KISWAH

 Guidance from Sis. Yasmin

 

*KISWAH*~[كسوة الكعبة‎] *PROPHET* ﷺ USED TO DRAPE THE 'KISWAH' OVER THE 'KAABA HIMSELF {!}

 

The annual ceremony to replace the sacred covering of the Kaaba was  on June 16, 2026,

marking the start of the New Islamic Year  1448 AH in Makkah- Alhamdulillah.

 

The House of ALLAH in Makkah, the 'Kaaba' is covered by a black cloth

known as 'Kiswah', which is produced & changed every year.

 (the sacred black and gold cloth covering the Kaaba) is changed annually on the 1st of Muharram (now) to mark the beginning of the new Islamic year.

A Special factory is designed for the making of the 'Kiswah' in Makkah.

Kiswah كسوة الكعبة‎, (kiswat al-ka'bah) is the cloth that covers the 'Kaaba' in Makkah .

 The term 'Kiswah' is Arabic for 'Pall', the cloth draped over a casket,

( and is a cognate of the Hebrew word 'Kisui'.)

It costs approximately  SR 17 million. The cloth is made of 670 kilos of silver dyed black.

About 120 kilos of pure gold & 50 kilos of silver is used in writing the Qur`anic

 verses over the cloth. The total area of the cloth is 658 sq. meters.

 

A Description of the 'KISWAH' of the Holy Kaaba.

The 'Kiswah' is woven from pure natural silk that is dyed black.

The sentences “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad Rasul Allah,”

“Allahu Jalla Jalaluhu,”

“Subhan Allah wa Bihamdihi,” “Subhan Allah Al-`Azhim,”

 “Ya Hannan,” “Ya Mannan”

are embroidered on the black silk in thread of gold.

Surat Al - Ikhlas from the Qur’an is embroidered in circles

 with gold thread on the four (4) corners.

These circles are surrounded with squares of Islamic decorations.

Under the belt there are also six (6) verses of the Qur’an,

each of them inside a separate form.

 

When King Abdul Aziz entered Makkah in 1924, he accepted full and total

responsibility for the Kaaba which included providing the 'Kiswah'.

On July 1, 1927, King Abdul Aziz ordered the construction of a special factory to

 be exclusively devoted to the manufacture of the 'Kiswah' in Ajyad district in Makkah.

 

 The old 'Kiswah' is carefully removed, preserved, and cut into smaller pieces by Saudi authorities. These fragments are then gifted to foreign dignitaries, visiting VIPs, Islamic organizations, and global museums.