Riyadh: The weight of the cotton used in the Kiswah (Ghilaf-e-Kaaba), the cloth that drapes the Kaaba, is 410 kilograms, and the total weight of the covering of the Kaaba is 1,300 kilograms, local media reported.
The Under-Secretary-General for the Affairs of King Abdulaziz Complex for Holy Kaaba Kiswah, Amjad Bin Ayed Al Hazmi confirmation came coinciding with the occasion of International Cotton Day, which falls on October 7 of each year.
Amjad bin Ayed Al-Hazmi, explained that cotton is an important and essential raw material in the manufacture of the covering of the Kaaba.
Al-Hazmi stated that, cotton is used in the production of gilded pieces of the covering of the Kaaba as a filling to highlight the embroidered letters of the verses from the Holy Quran that is used in the Kaaba Kiswah.
The cotton used in the Kiswah is woven in the sections of the King Abdulaziz Complex for the Holy Kaaba Kiswah, using the latest weaving machines, and the cotton is used as a lining for the Kiswah’s cloth.
About Kiswah (Ghilaf-e-Kaaba)
The Kiswah cloth is made from high-quality silk and features holy verses of the Quran weaved into its pattern with gold and silver threads. It covers an area of about 658 sqm and requires about 137 workers and eight months of hard work for its completion. The cover weighs about 670 kg and uses 15 kg of gold threads.
In the upper third of it, there is a belt 95 centimetres wide and 47 metres long. Under the belt, there are Qur’anic verses written, each of them within a separate frame, and in the intervals between them there is a shape of a lamp on which is written “O live, O Qayyum,” “Oh, Most Merciful, O Most Merciful.” “Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.”
The Kiswah was produced in Egypt, but in 1927 King Abdulaziz ordered that the Kiswah be produced in Makkah.
Since 1958 the kiswah has been manufactured in Makkah Al Mukarramah.
An approximate — million riyals have been spent on the preparation of the Ghilaf-e-Kaaba by dozens of weaving experts at a special factory exclusively devoted to the manufacture of the Kiswah.
Kiswah holds great significance in the Muslim culture and is symbolic of the reverence and divinity of Kaaba.
A new one is made each year to be placed on the Kaaba in Makkah’s Grand Mosque during the annual Muslim Haj pilgrimage.
