Aziz’s Assembly of Covering the Honorable Kaaba resumes to fall down the cover on the honorable Kaaba in the middle of Muharram month of the new Hijri year, to totally covered the Kaaba. And completely on that day the Kaaba is decorated over the year. The assembly is not just responsible for making the Kaaba cover but a special staff is responsible for cleaning and polishing its gilded parts and looks after any portions that may require mending or fixing. They fulfil these responsibilities year-round. The cover needs checking and immediate caring.

Due to massive crowd, it is day after day until it is the middle of Dhul-Qiada month, it is about to remove the cover. A special staff arrives to raise the cover in preparation for the pilgrims carrying the necessary tools. They raise the cover three meters above the ground Preserving it from the crowd, uncovering the below parts of the honorable Kaaba stones. Technicians skillfully handle the cover in a way to not draw the attention of those who go around the Kaaba. After fixing the cover’s tips, a white cotton cloth is expanded over it to give an aesthetic touch, which is suitable for the pilgrimage rite, which has just started.

It is an event that is repeated each year out of magnification of this rite Allah says,

“That [is so]. And whoever honors the symbols of Allah – indeed, it is from the piety of hearts.“

(Al-Haj 22:32)

---

Documentary on Kiswah (Cover) of Kaaba (Urdu) – Ghilaf E Kaaba ki Tayari Aur Tabdeeli ke Marahil

https://youtu.be/9Azv3849fvk

Contributed by Mudassir