Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2014-09-30

Saudi Arabia is preparing to unveil the newly sewn Kiswa, or cover of the holy Ka’bah structure in Makkah Saudi Arabia.

The ornate protective and beautiful Kiswa will be draped over the Ka’bah on the 9th Thul Hijjah (3 October) while many Hujjaj are at the plains of Arafah.

The history of the Kiswa is mesmerizing.  More than 200 men have been laboring at the Makkah factory for eight months to produce the Kiswa which weighs approximately 670 kilograms and is made of pure silk dyed in black and padded with white cotton fabric. It’s embroidered in Quranic verses, all made with threads of pure gold and silver.

Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, the head of the presidency of the Two Holy Mosques, said: “The cover is… completely manufactured in Saudi Arabia after it had previously been manufactured and transferred from Egypt or other countries.”

Hussanian Al-Sharif, head of the embroidery department who has worked at the factory for 37 years said the stitching of Islamic calligraphy in gold threads onto the silk is a skill that has been passed on from generation to generation.

“No one outside this factory knows how to do the embroidery that we do, so that’s why our old workers have to train the newcomers for a three-month period before they start,” he said.

According to Sheikh Dr. Saleh al-Shebi, caretaker of the Grand Mosque, a full-time maintenance team is tasked with preserving the Kiswa as some pilgrims try to take pieces of the fabric home with them.

Misconceptions have led some pilgrims to swallow the threads of the Kiswa, thereby setting off a practice that leads to the disfiguring of the cover.

They remove the threads using rings and scissors in the hope that it will bring them good luck and blessings. This continued action has disfigured the Kiswa, Makkah daily said in a report published earlier this year.

(Twitter: @Faizie143)